Softball Edges Michigan, 3-2, in 11-inning Thriller – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2001%^$
%^$%^$%^$Box Score%^$%^$%^$%^$
%^$COLUMBUS,Ohio – It was a long time coming, so it was only fitting that it took nearly four hours for the Ohio State softball team (36-13 overall, 10-4 in the Big Ten) to snap a 16-game losing streak to Michigan with an 11-inning 3-2 win over the Wolverines at Buckeye Field.%^$
%^$The victory marked the first time OSU defeated Michigan since a 2-0 win in game one of a doubleheader May 3, 1995, in Columbus. The Buckeyes handed Michigan its first conference loss of the season and in doing so, snapped the Wolverines 18-game win streak. Michigan is now 30-12-1 overall and 13-1 in the Big Ten.%^$
%^$”That was a roller coaster of a game for both teams,” Linda Kalafatis, OSU head coach, said. “Both teams were given opportunities and had some blown opportunities. Each team had moments where they did some good things and some instances where they didn’t do good things. Anyone could have won it at the end.%^$
%^$”We stayed with it and we got tough. That’s what you need to do. You need to be tough down the stretch. Obviously, to beat a program the quality of Michigan – especially when they are on an 18-game win streak – is special. They are nearly unbeatable right now, but we found a way.”%^$
%^$Katie Chain (So., North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) allowed just three hits in eight innings of work, striking out five. She improves to 17-5 with the win. Marie Bardo took the loss for the Wolverines. She is now 13-5 after allowing five hits and striking out five in 8.1 innings.%^$
%^$Kristine Himes (So., Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) led off the top of the 11th inning with a double off the wall in right field. Chrissy Fowler (Jr., Utica, Ohio/Utica) followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Himes to third base. Sarah West (Jr., Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) reached first on a fielder’s choice when shortstop Rebecca Tune threw home to stop Himes from scoring. Himes went half way down the third base line before safely retreating to third. With two outs, Jenn Link (So., Yorba Linda, Calif./Sonora) drew a walk to load the bases. Rogeanna Hottinger (So., Newark, Ohio/Newark) was hit by a pitch to bring in the winning run.%^$
%^$OSU held a 2-1 advantage with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. After Chain allowed a one-out single to first baseman/pitcher Marissa Young, Kristi DeVries (Fr., Corona, Calif./Corona) was called in to close the game. Monica Schock, pinch hitting for centerfielder Meghan Doe, doubled off the base of the wall in center field. The ball ricocheted off the wall, allowing pinch runner Lisa Mack to score from first to send the game to extra innings.%^$
%^$”At first, I thought it was out,” Kalafatis said. “That really took a lot of wind out of our sails. We needed to buckle down. Wendy (Allen) came in and did a marvelous job. She was hurting a little bit. She gave it all she had.”%^$
%^$Wendy Allen (Fr., Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) came in from right field to replace DeVries. In 2.2 innings, she faced 10 batters, giving up two hits. Chain returned to the pitching circle in the bottom of the tenth inning and held the Wolverines scoreless in the final two innings.%^$
%^$”Katie reentered to win us the game,” Kalafatis said. “I thought she really stepped up today.”%^$
%^$Chain was informed she might not be done for the day when she was taken out in the seventh.%^$
%^$”Once the coaches took me out, they told me to be ready to go back in,” Chain said. “I wasn’t going to let Michigan beat us. We earned this win.”%^$
%^$Down 1-0 after giving up a run in the bottom of the first inning, OSU tied the game in the top of the fourth inning with a line drive home run over the 220 feet sign in dead center by Stacy Roth (Jr., Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon).%^$
%^$”I was just sitting back for an outside pitch because I knew that’s probably what I was going to get,” Roth said. “Instead of outside, it was a changeup. I waited back and fortunately I got a hold of it.”%^$
%^$Kalafatis said the home run was crucial after allowing a run in the first inning without ever allowing a hit.%^$
%^$Michigan leadoff batter and second baseman Kelsey Kollen reached second base when Chain overthrew first baseman Sarah West on a routine ground ball. A sacrifice bunt moved Kollen to third base and she gave the Wolverines an early lead when she came home on a groundout to second base by designated player Courtney Betley.%^$
%^$”When Stacy (Roth) hit that out it really ignited us,” Kalafatis said. “We had given them a run early on. That was definitely a confidence-booster.”%^$
%^$OSU took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning. West opened the inning with a walk. Jenn Elwell (Jr., Dearborn Heights, Mich./Divine Child) pinch ran for West. She reached second on a passed ball and stole third base, sliding under the tag. Smith hit a bloop-single to shallow right field to score Elwell.%^$
%^$After the score, Marissa Young replaced Michigan starter Marie Barda in the pitching circle. Young gave up one hit and struck out two in 2.2 innings of work. Barda returned with one out in the eighth inning.%^$
%^$”We had to get to Barda,” Kalafatis said. “That was the challenge I made to the team yesterday. If we were going to win, we were going to have to go through her. We started to hit her pretty hard and they made a change.%^$
%^$”I can’t say enough about how we stepped up and beat a great ball club. I told the team we are getting better as the season goes on. We are making the climb.”
