Buckeye Softball Upsets No. 20 Florida State, 2-1, In 11 Innings – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 23, 2002
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team needed four extra innings of play to score a 2-1 upset of the No. 20 Florida State Seminoles at the Al Bishop Softball Complex in Atlanta, Ga., on the second day of the Georgia Tech/Buzz Classic Saturday. The win is the 10th in a row for the Buckeyes as they improved to 23-5 on the year thanks in part to the pitching of Katie Chain (Jr., North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) and the bat of Stacy Roth (Sr., Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon). Chain went the distance, striking out six batters and allowing one run on five hits, to send FSU’s record down to 30-12 on the year. Roth’s lone hit of the game plated the winning run in the 11th.
Both teams went scoreless in the contest until the ninth when the Seminoles, the visitors on the scoreboard, plated a run. Jess van der Linden, as per the international tiebreaker rules, was placed on second base to start the inning and advanced to third when Brandi Stuart reached on a Buckeye error. With runners on the corners, Elisa Valesco singled to plate van der Linden and give FSU the 1-0 lead.
The Seminole lead was short lived. Wendy Allen (So., Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) was placed on second and came around to score when Sarah West (Sr., Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson), the second batter of the inning, singled to right field allowing Allen to cross the plate and tie the game at one. After a scoreless 10th, FSU went back to work looking to score. Shu Colzie was placed on second and moved to third when van der Linden put down a sacrifice bunt. Stuart came to the plate flew out in foul territory to right fielder Allen who fired the ball home to Roth. Colzie was tagged out by Roth to end the inning and the Seminole threat.
In the bottom of the 11th, Anna Smith (Sr., Walnut, Calif./Diamond Bar) was placed on second and advanced to third on an Allen sacrifice bunt. On an 0-2 count, Roth lined a single up the middle to plate Smith and give the Buckeyes the victory.
OSU earned the No. 4 seed in the single-elimination bracket play tournament and awaits the winner of No. 6 Georgia State and No. 11 Belmont in the quarterfinals in a 9 a.m. game Sunday. The winner advances in the draw to face the winner of No. 1 Georgia Tech and No. 8 Harvard/No. 9 Maryland Sunday at 11 a.m. The final is set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E FSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 2 OSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 6 3
WP: Katie Chain (9-2) LP: Leslie Malerich (n/a)
