Bucks Have Georgia on Their Mind – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/4/1998 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 4, 1998
About the Lady Panther
Atlanta, Ga., will be the site of this year’s Georgia State/Lady Panther tournament. All games will be held at Panthersville, a multi-use athletic area located 15 minutes east of Downtown Atlanta. This is the home site for Georgia State’s baseball, softball, soccer and cross country teams. The complex has two softball fields that will be used throughout the tournament. The teams scheduled to compete along with Ohio State are Evansville, Loyola (Chicago) Mercer, Middle Tennessee State, Norfolk State, Troy State and host school Georgia State. Play will begin with two games at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Buckeye Game Schedule
Ohio State’s schedule features games on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday –
2:30 p.m. – Mercer vs. OSU (Field 2)
4:30 p.m. – Troy St. vs. OSU (Field 1)
6:30 p.m. – Georgia St. vs. OSU (Field 2)
Sunday –
1:30 p.m. – Loyola vs. OSU (Field 2)
3:30 p.m. – Evansville vs. OSU (Field 1)
Travel Information
The Buckeyes will depart from Port Columbus International Airport on Friday at 12:50 p.m. They will be staying at the Fairfield Inn (770-491-7444) located at 2155 Ranchwood Drive Northeast.
Athletic Communications
For any questions or requests regarding the Ohio State Softball team, Sport Associate Pat Chun will represent the OSU Athletic Communications Office on the road.
Tournament Media Relations
All requests for credentials and immediate results should be made through Devlin Pierce at the Georgia State Sports Information Office (404-651-3168).
Scouting the Buckeye Opponents
Mercer – The Bears are currently 7-11 overall and 2-2 in the Trans America Conference. They enter the tournament on a four-game losing skid and have lost seven out of its last eight games. Senior Tamrya Foster leads the team with a .321 average. Freshman Jacki Mariner leads the Bears with nine runs batted in. On the mound, freshman Jennifer Milam has a team low 1.89 earned run average and is also Georgia Southern is the only common opponent between Mercer and Ohio State. The Bears are 1-1 while the Buckeyes are 2-0 against Georgia Southern. Saturday’s game marks the first ever meeting between the two schools. Troy State – The Lady Trojans are currently 15-6 overall. They have already played two schools competing in the Lady Panther earlier this season, Mercer and Middle Tennessee State. The highlight of the Lady Trojan’s season came on Feb. 24 when they handed No. 9-ranked Florida State its only loss of the season. Offensively, the Lady Trojans are led by sophomore Tara Michel with a .446 batting average and 19 RBI. Fellow sophomore Bambi Sellars is hitting .377 with 14 RBI. Freshman pitcher Jamie Dooley is leading the way with five wins and a team low 0.78 ERA. Saturday’s contest marks the first ever meeting between OSU and TSU. Georgia State – The Crimson Panthers enter their tournament with a 4-4 record. They are coming off a two game losing streak, with loses against Mississippi and Virginia Tech. Georgia State is currently .500 at home with a 3-3 record. Leading the team in offense is senior Carrie Kirk with a .417 average. Fellow senior Stacey Jessen leads the squad with four RBI. On the mound, freshman Angie Buckem has a team low 1.50 ERA. Fellow freshman Mila Nelson leads the team with two wins and carries a 1.52 ERA. Georgia State leads the all-time series between the two schools 4-1. Evansville – The Purple Aces enter this weekend with a 2-4 record. Their two wins have come over Arkansas and Mississippi State. Senior Tina DeWeese leads the team with a .389 average and five RBI. On the mound, freshman Mattie Ross has a team low 1.97 ERA and a team high three wins. Ohio State leads the all-time series against Evansville, 2-0. 1998 USF/Louisville Slugger Champions
Last week’s 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 of No. 5-ranked South Florida. Enroute 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 Last Weekend
Ohio State placed four members of its team on the USF/Louisville Slugger all-tournament team – more than any other school participating in the tounament. 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 3.09 grade point average 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
The Buckeyes will take a week off from the schedule and return to action March 19-22 in Sacramento, Calif. at the Sacramento State/Capital Classic. On the first day, OSU is scheduled to face Baylor at 9 a.m., Sacramento State at 11 a.m. and Central Michigan at 3 p.m. The remainder of the games will be based on seeding.
The Home Opener
The Big Ten and home opener for the Buckeyes is scheduled for March 28 against Minnesota at 1 p.m.
The Schedule
Along with Minnesota, Ohio State will play host to Big Ten foes Indiana, Penn State, Michigan State and Wisconsin throughout the season. Instate rivals Cleveland State, 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.
Slap Hits
- Head Coach Linda Kalafatis is one win shy of career win No. 300.
- Last weekend, freshman Kristi Martin struck out a career high 12 batters against Coastal Carolina. The 12 K’s is just two shy of the OSU all-time single game record.
- For the second consecutive season, the Buckeyes came away as champions in the second tournament of their season. Last year, the Bucks won the Troy Cox Memorial and last week, they won the USF/Louisville Slugger.
- Senior Julie Bauman has been the model of consistency this entire season. She has at least one hit in nine of the ten games this season and is currently carrying a team high seven-game hitting streak.
- Junior Meaghan Robinson may be one of the hottest pitchers in the country. She was named Most Valuable Pitcher at last weeks USF/Louisville Slugger with a 2-0 record and did not give up a run in 15 innings of work. Over her last 23 innings, she has given up only one run.
- The Buckeyes are 6-2 over their last eight games. The two loses have both been by a single run and have come in dramatic fashion. ASU defeated OSU in its final at bat and USF defeated OSU in extra innings.
Buckeye Briefs
1 – Kristi Martin, Fr., P, R-R – 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 – Earned OSUs first win of the year against Cal-State…Tied for first on the Buckeye all-time home run list with nine and also tied for first in single season bombs with five… Sixth on the Ohio State all-time RBI list with 65…Glove work and range are strong…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 – 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 – Earned starting nods against Long Beach State and Arizona State…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 – One of the hottest pitchers in the country…Given up only one run in her last 23 innings pitched and is also on a two game winning streak…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 – 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 – Had a 2 for 4 performance with two RBI against Coastal Carolina…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 – 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 – 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 – Emerged from a slow start by raising her average 158 points last weekend…Hit safely in four of six games last weekend, including a 3 for 4 performance over Georgia Southern (3/1)…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 – Leads the team with four RBI…Rocket launcher for an arm…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…Can play both the infield and outfield…good power.
23 – Julie Bauman, Sr., LF, L-L – 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 – Started her first career game against Utah…Solid athlete…adds much needed depth to the outfield…Brings great speed to the outfield.
