Softball Plays Host to Iowa in Big Ten Opener – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 30, 2001
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio – Winners of 14 of their last 15 games, the Ohio State softball team (23-9 overall) opens Big Ten play Friday when it plays host to defending Big Ten champions Iowa in a doubleheader at Buckeye Field. OSU then plays host to Northwestern Saturday and Sunday.%^$
%^$KALAFATIS GOES FOR 400
%^$Heading into this weekend, OSU head coach Linda Kalafatis has a career record of 397-236-2, giving her the opportunity to win her 400th game in the opening week of Big Ten play. Since taking over at the helm of OSU softball, Kalafatis has a record of 126-121.%^$
%^$BIG WEEK FOR WEST
%^$The Big Ten Conference announced Ohio State first baseman Sarah West has been named the softball player of the week. After missing six games because of strained ligaments in her left shoulder as a result of a home plate collision in a win over Cleveland State (3/16), West made her presence in the lineup felt upon her return. She hit three home runs in five games at the Buzz Classic in Atlanta. In her first game back, a 2-0 win over Campbell, West provided half the OSU offense when she broke a scoreless tie with her fifth-inning shot. West also cleared the fence in an 8-0 win over Charleston Southern and again the next day when she tied the score at one in the third inning of an eventual 2-1 OSU win over North Carolina. Batting .545 (6-for11), West tallied four runs batted in and helped OSU to a 4-1 record and a No. 1 seed as the 25-team field was narrowed to 12. For her efforts in Atlanta, West was an all-invitational selection. West is tied with third baseman Kristine Himes with a team-high four home runs on the season. She is batting .281 with four doubles and 10 RBI.%^$
%^$HIMES HITS THE HARDEST
%^$Sophomore third baseman Kristine Himes became the most prolific home run hitter in OSU history against Southern Charleston, smacking an offering from Buccanneer pitcher Erin Lambert over the wall in the third inning to give her 14 for her career and pass Ranae Wiegel (1997-2000), who was the previous record holder with 13. Himes is tied for the team lead with four home runs on the season.%^$
%^$WINNERS OF 14 0F 15
%^$After dropping game one of a home-opening doubleheader against Oakland March 8, OSU’s record dropped to 9-8. OSU took game two of the doubleheader to start a 12 game win streak that saw the Buckeyes go 5-0 at the Buckeye Invitational, sweep a doubleheader with Robert Morris and go 4-0 at the Buzz Classic, which earned them a No. 1 seed at the tournament. The streak was snapped with a 3-1 extra-inning loss at the hands of North Carolina. OSU rebounded with a doubleheader sweep over Toledo Wednesday.%^$
%^$BEST START
%^$After winning a program-record 12 in a row and 14 of the last 15 games, OSU is off to the best record in the history of the program after 32 games. The Buckeyes also enter conference play with the most wins ever. Last year the Buckeyes were 14-14 entering conference play.%^$
%^$MOST OFFENSIVE IN BIG TEN
%^$Heading into Big Ten play, OSU leads the conference with a .316 batting average. Penn State is next with a .286 average. The Buckeyes’ 254 hits are most in the conference, five ahead of Illinois. The Buckeyes also have more runs (140), and total bases (345) in the conference. OSU also holds the highest on base percentage (.383).%^$
%^$LINK LEADS IN HITS
%^$Sophomore Jenn Link leads the conference with 38 hits, one more than Illinois’ Jill Sartini.%^$The OSU second baseman is third in the conference in batting average, checking in at .396 (38-for-96). OSU also is represented in the Top 10 in the conference in batting average by Wendy Allen and Stacy Roth. Allen is batting .375 (30-for-80) to place her sixth in the Big Ten. Roth is batting .330 (3-for-900 to place her 10th in the conference.%^$
%^$TWO, THREE AND FOUR
%^$An OSU pitcher checks in with the second, third and fourth lowest earned run average in the conference. Freshman Wendy Allen is second with a 0.60 ERA. She is 4-1 for the season. Freshman Kristi DeVries checks in at the No. 3 spot with a .72 ERA and 10-3 record. Katie Chain is fourth in the conference with a .80 ERA and 9-5 record. Collectively, the Buckeyes’ ERA of 0.55 is second in the conference, behind Indiana. The Buckeyes have allowed the fewest earned runs (17) and total runs (41) in the conference. The opposition is batting just .154 against OSU, the lowest in the conference.%^$
%^$K IS FOR KRISTI
%^$Kristi DeVries is third in the conference with 114 strikeouts. She has pitched 48 fewer innings than leader Kirchberg, who has 160 strikeouts. DeVries was nearly unhittable during OSU’s 12-game win streak. While amassing five wins and tossing four shutouts, DeVries pitched three one-hitters and struck out an alarming 61 batters, more than half of the 114 she faced. Against Buffalo (March 16), she gave up just one hit and struck out 18, including 12 in a row at one point. Against Robert Morris March 20, she nearly threw a perfect game, giving up her only hit of the afternoon with one out in the seventh inning. She registered 13 strikeouts in the effort. In OSU’s first game at the Buzz Classic, she struck out 15 against Campbell while giving up one hit. She struck out five and allowed five hits in the win over North Carolina.%^$
%^$STRIKE THREE
%^$OSU leads the Big Ten with 248 strikeouts, 30 more than second-place Minnesota. DeVries has 114. Chain has 94 and Allen checks in with 40.%^$
%^$FOR STARTERS
%^$Under Kalafatis, OSU is 1-3 in Big Ten openers. In 1997, her first year at the helm, the Buckeyes defeated Northwestern, 1-0, at Buckeye Field. In 1998, OSU dropped a 14-5 game to Minnesota. The Buckeyes lost 7-3 to Michigan in 1999 and 5-4 to Purdue last April 7. The Buckeyes have yet to win a Big Ten opener at Buckeye Field under Kalafatis.%^$
%^$ONE AND DONE
%^$Katie Chain’s one-hit performance in the 10-0 shutout of Toledo in game two of the doubleheader marked the fifth time this season an OSU pitcher has tossed a one-hitter. All of the single-hit efforts have come in the last 15 games. Kristi DeVries has tossed three one-hitters and Chain has thrown two. DeVries one-hit Buffalo in a 6-0 win, Robert Morris in game-one of a doubleheader and in OSU’s first game at Buzz Classic, a 2-0 win over Campbell. Chain has thrown in two of her last three starts. She one-hit Charleston Southern to follow DeVries’ effort that day.%^$
%^$LINK LIGHTS EM’ UP
%^$During the 12-game win streak, Jenn Link hit .514 (19-for-37) with three doubles and nine runs batted in. Link’s 19 hits were four more than the next Buckeye, Stacy Roth. Link scored nearly once a game, crossing home plate 10 times during the streak and collecting 22 total bases. Link also stole four bases on five attempts.%^$
%^$EIGHT IS ENOUGH
%^$The 10-0 win over Toledo in game two of the doubleheader marked the ninth time OSU has tallied eight or more runs this season.The Buckeyes have won every contest in which they hit the eight-run barrier.The Buckeyes dropped Charleston Southern, 8-0, at the Buzz Classic and then defeated Robert Morris 8-0 in game two of a doubleheader. OSU scored eight tational, defeating Cleveland State, 12-1, IUPUI, 8-1, and Buffalo, 10-1. The Buckeyes scored eight or more runs three times at the Buckeye Invitational, defeating Cleveland State, 12-1, IUPUI, 8-1, and Buffalo, 10-1.The Buckeyes opened the season with an 8-1 win over Northern Illinois at the Jameson Inn – Tiger Invitational. OSU reached the eight-run mark twice at the Campbell-Cartier Classic in San Diego, Calif., defeating Utah State, 8-0 and Sacramento State, 8-4.%^$
%^$HAVE MERCY
%^$OSU’s 10-0 win in game two of the doubleheader marked the sixth time the Buckeyes have earned a win in less than seven innings because of the eight-run mercy rule.OSU defeated Charleston Southern, 8-0, at the Buzz Classic. Four of those mercy rulings came during the Buckeyes’ 12-game win streak. OSU blanked Utah State, 8-0, at the Campbell-Cartier Classic in San Diego. OSU defeated Cleveland State, 12-1, and Buffalo, 10-1 at the Buckeye Invitational%^$
%^$GOING YARD
%^$Through 30 games this season, OSU has hit 13 home runs, second most in the conference behind Iowa’s 13. The Buckeyes hit eight homers during their recent 12-game win streak. Kristine Himes and Sarah West are tied with a team-high four long balls. Beth McAbier has two homers and Stacy Roth, Chrissy Fowler and Breana Pozzi each have knocked one out of the park. Last season, OSU set a school-record with 28 homeruns. With 32 games remaining this season, the record is in jeopardy.%^$
%^$OSU VS. THE BUCKEYE STATE
%^$OSU’s doubleheader against Toledo Wednesday marked the first of 12 games the Buckeyes will play against in-state rivals this season. The Buckeyes travel to Oxford, Ohio, to face Miami (Ohio) Tuesday. April 10, OSU travels to Dayton to face the Dayton Flyers in a doubleheader. OSU will play host to Bowling Green (April 25) and travel to Wright State (May 1) for doubleheaders. The Buckeyes’ final matchup with an in-state opponent is May 2 at Akron, where head coach Linda Kalafatis and assistant coaches Belinda Cernava and Drema Neal coached before taking over the OSU program in 1997.%^$
%^$SCOUTING IOWA
%^$Iowa comes to Columbus to open conference play with a record of 21-6. The defending Big Ten champions are coached by Gayle Blevins and return six All-Big Ten selections. Junior pitcher Kristi Hanks was Big Ten pitcher of the year last season. Sophomore infielder Kristin Johnson, sophomore catcher Jessica Bashor and senior infielder Lisa Rasche all were first-team all-conference selections.Hanks has maintained her pitcher of the year form, posting a 16-3 record with an earned run average of 0.53. Sarah Thomson has an ERA of 0.98 and is 3-2. Liz Dennis checks in with a record of 2-1 and a 1.54 ERA. Outfielder/infielder juniors Alicia Gerlach and Liz Dennis were second-team selections. Gerlach is batting .373 (31-83) and has team -highs with five home runs and 23 runs batted in. Katy Jendrzejewski has a team-high batting average of .424 (28-for-66) with three home runs, four doubles and 10 RBI. Rasche is batting .299 (20-for-67) with nine RBI on a home run and three doubles. Johnson is battting .278 with two home runs, five doubles and 10 RBI.%^$
%^$ALL-TIME SERIES WITH IOWA
%^$The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series, 47-27.%^$
%^$LAST TIME AGAINST IOWA
%^$OSU dropped both games of a two-game series last April 29-30 against the Hawkeyes. Iowa defeated OSU, 10-2, Saturday and 4-1 Sunday.%^$
%^$SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
%^$Heading into a matchup with Penn State Friday, Northwestern had a record of 7-11. The Wildcats are coached by Sharon Drysdale, now in her 23rd and final season at the helm. Freshman infielder Carri Letto is batting .300 (18-for-60) with four doubles and four runs batted in. Junior outfielder Erin Jancic is batting .292 (14-for-48) with six RBI. Batting .286 (9-for-28). Sophomore outfielder Andria Caruthers also has six RBI and a triple. Junior catcher/infielder Gretchen Barnes has a team-high 10 RBI with the squad’s only home run. She is batting .196 (10-for-51). In the pitching circle, sophomore Brie Brown has a record of 7-9 and carries an earned run average of 2.71. Sophomore Laura Schwendimann is 0-2 with a 3.60 ERA.%^$
%^$ALL-TIME SERIES WITH NU
%^$The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 49-19-1.%^$
%^$LAST MEETING WITH NU
%^$Northwestern swept both ends of a doubleheader with OSU last April 28 in Evanston, Ill. The wildcats won the first game, 6-0, and the second game, 14-5.%^$
%^$YSU RESCHEDULED
%^$The doubleheader between OSU and Youngstown State that was to be the home opener March 6 and was canceled because of weather, has been rescheduled for April 24 at 2. p.m.%^$
%^$%^$DeVRIES ALL-INVITE AGAIN
%^$Freshman pitcher Kristi DeVries earned all-invitational honors for the third time this season when she was named Most Valuable Player of the Buckeye Invitational. In the opening game of the invitational, DeVries tossed a one-hitter against Buffalo, striking out an eye-opening 18 batters in the process, including 12 in a row at one point, a streak that saw her strike out the side in the second, third and fourth innings. At the plate, DeVries batted .357 (5-for-14) with a single and two RBI. At the Golden Panther Invitational in Miami, Fla., DeVries hit .313 (5-for-16) with two runs batted in for the five-game invitational. In the pitching circle, DeVries posted an earned run average of 0.95, allowing just two earned runs and six hits in 14.2 innings of work, while striking out 19. DeVries also was named to the all-invitational team at the Jameson Inn-Tiger Invitational, held Feb. 9-11 in Auburn, Ala.%^$
%^$DeVRIES ALMOST PERFECT
%^$Pitcher Kristi DeVries was nearly perfect in game one of the doubleheader with Robert Morris. DeVries, who struck out 18 batters and allowed just one hit in her last outing last Friday, carried a perfect game into the seventh inning. With one out in the inning, Robert Morris rightfielder Natalie Aloi became the first Colonial to reach base, hitting a single to left field. DeVries then retired the final two batters on a foul out and strikeout, respectively. DeVries struck out 13 of 22 batters she faced and did not give up a walk.%^$
%^$ENGLISH STILL RECOVERING
%^$Outfielder Holly English, the lone senior on the OSU roster, who has been out the past two weeks, is expected to miss the next two weeks while she recovers from abdominal surgery.%^$
%^$ON DECK
%^$OSU travels to Oxford, Ohio, to face the Miami Redhawks Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
