Northwestern Hands No. 20 Softball First Big Ten Loss, 5-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 5, 2003
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill.-The No. 20 Ohio State softball team (17-11, 2-1) fell Saturday at Northwestern, 5-2, in game one of the doubleheader at chilly Drysdale Field in Evanston, Ill. The Buckeyes had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth before the Wildcats (19-10, 1-4) exploded offensively with six hits and five runs in the sixth frame to hand the Buckeyes their first Big Ten loss.
Buckeye starter Kristi DeVries (Jr., Corona, Calif.) began the sixth inning and was relieved by Katie Chain (Sr., North Canton, Ohio) after two Northwestern hitters reached second and third with one out. Chain retired the first batter she faced before giving up a two-run double to right-center over the head of OSU second baseman Jennifer Link (Sr., Yorba Linda, Calif.). Three batters later, Kristen Amegin singled up the middle to score J.C. Kira. Carri Leto then finished off the scoring with a bases loaded single through the left side, scoring Robyn Pettinger and Brie Brown.
DeVries pitched 5.1 innings for Ohio State, giving up five hits, one walk and two earned runs. Lauren Schwendimann (6-4), who came on in relief for Courtnay Foster in the first, picked up the win for Northwestern as she struck out four and allowed just two hits over the final 6.2 innings. The Buckeyes managed only three hits total off the two Wildcat hurlers.
The Buckeyes scored two early runs in the top of the first, but were unable to advance a runner past second for the remainder of the game. Karisa Evans (So. Franklin, Ohio) and Link led off the inning with back-to-back walks. Two batters later DeVries drove a single to right-center to score Evans from second and advance Link to third. Link then scored the second run two batters later when Ashley Cutcliff (So., Zionsville, Ind.) reached on an error by Wildcat shortstop Ashley Crane. Link, DeVries and Dedic were the only Buckeyes to record a hit for OSU. Leto, who was 3-for-4 with two RBI’s, led Northwestern.
