Softball Plays Host to Marshall; Travels to Akron – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 29, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team (23-21; 4-10 Big Ten) plays host to Marshall in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 30 at Buckeye Field. The Buckeyes then travel to Akron to take on the Zips at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 1, in Firestone Stadium.
ABOUT MARSHALL
Marshall is 40-13 on the season, 20-4 against MAC opponents and recently secured the school’s first-ever MAC championship by sweeping Ohio University last weekend.
The Thundering Herd is led at the plate by Amanda Williams, who is batting .444 and has started in all 53 games. Sierra Davenport and De’Shaun Drake are also offensive contributors with .395 and .342 batting averages, respectively. Williams has accumulated 49 runs and Davenport has tallied 46 runs this season.
Randi Nielson is the power from the mound for Marshall with a 22-4 record and a 1.14 ERA.
MARSHALL’S SHONDA STANTON
Marshall’s Shonda Stanton is in her fourth year at the head of the Marshall softball program. Prior to this season, she had accumulated a 78-78 record with the Thundering Herd. Stanton joined Marshall after heading the program at Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis. During her time at IUPUI, Stanton inherited an NCAA Division II squad that finished 8-20, and led the first-year Division I program to a 27-25 record, a spot in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament semifinals and a victory over the University of Notre Dame.
ABOUT AKRON
Akron is 22-23-1 and 8-11 in MAC competition. Tracee McCoy leads Akron with a .346 batting average. Becky Stern, who hits .276, leads the team with 32 runs, while McCoy is the RBI leader with 39 to her name.
Tina McCauley and Megan MacKenzie lead the Zips from the mound. McCauley is a combined 11-9 with a 2.08 ERA and MacKenzie is 10-13 with a 2.71 ERA.
AKRON COACH DEANNA PARKS
Deanna Parks is in her seventh year at the helm of the University of Akron softball program. A year ago she led the Zips back to the Mid-American Conference elite, which included the Zips first trip ever to the conference tournament title game and their third 30-win season in the past five years. SENIORS’ FINAL SALUTE AT BUCKEYE FIELD
Don’t miss out on this weekend’s games with Penn State as the Ohio State seniors play at Buckeye Field for the last time. The winningest class in Ohio State history will be playing their last games at home vs. the Lady Lions beginning at 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, May 3 and 4. The seniors we are bidding farewell to include: Katie Chain, Amy Ellis, Annie Dedic, Kristine Himes, Rogeanna Hottinger, Jenn Link and Liz Kacsanek.
LAST TIME VS. AKRON
While Ohio State’s pitching was excellent at Akron April 10 the Buckeyes struggled offensively and were not able to convert a run against the Zips. Akron won both contests, 1-0.
It took 12 innings and nearly four hours for the then-No. 25 Ohio State softball team to fall at Akron, 1-0, in game one of a doubleheader.
Junior pitcher Kristi DeVries did not allow a hit until the 10th inning and struck out 11-of-12 batters, including a string of nine in a row, beginning in the second inning. DeVries dished out 14 total strikeouts and moved to 8-5. Despite racking up seven hits, the Buckeyes were unable to convert a run.
The second game was another defensive battle with Akron taking the win, 1-0. Senior pitcher Katie Chain, who is 8-8 this season, struck out seven Akron batters.
EVANS OFFENSE COMING THROUGH
Sophomore Karisa Evans is leading the Buckeyes offensively with a .333 batting average. Evans has started in all 45 games this season and has tallied a team-best 44 hits, 28 runs and 11 doubles.
RACKING UP THE W’S
Ohio State is in good hands with pitchers Katie Chain and Kristi DeVries, who hold the top two spots for Buckeye career wins. Chain, a senior who is also the Buckeyes’ strikeout leader, has 66 career wins to her name and DeVries, a junior, has 42 career victories.
SENIORS TOP THE HISTORY BOOKS WITH 152
With two wins at Ohio April 16, the 2003 senior class, which consists of Kristine Himes, Jennifer Link, Elizabeth Kacsanek, Rogeanna Hottinger and Katie Chain (Amy Ellis and Annie Dedic transferred in their sophomore year), became the all-time winningest class in school history with 150 wins, breaking the mark of 149 set by the class of 2002 last season. The class currently has 152 career victories.
TWO MORE W’S TO 500
Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis needs just two more wins to reach 500 career victories. Currently, Kalafatis is 498-281-2 (14 years) overall and 224-166-0 (seven years) with the Buckeyes.
DEVRIES REACHES 100 K’S
Junior Kristi DeVries was credited with the win in game one vs. Ohio and the eight strikeouts she tallied brought her then-season total to 100 K’s. This is the second consecutive season DeVries has earned at least 100 strikeouts. Last season, the Corona, Calif., native totaled 102 strikeouts. Currently, DeVries owns 122 K’s on the year.
CHAIN KEEPS RACKING ‘EM UP
Katie Chain, Ohio State’s career strikeout leader with 692, is the first Buckeye to reach 600 strikeouts.
Chain reached her latest pitching milestone as she recorded her 600th career strikeout in a 4-2 win over Oakland March 15. She recorded nine strikeouts in the complete game and gave up only three hits over the seven innings.
HOME RUNS GALORE
The Buckeyes have tallied 15 home runs in the last 33 games, including two vs. Michigan State April 20 by Ashley Cutcliff and Rogeanna Hottinger in the Buckeyes’ 2-0 victory. Cutcliff and Hottinger also hit two vs. Ohio April 16 in game two. Leading the way in the homer category is senior Kristine Himes with eight. Cutcliff is next with five followed by Rogeanna Hottinger with four. Amy Ellis, Karisa Evans, Jennifer Johnson and Beth McAbier each have one.
HIMES NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kristine Himes was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week April 1 for her performance against Indiana. The weekly honor is the third this season for Himes and the fourth overall for the Buckeyes.
Himes, Ohio State’s career home run leader (40), batted .667 in two conference victories against Indiana (8-1, 9-0) March 28-29. Himes went 4-for-6 with a double, one home run (a two-run shot) and six RBI’s in the two games. She recorded eight total bases for a 1.333 slugging percentage and also stole a base in the Saturday win. The Buckeyes outscored the Hoosiers 17-1 in the two games.
Himes is batting .297 with a team-leading eight home runs and 29 RBI’s to compliment her .610 slugging percentage.
HITTING THE BOARDS EARLY
The Buckeyes have done a majority of their damage offensively early in games. They have scored 102 of their 161 runs this year in the first three innings, 80 of which have been in the second and third innings. The Buckeyes are outscoring the opposition 161-115 and are averaging 3.58 runs per contest.
ONE-GAME CONTESTS
The Buckeyes are no strangers to close contests as 18 games this season have been decided by one run. Ohio State is 5-11 in one-run games, 3-2 in two-run games and 5-7 against ranked opponents.
STEADY STARTS
Karisa Evans and Kristine Himes are the only two Buckeyes to have started all 45 games this season. Kristi DeVries and Rogeanna Hottinger have each started all of the games in which they have played; DeVries has played in 42 and Hottinger has made appearances in 43 outings.
NEXT UP
Ohio State wraps up the regular-season portion of its schedule with two games against Penn State at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 3 and 4, at Buckeye Field.
