Softball Gains Sweep Over Purdue with 2-1 Win – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/15/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 15, 2001%^$
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%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio – Instead of waiting until the final innings to score a couple runs to edge out a win, as the Ohio State softball team (33-12 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) had done in its first three games of the weekend – all 2-0 wins – the Buckeyes scored two runs in the bottom of the first and held on for a 2-1 win over Purdue at Varsity Softball Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.%^$
%^$With the win, OSU finished its Hoosier State excursion a perfect 4-0 with sweeps over both Indiana and Purdue, marking the first time a Buckeye squad finished a weekend of Big Ten play undefeated since sweeping four games from Northwestern April 27-28, 1990.%^$
%^$Jenn Link (So., Yorba Linda, Calif./Sonora), who went 3-for-4 from the plate, opened the bottom of the first with a single to center field. Anna Smith (Jr., Walnut, Calif./Diamond Bar) followed with a single to shortstop. A double steal put Link on third base and Smith on second with no outs. It appeared OSU might squander its chance to take an early lead when the next two batters grounded out and popped out, respectively. But Wendy Allen (Fr., Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) came up big with a single to center field to score both Link and Smith.%^$
%^$”We wanted to jump on them early,” Linda Kalafatis, OSU head coach, said. “After getting a key two-out, two-RBI single by Wendy (Allen), did I think that would be our last score of the game? No.”%^$
%^$Katie Chain (So., North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) had all the cushion she would need. In six innings of work, she allowed six hits and struck out three, while giving up one run to improve her record to 15-5.%^$
%^$Chrissy Fowler (Jr., Utica, Ohio/Utica) went 4-for-4 from the plate for the Buckeyes.%^$
%^$The Boilermakers narrowed the OSU lead to 2-1 with two hits in the top of the second, but were never able to get any closer.%^$
%^$Allen came in to relieve Chain after rightfielder Chrissy Davie opened the top of the seventh with a single. Allen earned her second save in two days at Purdue and her fourth of the season.%^$
%^$During the four-game stretch, OSU pitching allowed one run.%^$
%^$”Our pitching was tremendous today, as it has been all weekend,” Kalafatis said. “Katie (Chain), Kristi (DeVries) and Wendy (Allen) were all superb. It’s easy to win ballgames when you only allow one run in four games.”%^$
%^$OSU will play host to two Big Ten foes this weekend at Buckeye Field. Friday, OSU plays host to Michigan State in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the Buckeyes play host to Michigan in a two-day set. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
