OSU Softball To Open Big Ten – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/26/1998 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 26, 1998
About This Weekend
The Ohio State softball team will play host to No. 20-ranked Minnesota for a three-game series set to begin with a doubleheader, Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday’s single game also beginning at 1 p.m. All three games will be played on Buckeye Field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex. Admission is free all season.
Buckeyes Off To Best Start in Five Years
With the conclusion of the tournament portion of the schedule, the 10-8 Buckeyes are off to its best start in five years. The Buckeyes started the 1994 season with an 11-9 record and finished the season 40-20, which was good enough for a third place finish in the Big Ten. OSU is currently riding a two game winning streak and has won four out of its last five games. This season has already brought two tournament championships to the Ohio State program. Last weekend, OSU took home the consolation bracket championship at the Air Touch Cellular Capital Classic. The Buckeyes opened up the month of March by winning the South Florida/Louisville Slugger Tournament. At this point last season, OSU was 10-12 heading into Big Ten play.
Athletic Communications
For any questions or requests regarding the Ohio State Softball team, please contact Pat Chun at the OSU Athletic Communications Office.
Scouting the Golden Gophers
Minnesota (22-7-0 overall, 0-0-0 in Big Ten) is currently in the midst of an eight-game winning streak. Yesterday, the Golden Gophers began their tour of the state of Ohio with two wins over Dayton, 3-1 and 11-2. Today, the team is scheduled for a pair of games at Toledo. Prior to the Dayton series, the Gophers won the Texas A&M Aggie Invitational (March 6-8) with a 6-0 record. En route to the tournament title, the Gophers outscored their opponents by a 39-9 margin. Offensively, the team is led by four players batting over .400. Junior outfielder Steph Midthun is currently carrying a .466 average. Senior third baseman Amber Hegland has a .420 average with 10 doubles. Senior second baseman/outfielder Laura Peters is chipping in with a .418 average. The final member of the .400 club is junior shortstop Shannon Beeler with a .404 average, three home runs and team high 30 RBI. On the mound, senior Wendy Logue is carrying a team low 1.24 ERA with a team leading eight wins (8-2 overall). Junior Steph Klaviter is carrying a 1.46 ERA and has a 6-4 record. Minnesota head coach Lisa Bernstein-O’Brien is in her seventh season with the Gophers and is sporting an overall coaching record of 212-168-1. The Gophers lead the all-time series against the Buckeyes 45-17. Last season, the two schools played four times with Minnesota sweeping the regular season series and Ohio State winning a non-conference game at the Troy Cox Memorial in Las Cruces, N.M.
OSU Wins Consolation Championship in Sacramento State/Capital Classic
The Buckeyes began the Air Touch Cellular Capital Classic with a rocky 0-3 start but settled down to win four out of its last five games and took home the consolation bracket championship. The Buckeyes finished with a 4-4 tournament record.
Kollen Named To All-Capital Classic Team
Junior second baseman Candace Kollen was one of 12 selected to the Capital Classic all-tournament team. Kollen led the Buckeyes both offensively with a .305 batting average and defensively with zero errors on 43 chances.
Blame It On the Rain
The Buckeyes were scheduled to compete in the Georgia State/Lady Panther Invitational but due to heavy rainfall, the tournament was canceled. The games will not be rescheduled.
1998 USF/Louisville Slugger Champions
The South Florida/Louisville Slugger tournament in Tampa, Fla., turned into a special trip for the Buckeyes. OSU won the tourny championship with a 5-1 record and upset win over No. 5-ranked South Florida. En route to the tournament championship, the Buckeyes won three games in the round robin portion of the tournament to earn the No. 2 seed. They defeated Connecticut 5-0, Georgia Southern 4-2 and Coastal Carolina 11-3. The only blemish of the weekend came in the final round-robin game, a 3-2 loss to South Florida in extra-innings. In the championship round, the Buckeyes erased a 2-0 deficit to defeat Georgia Southern 6-2 and then pulled off the 1-0 upset to win the championship over South Florida.
Four Bucks Earn Honors In Florida
Ohio State placed four members of its team on the USF/Louisville Slugger all-tournament team – more than any other school participating in the tournament. Leading the way was pitcher Meaghan Robinson, who was also named the Most Valuable Pitcher. The junior went 2-0 and did not give up a run in 15 innings of work. Freshman third baseman Amy Paumier batted .357 with three doubles and three RBI. Junior outfielder Cheryl Palaroan hit .429 with three stolen bases. Senior leftfielder Julie Bauman hit .316 with three runs and a double. She also hit safely in all six games.
Smart Kids
In the classroom, the Buckeyes dominated, in their typical fashion, with a combined 3.00 grade point average during the winter quarter. This follows up a 3.09 showing during the fall quarter.
Pro Potential
In late December of last year, the Virginia Roadsters of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch league made Jodi Dolan the fifth overall pick in the first round of their college draft. Dolan will complete her final year of eligibility with Ohio State and then reevaluate her situation after the season.
A New Look For Buckeye Field
Off-season improvements have been added to Buckeye Field, the home of Ohio State Softball. First, the outfield wall has been painted scarlet, to give the field more of an OSU flavor. Secondly, the warning track will have a new surface consisting of crushed red brick. Finally, the batting cages and bullpens along the third base side of the field will be redesigned.
1997 Recap
Ohio State finished last season with 20-31 overall record and 4-18 in the Big Ten (9th place). The record marked an improvement in wins with an improvement in winning percentage by almost 100 points.
Head Coach Linda Kalafatis
Head Coach Linda Kalafatis begins her second season at the helm of the Buckeye program. A proven winner, her rookie season was filled with improvement in spite of numerous injuries. In her first Buckeye season, Ohio State’s 20-31 record eclipsed the win total from the previous year and improved its winning percentage by almost 100 points. The team also improved in batting average, doubles, triples, home runs (the total of 18 set a new school record), runs batted in, stolen bases, fielding percentage, and committed fewer errors. The team earned run average shrunk by nearly a full run, improved in strikeouts, and reduced their number of walks, in spite of playing in 11 less games than in 1996. In the classroom, the Buckeyes shined brighter than ever with nine members of the squad earning academic all-Big Ten accolades, 10 members of the team earning OSU Scholar-Athlete honors and three members of the team earning National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American Scholar-Athlete honors. Kalafatis has proven more than capable of turning programs around. She has already taken over two troubled programs and built them into winners. Last season’s 20-31 overall record, marked only her first losing season in nine years as a head coach. Kalafatis came to Ohio State after a three-year coaching stint at the University of Akron.
Getting Results
Game results will be posted on the Ohio State website (www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com) and on the Fax-on-demand service (The Big Ten passcode – 282; Release – 2665, Last Game Results – 2667).
On Deck
Indiana will travel to Columbus for a doubleheader, Wednesday, April 1. Cleveland State will follow the next day with another doubleheader on April 2. The Buckeyes will then travel to Michigan for a three-game series beginning on Saturday, March 4.
The Schedule
Along with Minnesota and Indiana, Ohio State will play host to Big Ten foes Penn State, Michigan State and Wisconsin throughout the season. Instate rivals Miami (O.), Dayton, Bowling Green, Youngstown State, Ohio University and Wright State will also make visits to Buckeye Field. OSU will total 29 games on 16 home dates. The schedule will feature numerous promotions and giveaways with sponsors ranging from Old Navy, Gatorade, Big Bear and Donato’s Pizza. Every Sunday, OSU will have an autograph session with the team at the conclusion of each game.
The New Home Run Queen
In the fourth inning of last week’s game against Baylor, senior centerfielder/pitcher Jodi Dolan blasted her way into Ohio State softball immortality with her 10th career home run. She followed that up with her 11th blast against Pacific the following day. The old record of nine was held by Krinon Clark (1991-94) and Marla Pickard (1991-94).
Slap Hits
Against Southwest Missouri State, OSU head coach Linda Kalafatis recorded career win No. 300.
Junior Candace Kollen has been like a vacuum at second base all season long. She has not committed an error in 88 chances this season.
The OSU pitchers have already hurled four shutouts is 18 games. The Buckeyes threw five shutouts all of last season.
Last week, freshman Katie Wessendorf tied an Ohio State all-time single game record with three doubles against Oregon. The old record was held by Sue Gahn who set the record against Michigan State on May 5, 1990.
Junior Cheryl Palaroan has proved that with a clean bill of health, she is a bona fide offensive threat. She is currently tied for the team lead with a .429 average and is also leading the team with six stolen bases. Against Harvard, the outfielder knocked in her first RBI and double since her freshman season. She was injured most of last season with a dislocated elbow.
Under Kalafatis, OSU is 1-0 in home and Big Ten openers. In the ’90s OSU is 6-2 in both Big Ten and home openers.
Buckeye Briefs
1 Kristi Martin, Fr., P, R-R – Leads the team with 34 Ks…Earned her second win of the season against Southwest Missouri State (3/20)…Rung up 12 strikeouts (just two shy of the OSU all-time single game record) against Coastal Carolina (2/28) in her first career win…Started her first career game against Arizona State (2/14)…Deceptive arm speed…Is averaging 1.5 strikeouts per inning and 10.5 K’s per game. 2 Jodi Dolan, Sr., CF/P, R-R – OSU all-time career home run leader with 11 dingers…Broke the old mark of nine against Baylor (3/20)…Earned OSUs first win of the year against Cal-State…Can bring the heat from the mound…Third all-time in Buckeye history with 507.1 innings pitched, fourth all-time with 30 victories and second all-time with 14 shutouts. 3 Cheryl Palaroan, Jr., CF, L-R – Tied for team lead with 429 average…Leads the team with six stolen bases…Made USF/Louisville Slugger all-tournament team with a .429 tourny average…Pure speed…Has stolen two bases in two attempts…Started against Arizona State…Looking to put together a healthy year after dislocating her elbow in the first game of last year…Has great range in the outfield. 4 Natalie Kratzer, Jr., 3B, L-R – Tallied her first hit of the season against in the opener against LBS, a single in the fifth inning. Unrelenting and tireless work ethic…Offers versatility with the ability to play both the infield and outfield…Coaches consider her the heart and soul of the team…A leader. 6 Meaghan Robinson, Jr., P/1B, R-R – Improved her record to 2-0 in tournament championship games with her win over Harvard (3/22) and win over South Florida (3/1)…Earned Most Valuable Pitcher and all-tournament team honers at the USF/Louisville Slugger…Recorded her first career save against Cal-State Fullerton. 7 Kelli Tom, Jr., P, R-R – Veteran pitcher…Looking to put together a healthy year but is still recovering from fall knee surgery…Can finesse the ball when needed…Will have to shoulder a bigger load this season. 9 Katie Wessendorf, Fr., 1B, L-R – Tied for the team lead with .429 average…Tied the OSU all-time single game record with three doubles in a game (3/22)…Batted a solid .333 with four RBI at the USF/Louisville Slugger…First career hit came against Coastal Carolina…Walked-on the team in the fall….Very coachable…Made her first career appearance when she pinch-hit in the seventh inning against Arizona State. 10 Toni Hileman, So., P/1B, R-R – Posted her first shutout of the season over Oregon (3/22)…Notched her first career hit as a Buckeye – a single against Cal-State Fullerton’s Chrissy Hartman…Versatile…Can pitch and play first base…Good power…Played last season at Ohio University. 11 Jaime Chenevey, Jr., C, R-R – Leading the team with nine RBI…Blasted first homerun of the season against Georgia Southern (3/1)…Had a hit and RBI against Long Beach State…Monster bat…Monster Arm…Second on the team last year with four homeruns…Had a career high .286 average…Coaches expecting a huge season. 18 Renae Weigel, So., SS, R-R – Consistent all season long at the plate with .333 average…Stepped up in the clutch for her team with the game winning RBI against No. 5-ranked South Florida…Leads the team with a .407 average…Worked hard on her game over the summer and results have been very apparent…Started 49 games last year…Tied the OSU freshman homerun mark with three. 20 Candace Kollen, Sr., 2B, L-R – Dazzeled opponents at Capital Classic with slick fielding…Earned all-Capital Classic team honors with .305 average and zero errors in 43 chances…All-Big Ten honoree in 1996…Good range…Will leave an indelible mark on Buckeye softball…Third all-time in Ohio State record book with 39 stolen bases, fifth all-time with .306 average, second in runs scored with 97. 21 Natalie Tomoguchi, Sr., RF, R-R -Second on the team with seven RBI…Looking to put together a healthy year after missing 32 games last season with face and eye injuries …Brings stability to the outfield…Will be counted on for more offensive production. 22 Amy Paumier, Fr., IF, R-R – Earned USF/Louisville Slugger all-tournament team honors with a .357 tournament average, three doubles and three RBI…Started her first career game against Utah. . .Recorded her first career hit against Cal-State Fullerton’s Jana Oetgan, a single to centerfield in the first inning…Quick…Good power. 23 Julie Bauman, Sr., LF, L-L – Had 2 for 3 day against Oregon (3/22)…Earned USF/Louisville Slugger all-tournament honors with a .316 tournament average…Came out of the gate en fuego with four hits in her first eight at bats… The true model of consistency with a team high six game hitting streak and has hit safely in nine of OSU’s ten games…Has great speed with 18 stolen bases and three triples last season…Hit a career high .295…Only true leftfielder on the team. 28 Holly English, Fr., OF, R-R – Notched first career hit and RBI of her career against Baylor (3/20)…Started her first career game against Utah…Solid athlete…adds much needed depth to the outfield…Brings great speed to the outfield.
