No. 19 Softball Concludes Home Slate with 4-0 Defeat of Akron – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 2, 2002%^$
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%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio – With its 4-0 defeat of instate rival Akron, the No. 19 Ohio State softball team added to its season of firsts by becoming the first Buckeye team in the history of the program to record 50 wins in a season while pushing its record win streak to 19 games in a row Thursday at Buckeye Field. Stacy Roth (Sr., Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) led the offense in her final regular season home game with a 3-for-3 showing and two runs batted in while five other Buckeyes tallied one hit to help OSU to a 50-9 overall record (15-3 Big Ten) while dropping UA to 27-13 on the year (17-4 MAC).%^$
%^$After four and one-half innings of play, UA had collected four hits and OSU three, to build a scoreless pitchers dual between OSU’s Kristi DeVries (So., Corona, Calif./Corona) and UA’s Lisa Keenan. The Buckeyes plated four runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to break open the tied game and earn the 4-0 victory. With one out, Jennifer Link (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif./Sonora) walked and moved to third when Wendy Allen (So., Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) singled to left with two outs recorded. Roth then pushed across both runners, Link and pinch runner Amy Ellis (Jr., Erie, Pa./Ball State), for a 2-0 lead with a double to right.%^$
%^$Roth, following her two RBI, was not on base long. Pinch hitter Annie Dedic (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif./Fullerton JC) clubbed a single to center and made her way to second as the throw to plate was late while trying to get Roth at home. With a 3-0 lead, Chrissy Fowler (Sr., Utica, Ohio/Wright State) returned to the lineup to run for Dedic and came in to score the final run of the contest on DeVries’ double to left.%^$
%^$Roth was joined in the hit column by Link, Allen, Dedic, DeVries and Kristine Himes (Jr., Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) as the Buckeyes out hit the Zips, 8-5, with both squads committing two errors. DeVries went the distance, striking out four and walking one while scattering five hits over seven innings of work for the shut out. Keenan struck out five and walked two while allowing four runs, all earned.%^$
%^$The game was the last at Buckeye Field in regular season play for seniors Jenn Elwell (Sr., Dearborn Heights, Mich./Divine Child), Fowler, Roth, Anna Smith (Sr., Walnut, Calif./Diamond Bar) and Sarah West (Sr., Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson). The five Buckeyes left their home field the same way they did four years ago in 1999, with a win over an instate opponent. The class of 2002 picked up its first home win on March 30 with a 3-2 defeat of Miami (Ohio).%^$
%^$The Buckeyes will finish their regular season slate with a pair of games at Penn State Saturday and Sunday with both contests starting at 1 p.m. If OSU sweeps the two-game set, it will claim its first conference championship and play host to the Big Ten tournament May 9-11.
