2023 Schedule // 2023 Roster // 2022 Stats // 2023 Media Guide
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 52nd season of Ohio State softball begins in just 23 days, as the Buckeyes are slated to head south to Orlando, Fla. to compete in the Black & Gold Classic on the campus of the University of Central Florida. There, Ohio State will face Georgia, Boise State, UCF and UMass over a three-day span (Feb. 10-12).
2023 Season Preview: By the Numbers
24: Ohio State’s roster includes 24 players this spring with 15 hailing from Ohio. Of those 15 Ohioans, eight are from within an hour of Columbus: McKenzie Bump (Mt. Gilead), Taylor Heckman (Utica) Tegan Cortelletti (Hilliard), Hannah Bryan (Columbus), Lindsey Potter (Plain City), Kami Kortokrax (Westerville), Lexi Paulsen (Carroll) and Emily Ruck (Westerville).
15: Admission and parking for all 15 of Ohio State’s home games at Buckeye Field is free. The home schedule begins on March 21 vs. Kent State with Big Ten series on the slate against Michigan (March 24-26), Rutgers (April 7-9), Purdue (April 21-23), Minnesota (28-30).
35: Ohio State has averaged 35 wins per year over the last five “full” season (2020 excluded due to COVID-19). Last year, the Buckeyes were 36-17 overall and 13-9 in Big Ten play.
.619: The Buckeyes’ .619 overall winning percentage is among the best in the Big Ten since the start of 2013. Only Michigan, Minnesota and Northwestern have a better mark.
131: Since 2013, Ohio State has 131 conference wins. It’s finished with a .500 record or better in conference for eight consecutive seasons.
11: Head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly enters her 11th season leading the Buckeyes. In her nine full seasons (2020 excluded), the Buckeyes have finished with a winning record each year and played in five of the last six NCAA Tournaments.
.588 and .619: Kovach Schoenly’s .588 winning percentage in conference games is the best in program history, as is her .619 overall winning percentage. She enters the 2023 season with a 303-186-1 overall record at Ohio State and a 131-93-1 Big Ten record. Overall, in 16 seasons as a head coach, she’s 491-338-2.
8,227: The Buckeyes will travel 8,227 miles before their first home game on March 21 vs. Kent State. That includes trips to Orlando, Fla., Clemson, S.C., Palm Springs, Calif., Conway, S.C., Charleston, S.C. and Greenville, N.C.
30: Last season, Ohio State won 30 road/neutral site games and were 8-3 against Big Ten opponents away from home.
20: Included among Ohio State’s 52-game regular season schedule is 20 contests against teams that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
8th: Sam Hackenbracht enters the 2023 season with 30 career home runs, which already places her eighth on the program’s all-time list. Last year, she led the team with 16 home runs while also driving in a 52 runs and hitting .377.
1.192: Hackenbracht finished third in the Big Ten in OPS last spring (on base percentage + slugging percentage). Ohio State was the only team in the conference with two players who ranked in the top 10 in that category.
125.0: Junior pitchers Emily Ruck and Allison Smith combined to throw 125.0 innings last year and win 14 games. Smith tossed 70.2 innings with a 3.37 ERA and 69 strikeouts while Ruck countered with a 3.09 ERA in 54.1 innings.
0: Ruck is the last Buckeye pitcher to throw a no-hitter. She did so on March 13, 2022 in an 8-0 five-inning win over UMass.
7: Ohio State returns seven of its top eight hitters from last season, its top home run hitter, its top run producer and 18 overall letterwinners from last year’s team.
