OSU Softball Opens Worth Invite With 10-3 Win Over Portland State – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 1, 2002
Box Score
FULLERTON, Calif. – Stacy Roth (Sr., Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) hit a grand slam off the top of the right-center fence and 12 different Ohio State softball players collected a hit in the Buckeyes’ 10-3 win over Portland State in the opening game of the 2002 Worth Invitational in Fullerton, Calif., Friday. OSU improved its all-time best start to 10-1 on the strength of 13 hits and seven stolen bases, four by Anna Smith (Sr., Walnut, Calif./Diamond Bar). The four steals by Smith is one off the record she set March 18, 2000 vs. UNC-Charlotte.
The Buckeyes opened the scoring early as the visitors on the scoreboard when Smith reached on a walk with one out. Wendy Allen (So., Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) singled to left after a Smith stolen base to put runners on the corners. Allen and Smith stole second and home, respectively, to put OSU on top, 1-0. Monica Martell led off the bottom of the first for the Vikings with a first-pitch single to right but was stranded when the following three batters were retired.
OSU went back to work to open the second and collected six runs to blow the game open. Sarah West (Sr., Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) got the ball rolling with a double to center on the first pitch she saw from Morgan Siebert. Pitcher Kristi DeVries (So., Corona, Calif./Corona) followed with an RBI single to left to bring the score to 2-0. Amy Ellis (Jr., Erie, Pa./McDowell) entered the game to run for DeVries and stole third two batters later and crossed the plate on an Annie Dedic (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif./Fullerton JC) sacrifice fly. With the bases empty, leadoff hitter Jennifer Link (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif./Sonora), Smith and Allen loaded the bases on three-consecutive walks and all came home when Roth ripped a shot of the top of the temporary fence in right-center to bring the lead to 7-0. It was the third longball of the year for Roth, increasing her team-high RBI total to 17.
PSU collected a single in the bottom of the second but could not get anything started. Neither team could muster offense in the third with the Buckeyes recording a single of the bat of Dedic and the Vikings going down in order. The fourth brought better fortune for both squads with OSU plating one run and PSU totaling three. Smith opened the fourth stanza with a single to left and was moved to second on an Allen sacrifice bunt. Meghan Rowlands (Fr., Hilliard, Ohio/Bishop Ready), pinch hitting for Chrissy Folwer (Sr., Utica, Ohio/Wright State), stepped in and doubled down the left line to plate Smith.
In the Viking fourth, Vanessa Applegate singled on the first pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. Nicole Ivie and Summer Conroy followed with walks to load the bags with no outs. Rose Rutledge doubled to right center to plate Applegate and pinch-runner Tennant to cut the OSU lead to 8-3. That was all the scoring the Buckeyes would allow as DeVries struck out four and allowed one hit.
In the Buckeye fifth, Kristine Himes (Jr., Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a stolen base. She came in to score three batters later when Smith hit into a fielder’s choice. OSU scored its final run of the contest when Elizabeth Kacsanek (Jr., Uniontown, Ohio/Green) singled up the middle and was moved to second by a Katie Chain (Jr., North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) single to right. Kacsanek came home when Rowlands picked up her second hit of the game, a single to left, to put the Buckeyes on top, 10-3.
In all, Smith, Kacsanek, Allen, Chain, Roth, Rogeanna Hottinger (Jr., Newark, Ohio/Newark), West, Beth McAbier (So., Carrollton, Ohio/Carrollton), DeVries, Himes and Dedic all collected one hit and Rowlands two in the win. DeVries pitched a complete game with six strike outs allowing six hits and three runs, all earned.
The Buckeyes return to action at 7 p.m. EST tonight when they battle the host Titans of No. 17 Cal State Fullerton.
