The Ohio softball team closes out the regular season on Saturday as it welcomes Northern Illinois to Athens for an afternoon doubleheader. The twinbill marks the last time Bobcat seniors Erin Chapman, Sarah Melvin, Kiersten Scrima and Georiga Villard will play at the Ohio Softball Field. They will be honored for their contributions to the program in a ceremony in between games.

Ohio remains in the hunt for a spot in the MAC Tournament, as they currently sit in third place in the East Division and in sixth place overall. A sweep of the Huskies guarantees the Bobcats a spot in the tournament, as they could finish of no worse than a tie for sixth place with Marshall, with whom Ohio took the season series from and therefore holds the tie breaker with. The 2004 MAC Softball Tournament will be held at Firestone Field in Akron on May 13-15. The top two teams from each division, along with the next two teams - regardless of division - will qualify for the tournament with the top two seeds receiving first-round byes.


Scouting Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois heads into the weekend with a 6-14 mark in Mid-American Conference play and a 14-37 record overall. The Huskies have boasted a balanced offensive attack this season, as seven players have driven in double digits runs on the year. Leading the way is Kelly Drozd, who has a team-high .267 batting average, 40 hits and 18 RBI for NIU. From the circle, Kathy Dearborn and Amy Krahula have both thrown over 100 innings, with Dearborn leading the way with 143.2 IP. She has a 6-16 record with a 3.12 ERA and 84 strikeouts. Krahula has gone 107.2 innings this season and has a 3.17 ERA while fanning 77 batters.

Ohio versus Northern Illinois
Ohio holds a 5-7 mark versus Northern Illinois, with a 3-1 mark in Athens. The two teams last meet at the Ohio Softball Field on April 3, 1998, with both sides taking a game of their doubleheader.

Villard’s Got a Cannon
Ohio senior catcher Georgia Villard has kept opposing base runners honest this season as the senior has thrown out 28 percent (12-of-43) of those runners who have tried to steal on her. In her career, she has caught 41 runners on 199 attempts for a 21 percent career rate. Villard had one of her best games behind the plate against Marshall on April 6, as she nailed three of four Herd runners in the Bobcats’ 5-4 come-from-behind victory in the second half of their doubleheader. Her ability to play well behind the plate runs in the family, as her older sister Julie was a catcher at Akron (1999-2002), where she was honored as the team’s Defensive Player of the Year in her final two seasons with the Zips.

Miller putting them out…
With her 35 putouts so far this week, Ohio sophomore Robin Miller moved into fourth place on the schools list for most putouts in a season with 393. She is now only 44 putouts away from tying Jen Morris (440) for third place on the single season list.

And Getting on Base
Miller has also become the single-season leader in base on balls with her 26th free pass of the season against Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. She has also been hit-by-pitch on a team-high five occasions, twice winning contests when she was hit with the bases loaded. She leads the Mid-American Conference with a .448 on-base percentage

Chapman Rewrites Record Book
Ohio center fielder Erin Chapman moved up a pair of career lists this week as the senior moved into fourth place on the school’s all-time hit list with her 168th career hit against Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. She will continue to move up the list, as she is three hits away from tying Staci Bellville for third place. Chapman also moved her way up the career games list during the week with her 187th game in a Bobcat uniform on Monday versus Akron. She has made a place for herself on most all-time lists, as she is the career leader in homeruns (20) and runs scored (101), and finds herself on the doubles (32), triples (6), runs batted in (92), walks (62) and stolen bases (39) lists as well.

Melvin makes her way onto Career Games Played List as well
Senior Sarah Melvin has joined Chapman on the career games played list, playing her 177th career game on Wednesday against Eastern Michigan. She is now in 11th place all-time,four games behind Sara Kraus for 10th place with 181 games played.

Armstrong Living up to her Name
Freshman Natalie Armstrong has continued to impress during her first season with the Bobcats, as she leads the team with 116.1 innings pitched, a 2.05 ERA, 73 strikeouts and four combined shutouts. She currently leads the Mid-American Conference with six saves. Armstrong earned two wins and a save in the Bobcats three-game sweep of Miami April 24-25. She went seven innings on the weekend, allowing no runs on three hits in those three games.

Armstrong had her best performance of the season in game one of the Bobcats doubleheader with Buffalo on April 24, entering the circle in the fifth inning and keeping the Bulls hitters from registering a hit over the next seven frames in the Bobcats 1-0 12- inning victory. She struck out eight batters in the contest.

Armstrong played a key role in the Bobcats doubleheader sweep of Marshall on April 6, going a combined 4.2 shutout innings in the two contests and earning a save in game one and while recording the win in game two. Armstrong had a productive week for the Bobcats March 22-27, picking up a save and a combined shutout in five contests. She teamed up with junior Kerri Harley to shutout Emory March 25, going the final two innings and keeping the Eagles from registering a hit.

Chapman, Miller and Scrima Incorporated
The Bobcats trio of seniors Erin Chapman and Kiersten Scrima and sophomore Robin Miller have been quite productive from the plate for the Green and White this season, as the trio has combined for 131 hits, 26 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 67 RBI so far this year.

Chapman leads the team with 31 RBI, six home runs, a .323 batting average and a .523 slugging percentage She has 42 hits, the third highest total on the team.

Scrima leads the team with 51 hits and 13 doubles and is second on the squad with four home runs. She has knocked in 17 runs, good for the third highest total on the team. Scrima boasts a .317 batting average.

Miller leads in the Mid-American Conference with a .448 on-base percentage and leads the team with 23 walks. She is second on the team with 19 RBI and third with a .309 batting average. Miller has 38 hits on the year.

Chapman Goes Yard Again and Again and Again
Senior outfielder Erin Chapman continues to rewrite the Ohio homerun record book as she moved into sole possession of second place on the single season list Monday with her sixth round tripper of the year at Akron. She sits one long ball behind junior Jennifer Tisevich for the single season record, set last season by the Canton native. Chapman has been a prolific long ball hitter all throughout her career, as she is the only player in school history to hit four or more home runs in each of her four seasons in Athens. She holds the mark for the most homeruns in a career with 20, 10 more than Tisevich and former Bobcat Crystal Turner, who are tied in second place with 10.