AKRON, Ohio - Ohio scored four runs in the fourth inning to key a 7-3 victory over Northern Illinois to keep its championship dreams alive at the Mid-American Conference Tournament Friday. It was the Bobcats’ third win of the postseason - the most in the program's history.

With the win, Ohio (29-23) will face No. 2 Akron, which suffered a 1-0 loss to top-seeded Central Michigan, at 11 a.m. Saturday. The winner of that match-up will face the Chippewas, who are a perfect 2-0 in postseason play, at 1:30 p.m.

Senior pitcher Heather Hagen (Huntington Beach, Calif.) allowed just one hit and struck out five over four innings in relief of starter Val Wood (Naperville, Ill.) to earn her 12th win of the year. It was also Hagen’s second postseason win of her career. Jolene Heller (1-4) took the loss for Northern Illinois. The Huskies’ ended their season with a record of 21-29.

Ohio scored two runs in the first inning thanks to an RBI double by Tiffany Bolton (Fairfax, Va.) and an error by the first baseman that scored Kelli Bankert (Clifton, Va.). It was the start of another big night for Bolton, who is batting .500 (7-14) with three runs scored and a team-high seven runs batter in for the tournament.

The Huskies took the lead with a three-run third inning, but Ohio came right back in the home half. Bolton hit a one-out single to get things started and motored to second with her fifth stolen base of the season. Bankert, who leads the team with a .571 (8-14) batting average in the postseason, drove in her first RBI of the tournament with a double left field to tie the game at 3-3.

After a pop up, Kim Stinson (Kirkland, Wash.) and Georgia Villard (Canton) drew back-to-back walks to load the bases for Erin Chapman. Chapman (Beavercreek), who clubbed a pair of home runs the last time the two teams met in the first round, nearly hit a grand slam but her blast to right field – which had plenty of distance – curved foul. Instead, the outfielder earned her fourth RBI of the postseason by drawing a walk.

Freshman Jenny Tisevich (Canton), who picked up her first hit of the postseason in the second inning, drove in a pair of runs with a single to center field to make the score 6-3.

The Bobcats added one more run in fourth on an RBI-single by Bolton that scored Hagen from second base to close out the scoring. Hagen retired the final nine batters of the game to secure the win.

Ohio will need three wins Saturday to capture their first MAC Championship since 1995. With a win against the Zips, the Bobcats will have to defeat Central Michigan at 1:30 p.m. and then again at 4 p.m. The Chippewas, winners of the last three MAC Tournaments, have won 13 consecutive MAC Tournament games - nine by shutout.

Akron took two of three games from Ohio this season. Hagen threw her third no-hitter against the Zips in a 2-0 victory, but Akron took the first and last games of the three-game series; 1-0 in eight innings and 4-1.

Bankert is Ohio's top hitter against the Zips this season. The junior first baseman has five hits in nine at-bats (.556). Stinson is hitting .444 (4-9) with a home run and Bolton is batting .333 (3-9) with a double. Hagen has a record of 1-1 and an ERA of 1.45 against Akron, while Wood is 0-1 with a 1.68 ERA.

NOTEBOOK: The last time Ohio went to the NCAA Tournament was in 1995. The Bobcats lost to Arizona, 0-8, and Florida State, 0-2... Ohio has scored 15 runs in its two games against the Huskies in the postseason and just one run total against Central Michigan (6-0 loss) and Western Mighigan (1-0 win)... through four games of the tournament, Ohio has a team batting average of .250 and a team ERA of 2.50... the Bobcats are batting .308 as a team with runners in scoring position. Bolton is a perfect 4-for-4 while Bankert is 3-for-4... Ohio is also hitting .356 with two outs. Bolton is 4-for-4 with six two-out RBI and Bankert is 6-for-9 (.667).