Buckeyes Begin 2021 Season This Weekend in Florida
2/25/2021 7:31:21 AM | Softball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 50th season of Ohio State softball begins on Friday as the Buckeyes head south to begin a campaign that will be unlike any other in its history.
For the first time ever, the Buckeyes will face a conference-only slate. Ohio State is scheduled to play 44 regular season games and will face each Big Ten foe at least twice. That gauntlet kicks off this weekend with a total of six games, beginning Friday with a doubleheader vs. Iowa at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex in Leesburg, Fla.
All 42 Big Ten games this weekend, in addition to 42 more March 11-14 at the same site, will be streamed on BTN Plus.
The Weekend Ahead
Ohio State vs. Iowa (DH) | Friday, Feb. 26 | 4:15 and 6:45 p.m. | Leesburg, Fla.
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Ohio State vs. No. 22 Minnesota (DH) | Saturday, Feb. 27 | 4:15 and 7 p.m. | Leesburg, Fla.
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Ohio State vs. Nebraska (DH) | Sunday, Feb. 28 | 3:30 and 6:15 p.m. | Leesburg, Fla.
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Briefly on the Buckeyes
- When Friday’s first pitch is thrown against the Hawkeyes, 354 days – almost a full calendar year – will have passed since the last time the Buckeyes took the field. They were 9-9 last season before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remainder of the season on March 12.
- Ohio State returns its top five hitters and three of its starting pitchers from last season. They also added eight freshmen to the 2021 roster.
- The player with the most game experience heading into the season is senior Niki Carver, who has started 107 of the 114 career games that she’s played in.
- Junior Ashley Prange, an All-Big Ten performer in her last full season as a freshman in 2019, hit .484 last year in nine games and has a career batting average of .339 with 13 home runs and 47 RBI in 60 games.
- Sophomore Avery Clark was second in the Big Ten in batting average when the season was cut short last year. She was hitting .444 at the time with a team-high five home runs.
- In the circle, senior Payton Buresch led the team in every major statistical category, including wins (seven), innings (81.0) and strikeouts (49).
- This year’s pitching staff will be bolstered by the addition of two freshmen, both who hail from Ohio: Allison Smith, the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019, and Emily Ruck, a local product from Westerville.
In the Polls
- Ohio State is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. It is one of five Big Ten schools either ranked or receiving votes.
History with the Hawkeyes, Gophers and Huskers
- Ohio State has faced Minnesota in a regular season contest in nearly eight years. During the 2013 campaign, they played the Gophers three times in Columbus and won the final game of the series 14-6 in six innings. The two teams met in the championship game of the 2017 Big Ten Tournament in Ann Arbor.
- Likewise, Ohio State hasn’t played Nebraska since the 2015 season. After facing each other eight times combined in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, the teams have gone five seasons without a single matchup.
- The Buckeyes have the most recent history with Iowa, having played the Hawkeyes three times in Iowa City at the end of the 2019 regular season. Ohio State won two of those three games and outscored Iowa 15-1 in the series.
This and That
- Twelve of the 24 players on Ohio State’s roster this year hail from the state of Ohio.
- Niki Carver is 18 hits away from 100 in her career.
- Ohio State has finished with 30 or more wins in eight consecutive full seasons.
- The Buckeyes have won their season opener in five of the last six seasons.
- Over the last three full seasons, Ohio State has hit a total of 184 home runs. Each of those seasons, it’s had at least three players with double digit homers.
Fast Starts
- Ohio State is 21-4 during opening weekend in the last six seasons. The Buckeyes went 3-1 at the Carolina Classic to start the 2020 season.
- Its best six-game start came in 2008 when Ohio State went 6-0. They went on to finish that season 33-23 overall.
- In 2018, Ohio State started 18-4 in non-conference play and 9-1 in its first 10 games.
Power Ball
- Ohio State has been one of the Big Ten’s most consistent offensive teams over the past seven full seasons (2013-19).
- In that span, it has never batted lower than .264 as a team hit .288 or higher six times.
- Since 2015, the Buckeyes have hit at least 57 home runs every season.
- In six of the last seven seasons, Ohio State’s finished with 75 or more doubles as a team.
Don’t Forget About the Pitchers
- Ohio State’s pitching staff has had a sub-3.00 earned run average in each of the last three full seasons (2017-19).
- In that span, they’ve tossed 31 shutouts.
- During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, opponents failed to hit above .220 against Buckeye pitchers (.212 in 2018, .218 in 2019).
