March Madness … Softball Style – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/16/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 16, 1999
Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State Buckeyes (7-6 overall, 0-0 in the Big Ten) will travel to Southern California for what looks to be their toughest tests of this young season. The Buckeyes are scheduled to play four games in three days against Long Beach State, No. 4 Washington and Cal-State Fullerton. %^$
%^$GAME SCHEDULE
%^$ Sunday, March 21%^$ 1 p.m. at Long Beach State%^$ (doubleheader)%^$ Monday, March 22%^$ noon vs. No. 4 Washington%^$ (at Cal-State Fullerton)%^$ Tuesday, March 23%^$ 5 p.m. at Cal-State Fullerton%^$ %^$ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
%^$For any questions or requests regarding the Ohio State softball team, Assistant Sports Information Director Pat Chun will represent the OSU Athletic Communications Office on the road. %^$
TRAVEL ITINERARY
%^$The Buckeyes will depart for Port Columbus International Airport on Friday at 9:06 a.m. They will arrive in Los Angeles via America West Airlines at 10:18 a.m. (local time). The team will stay at the Courtyard by Marriott located at 7621 Beach Blvd. in Buena Park. The phone number is (714) 670-6600. The fax is (714) 670-0360. %^$
BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONS
%^$After a 1-5 start, the Buckeyes have won six out of their last seven games including back-to-back tournament championships at the Georgia State Classic and the Kentucky Invitational. At the GSU Classic, OSU outscored its opponents by a 25-10 margin. At the UK Invitational, the Buckeyes romped their opponents by a 19-5 margin. %^$
THE STAR
%^$All-Big Ten candidate Renae Weigel is off to an awesome start. The shortstop currently leads the team with 10 runs batted in and a .588 slugging percentage. She is also carrying a .353 batting average. “Renae was scaring me early when she was pressing – taking on too much responsibility,” head coach Linda Kalafatis said. “We even sat her back in a couple of the earlier games and she responded better than anyone would have ever anticipated. She is a true leader for this team and is playing really good softball. Her play is important to this team and as long as she continues to play within herself, she will have another great year.”%^$
SAM I AM SENSATIONAL
%^$Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate Samantha Kimura is making the adjustment to Division I softball look easy. She already had a hitting streak of nine-games, belted the first home run of her short career against St. Louis (3/27) and is carrying a .351 batting average. “Sam started out slowly offensively but has begun to show her stuff these last two tournaments,” head coach Linda Kalafatis said. “She’s been doing a terrific job defensively at first base and we like what she has been doing in her brief times at catcher. Hitting in the ‘meat’ of the order, she will get more opportunities to drive in runs. I look forward to seeing her grow as a player.”%^$
THE BUDDING SUPERSTAR
%^$Freshman Stacy Roth is also making a huge impression in the early portion of the season. She is second on the team with both a .355 batting average and seven runs batted in. “Stacy has provided a real spark for this team,” head coach Linda Kalafatis said. “When we lost two outfielders in the beginning of winter practice, she was the one who had to step in and play a new position. What she lacks in experience, she has made up for with hard work and athletic ability. Believe it or not, she was the freshman that we worried the most about in terms of development. Sometimes we have wonderful surprises in this profession.”%^$
THROWING SOME GAS
%^$Pitcher Meaghan Robinson is taking her game to a new level. She is in the midst of a four-game winning streak, has a team low 0.77 earned run average and has already surpassed her 1998 strikeout total of 36 with 42 Ks on the year. In her last 33 innings of work, she has yielded just one earned run. %^$
STOP! THIEF!
%^$Centerfielder Cheryl Palaroan’s eight stolen bases on the year give her 44 for her career, which ties her with Candace Kollen’s (1995-98) OSU career record of 44. %^$
IT’S NOT STEALING UNLESS YOU GET CAUGHT
%^$As a team, the Buckeyes are a perfect 24-for-24 in stolen bases. Leading the way are Cheryl Palaroan with eight and Natalie Kratzer, Anna Smith, Holly English and Jaime Chenevey with three. Who will be the first one caught? %^$
GOING BACK TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
%^$The trip to Southern California marks a return to Los Angeles after a year off. In 1997, OSU played in the Pony Invitational held at Cal-State Fullerton. The Buckeyes went 1-3 with a win over No. 12 Oklahoma State. Meaghan Robinson was the winning pitcher in that contest. Last year, OSU played in Northern California at the Air Touch Wireless/Capital Classic held in Sacramento. OSU won the Consolation Championship. %^$
HOMECOMING
%^$The trip to Southern California marks a return home for five Buckeyes; Samantha Kimura from Placentia, Kristi Martin from La Mirada, Anna Smith from Walnut, Kelli Tom from Fullerton and Carrie Vanderpool from Corona.%^$
KENTUCKY INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONS
%^$On March 6-7 in Lexington, Ky., the Buckeyes took home their second tournament championship in as many weekends. In frigid conditions, OSU pulled out a 3-0 tournament record with wins over Kentucky, Akron and Canisius. In the opener against UK, OSU jumped to a 4-0 lead before the Wildcats came back to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning. The Buckeyes secured the win when Stacy Roth scored on a ground out in the bottom of the sixth. That was followed by an 11-1 pummeling of Akron, with OSU getting home runs from Renae Weigel and Katie Wessendorf. With the championship game cancelled due to the temperatures below 30 degrees, OSU could secure the tournament title with a win in its final game against Canisius. The Buckeye attack awoke in the top of the third inning against the Golden Griffins, scoring twice and never relinquishing the lead. OSU would eventually win the game 3-0 led by the pitching of Toni Hileman. Fellow pitcher Meaghan Robinson continued to shine with a 2-0 record, 0.00 earned run average and 10 strikeouts. %^$
GEORGIA STATE SOFTBALL CLASSIC CHAMPS
%^$On the weekend Feb. 27-28, the Buckeyes took home their first tournament championship of the season at the Georgia State Softball Classic in Atlanta, Ga. OSU finished with a 3-1 record with wins over Indiana State, St. Louis and Georgia State. The 16-1 win over St. Louis was the largest margin of victory in school history. The only blemish of the weekend came a 7-4 loss to Tennessee Tech. Renae Weigel led the team with six runs batted in and chipped in with a .500 batting average. Jaime Chenevey led the Buckeyes with a .636 BA. Inside the circle, Meaghan Robinson was 2-0 with a 0.48 earned run average. %^$
PARADISE CLASSIC RECAP
%^$In their first action of the 1999 season, the Buckeyes finished the Paradise Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii with a 1-5 record. The Buckeyes notched their first win of the season against Baylor (2/13) with a 4-2 win. %^$
THE COACH
%^$Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis is in her third season at the helm. Last season’s 33-23 overall and 10-14 conference records speak for themselves.
%^$The overall record marked the first winning season since 1995. The 33 wins marked only the fifth time in the school’s 27 year history that it had won at least 30 games. The .589 winning percentage was OSU’s third highest in the ’90s and highest since 1994. For the second consecutive year, Kalafatis improved the Buckeye winning percentage by over 100 points.
%^$The Big Ten was also served notice with 12 of the 24 games decided by a one or two run margin. And with four days left in the season, the Buckeyes found themselves still alive for a tournament berth. Not bad for a team that won only four Big Ten games in 1997 and six in 1996. The 10-14 conference record was good enough for a sixth place finish.
%^$A major part of winning are the awards and the Buckeyes earned their share.
%^$After the season, the Buckeyes took home a second team all-Big Ten and two second team regional All-America selections.
%^$During the season, Ohio State was one of six Big Ten schools to have a player named conference player of the week. In addition, four members of the OSU squad were named to the South Florida/Louisville Slugger all-tournament team and one Buckeye was named to the Air Touch Cellular Capital Classic all-tournament team.
%^$Prior to the 1998 season, the Buckeyes had their first ever draft selection in the Women’s Professional Softball League with the fifth overall pick in the first round. Prior to this season, two more Buckeyes were selected in the draft.
%^$And as always, Buckeye Softball took control in the classroom. Nine members of the 1998 squad were named OSU Scholar-Athletes and one member of the team was named to the GTE Academic All-America District team.
%^$Kalafatis has proven over and over that reclamation projects are not a problem. Prior to Ohio State, she took over two troubled programs and built them into winners. At the University of Akron, she compiled a mark of 98-63-1. Prior to Akron, Kalafatis headed the coaching staff at California University of Pennsylvania, her alma mater. In five seasons, she posted a 175-53-1 record, winning the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference every year. She graduated from California in 1988 with a bachelors degree in business administration and marketing and in 1991, she earned her masters degree in geography and regional planning.
%^$In her career, Kalafatis has coached three All-Americans, 28 all-region and 36 all-conference players.
%^$A native of Bethel Park, Pa., Kalafatis is an active member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and has served as a member of the Eastern Regional Softball Committee.
%^$
SOME NEW FACES
%^$This year’s roster features seven new faces. The highly touted freshman class includes Anna Smith, Samantha Kimura, Stacy Roth, Julie Darney and Sarah West. Chrissy Fowler and Natalie Woods transferred from Wright State and South Mountain Community College, respectively. %^$
CAPTAINS ARE NAMED
%^$Jaime Chenevey, Natalie Kratzer, Cheryl Palaroan and Renae Weigel have been named captains for the 1999 Ohio State softball team. “I expect our captains to represent and reflect the ideals we want out of our student-athletes,” Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis said. “Natalie, Renae, Jaime and Cheryl all possess excellent work ethics, they are academically focused and are solid people. They characterize what our program stands for in every sense of the word.”%^$
PAIR OF BUCKEYES DRAFTED
%^$In December, Jaime Chenevey and Cheryl Palaroan, respectively, became the second and third Buckeyes ever to be drafted by the Women’s Professional Softball League. The Akron Racers selected Chenevey in the third round and Palaroan in the eighth round in the WPSL Senior Draft. %^$
THE 1999 SCHEDULE
%^$Ohio State will travel 20,372 miles, visit nine states and five different time zones this season. The travel log features four tournaments and a four-game swing through Southern California. At home, Buckeye Field will play host to Michigan, Iowa, Bowling Green, Purdue, Butler, Dayton, Northwestern and Youngstown State. %^$
1998 SEASON REVIEW
%^$The Buckeyes finished the 1998 season with a 33-23 overall and 10-14 Big Ten record. The overall record marked the first winning season since 1995. The 33 wins marked only the fifth time in school history that OSU has won at least 30 games. The .589 winning percentage was the school’s third highest in the 90s and the highest since 1994s .667. Within the conference, OSU finished in sixth place.%^$
MEDIA GUIDES ON SALE
%^$Copies of the 1999 Ohio State Softball Media Guide are on sale at The Winning Schott, the gift shop inside the Jerome Schottenstein Center. Store hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. For more information, please call (614) 292-2073 or 1-800-678-6022. %^$
GETTING RESULTS
%^$Results for the Buckeyes will be posted through www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com approximately two hours after the last game of each day. Results are also available through the Fax-on-demand service (The Big Ten passcode – 282; Release – 2665, Last Game Result – 2667).%^$
ON DECK
%^$On March 26-28, the Buckeyes head to Atlanta, Ga. for the Georgia Tech/Buzz Classic. OSU is scheduled to face Evansville and Maryland on Friday and Campbell and Tennessee-Martin on Saturday. Sunday’s play will be based on seeding. OSU will then open the home portion of the 1999 schedule on March 30, when they play host to a doubleheader against Miami (O.) at 2 p.m.%^$
PLAYER PROFILE UPDATES
%^$0 – Julie Darney – 3B/P – Fr.
%^$Made her college debut against Hawaii (2/12) as a pinch-hitter. Threw a shutout inning against Cal-State Fullerton (2/14).%^$
1 – Kristi Martin – P – So.
%^$Is still recovering from offseason surgery on her right arm. %^$
3 – Cheryl Palaroan – CF – Sr.
%^$Co-captain of this year’s team. Went 2-for-4 against Loyola Marymount. Had a career high three hits and four runs scored against St. Louis (2/27). Batted .300 at the Kentucky Invitational. Leads the team with eight stolen bases in eight attempts. Has started every game in centerfield and as the leadoff hitter. Tied the OSU all-time career stolen base record of 44 by stealing home plate in the third inning against Canisius (3/7). %^$
4 – Natalie Kratzer – 3B – Sr.
%^$Co-captain of this year’s team. Singled in first at bat of the season against Cal-State Fullerton (2/11). Has started every game at third base. Second on the team with three stolen bases in three attempts. Errorless streak is currently at 10 games and 28 chances.%^$
6 – Meaghan Robinson – P – Sr.
%^$Opening day starter against Cal-State Fullerton. Second consecutive season she got the call on opening day. Recorded a career high seven strikeouts against Indiana State (2-27). Was 2-0 with a 0.00 earned run average at the Kentucky Invitational. Leads the team with a minuscule 0.77 ERA. Her 42 strikeouts has already surpassed last year’s total of 36 and is only two shy of her career high set in her sophomore season. Has yielded only one earned run in her last 33 innings of work. On a four-game winning streak. %^$
7 – Kelli Tom – P – Sr.
%^$Will miss the remainder of the season due to an ailing left knee.%^$
8 – Chrissy Fowler – UT – So.
%^$Is out for the season with torn ligaments in her left knee. %^$
9 – Katie Wessendorf – 1B – So.
%^$Started season opener against Cal-State Fullerton (2/11). Batted .556 at the Georgia State Softball Classic. Went 2-for-3 with an RBI against Indiana State (2/27). Blasted her first career home run in the first inning off Akron’s Tiffany McCoy (3/6)%^$
10 – Natalie Woods – 2B/SS – Jr.
%^$Made her OSU debut with a starting assignment at second base against Hawaii (2/12). Recorded her first career hit and RBI against Loyola Marymount’s Jenny Hart (2/13). Went 2-for-4 with her first career triple against Akron (3/6). %^$
11 – Jaime Chenevey – C – Sr.
%^$Co-captain of this year’s team. Batted .636 at Georgia State Softball Classic with a team high seven hits. Went 3-for-4 against Georgia State (2/27). Batted .545 at the Kentucky Invitational. Went 4-for-5 with an RBI against Akron. %^$
17 – Carrie Vanderpool – 2B – Sr.
%^$Started season opener against Cal-State Fullerton (2/11). Recorded the first hit of her season against Baylor (2/13). Went 2-for-3 with an RBI against Tennessee Tech (2/28). %^$
18 – Renae Weigel – SS – Jr.
%^$Co-captain of this year’s team. Off to another awesome start. Led the team with a .333 batting average at the Paradise Classic. Batted .500 at the Georgia State Softball Classic. Blasted her first career triple, went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and scored 3 runs against St. Louis (2/28). Bombed her first home run of the year, a three-run shot, in the first inning of the Akron contest (3/6). Leads the team with 10 RBI. %^$
20 – Anna Smith – LF – Fr.
%^$First career start came in season opener against Cal-State Fullerton. First career hit and RBI came in the third inning of the Oregon State (2/12) game off Tarrah Beyster. Has played in every game. %^$
21 – Stacy Roth – OF/C – Fr.
%^$Recorded the first hit of her first career in her very first plate appearance against Cal-State Fullerton’s Jana Oetgen (2/12). Also notched her first career RBI that game. Had a career high three walks against CSUF (2/14). Batted a robust .667 at the Kentucky Invitational. %^$
23 – Toni Hileman – P/1B – Jr.
%^$Winning pitcher in OSUs first win of the season over Baylor (2/13). Went 2-for-3 at the plate against Oregon State (2/12). Winning pitcher in OSU’s 16-1 drubbing of St. Louis (2/27). Wining pitcher in OSUs first shutout of the season, a 3-0 win over Canisius (3/7).%^$
24 – Samantha Kimura – 1B/C – Fr.
%^$Started season opener against Cal-State Fullerton (2/11). Recorded the first hit of her career against Baylor’s Carrie Arn (2/13). Finished that game 2-for-3 with a double. Belted the first homerun of her career against St. Louis. Was on a team high nine-game hitting streak (2/13-3/6). Went 3-for-4 with an RBI against Akron (3/6). Batted .500 at the Kentucky Invitational. Has started every game. %^$
26 – Sarah West – 1B – Fr.
%^$Made career debut as a pinch-hitter against No. 17 Hawaii (2/12). Made first career start against Cal-State Fullerton (2/14). Notched her first career hit and RBI against St. Louis’ Jennifer Riva. %^$
28 – Holly English – OF – So.
%^$Missed the first tournament of the season due to injury. Returned to the lineup at the Georgia State Classic. First hit of the year was a double against Georgia State (2/27). Scored three runs against St. Louis (2/27). Batted .300 at the Kentucky Invitational.%^$
OHIO STATE SOFTBALL FACTS
%^$
%^$Location: Columbus, Ohio%^$Enrollment: 48,278%^$President: William E. Kirwan%^$Athletic Director: Andy Geiger%^$Associate Director: Archie Griffin%^$Nickname: Buckeyes%^$Colors: Scarlet & Gray%^$Mascot: Brutus Buckeye%^$Home Facility: Buckeye Field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center%^$Capacity: 800%^$Dimensions: 190-220-190%^$Conference: Big Ten Conference%^$1999 Record: 7-6 overall, 0-0 in Big Ten%^$Head Coach: Linda Kalafatis, California (Pa.),’88 %^$OSU Record: 60-60 (.500), Third Year%^$Career Record: 333-175-2 (.655), 10th Year%^$Assistants: Belinda Cernava, Drema Neal, Shauna Bowman Miller%^$Trainer: Daniel Hamilton%^$Athletic Communications: Pat Chun%^$Phone: (614) 292-6861%^$Fax: (614) 292-8547%^$Home: (614) 326-0193%^$E-mail: chun.18@osu.edu%^$Website: www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com%^$Address: Room 124, St. John Arena%^$ 410 Woody Hayes Drive%^$ Columbus, Ohio 43210-1166%^$%^$THIS WEEK
%^$Sunday, March 21 at 1 p.m.: Ohio State will travel to Long Beach State for a doubleheader.%^$
Monday, March 22 at noon: Ohio State will play Washington in a single game at Cal-State Fullerton.%^$
Tuesday, March 23 at 5 p.m: Ohio State travels to Cal-State Fullerton for a single-game.%^$
NEXT WEEK
%^$March 26-28: Ohio State will play in the Georgia State/Buzz Classic in Atlanta, Ga. %^$
