Softball Uses Pitching, Long Ball To Sweep Twinbill From Ohio, 9-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 16, 2003
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio-Senior Katie Chain (North Canton, Ohio) struck out 11 batters and 11 different Buckeyes recorded at least one hit as the Ohio State softball team (21-16) swept the twinbill from the Ohio Bobcats (6-22-1) Wednesday with a 9-1 victory in six innings at the Ohio Softball Field in Athens, Ohio. Ashley Cutcliff (So., Zionsville, Ohio) hit her fifth home run of the season to lead off the second and Rogeanna Hottinger (Sr., Newark, Ohio) hit her third of the year, a two run shot off the scoreboard in right-center, in the fourth.
With the win, the 2003 senior class of Kristine Himes (Sr., Bolivar, Ohio), Jennifer Link (Sr., Yorba Linda, Calif.), Elizabeth Kacsanek (Sr., Akron, Ohio), Hottinger and Chain becomes the all-time winningest class in school history with 150 wins, breaking the mark of 149 set by the class of 2002 last season.
“It was nice to get our hitters and our offense back on track,” Linda Kalafatis, OSU head coach, said. “The challenge now is to do that during the Big Ten season. Once again we got great starting pitching from Kristi and Katie. Most importantly we were able to execute offensively. I challenged the team in certain areas and they were able to step up today. We’re looking forward to getting back in the win column in the Big Ten this weekend.”
Up 5-0, the Buckeyes blew the game open in the sixth as they showered OU reliever Kerri Harley with four hits and four more runs to put the game out of reach. It all started when Nicole Lancaster (Fr., Magnolia, Ohio) beat out a bunt to open the inning. Then, after a single by Billie Jo Carder (Fr., Celina, Ohio) and a walk by Meghan Rowlands (So., Hilliard, Ohio) loaded the bases, Ellis dropped an RBI single just inside the left field line to score Lancaster from third. Next, Jennifer Johnson (So., La Mirada, Calif.) drew a bases loaded walk to score Carder before Dedic delivered a two RBI single up the middle to score Rowlands and Ellis. Chain (9-9) followed up DeVries’ performance with a solid game of her own. In five innings, she struck out 11 batters and allowed only three hits and one free pass. Chelsea Baker (Fr., Gahanna, Ohio) finished up the sixth inning to finalize the win in the mercy-rule shortened game. Candy Warden (1-8) took the loss for the Bobcats.
Hottinger highlighted a three-run fourth inning with her two-run homer which also scored Lancaster who was pinch running for DeVries who had just reached on an infield single to the shortstop. The third run came courtesy of an Evans single which scored Carder from second.
The first two runs of the ball game came in the second and third innings. The Buckeyes drew first blood off Cutcliff’s leadoff home run in the second. The other came when Rowlands tripled to right-center and scored the very next batter when the hot-hitting Evans (.368) delivered an RBI double to left-center.
The Buckeyes will now look to ride Wednesday’s momentum into Big Ten play this weekend whey they play host to Big Ten leader No. 13 Michigan (29-8, 7-1) Friday and Saturday and Michigan State (26-11, 6-3) in a doubleheader Sunday at Buckeye Field.
Weekend Schedule: (All games at Buckeye Field)
Friday, April 18
Michigan at Ohio State, 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 19
Michigan at Ohio State, Noon
Sunday, April 20
Michigan State at Ohio State (DH), Noon
