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COLUMBUS, Ohio – After 24 games and over 8,000 round trip miles of travel, one of the hottest teams in the country is coming home.
The Ohio State softball team opens its home schedule on Tuesday afternoon when it welcomes Kent State to Buckeye Field for a 4 p.m. first pitch. Admission to all Ohio State softball games is free, as is parking. The contest will also be streamed on BTN+.
The Basics
Kent State at Ohio State // Tuesday, March 21 // 4 p.m. // Buckeye Field; Columbus, Ohio
Watch Live: BTN+ // Live Stats // Twitter Updates
Ohio State Stats // Ohio State Roster // Ohio State Schedule & Results
Kent State Stats // Kent State Roster // Kent State Schedule & Results
Buckeyes in a Nutshell
- Winners of 11 straight games, Ohio State is 17-7 overall.
- Including the trip before its 12-game spring break schedule, Ohio State has won 14 of its last 16 games.
- The Buckeyes’ current 11-game winning streak in the program’s longest in 14 years, since the 2009 team also won 11 straight.
- The Buckeyes possess a .309 team batting average with five players currently hitting .320 or better.
- That group is led by sophomores Melina Wilkison (.427) and Kaitlyn Fasrley (.389). Both of them hit well over .500 on last week’s eight-game schedule in North Carolina and South Carolina.
- Senior Mariah Rodriguez has shown her All-Big Tenn form, as the Orange, Calif. native checks in with a .382 average with 12 RBI.
- Kami Kortokrax (.329) and Tegan Cortelletti (.333) are the other who are north of .320. Starters Jaycee Ruberti (.295), Hannah Church (.292) and Destinee Noury (.286) also hit for average and have driven in a combined 33 runs.
- Ohio State’s five-person pitching staff has a team ERA of 2.75. Junior Allison Smith leads the way at 1.97 with an 8-3 record and 99 strikeouts in 74.2 innings.
- Emily Ruck is 4-4 with a 2.82 ERA while Lexi Paulsen, Julia Miller and Kennedy Kay all have wins to show for their outings so far this year.
The Week That Was: Spring Break 2023
- In their 12-game spring break trip, Ohio State averaged nearly seven runs per game and allowed just 1.75.
- All five members of Ohio State’s pitching staff logged innings over the last 12 games. Allison Smith was 5-0 in five starts with a 0.54 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 38.2 innings.
- In eight games last week – all Ohio State wins – Melina Wilkison and Kaitlyn Farley combined to hit .580 with 14 runs scored, 15 RBI and four doubles.
- Wilkison checked in with a .581 average on the week with multiple hits in five games.
- In a 13-2 win in the second game of a doubleheader vs. Charleston Southern, Ohio State hit a season-high four home runs. Two of those were by Destinee Noury, who leads the team with three so far this season.
- Meggie Otte hit two home runs last week and drove in nine runs. One of those home runs was a grand slam versus Cleveland State.
- Allison Smith’s 14 strikeouts vs. Presbyterian was a career high and the fifth time this seasons she’s had 10 or more Ks in a game.
- Kaitlyn Farley (12), Melina Wilkison (nine), Mariah Rodriguez (six), Kami Kortokrax (four), Hannah Church (two) and Destinee Noury (two) all have multi-game hitting streaks.
Scouting Kent State
- Kent State is 6-15 on the season and opened MAC play last weekend by splitting two games versus Ball State.
- The Golden Flashes own wins over Niagara (twice), UMBC (twice), Pitt and Ball State.
- The two teams haven’t played in nearly six years, since a 3-0 Ohio State win on May 3, 2017.
- Kent State is coached by Eric Oakley and his volunteer assistant is Lexie Handley, who last year set Ohio State’s single-single strikeouts record and was a 22-game winner in the circle.
What’s Next
- Following Tuesday’s home opener, the Buckeyes have their Big Ten opener scheduled this weekend is Columbus vs. Michigan.
- The Buckeyes are Wolverines are set for single games on Friday (6 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (noon).
- All three of the games will be streamed on BTN+.
