No. 25 Softball Sweeps Toledo With 4-1 Win In Game Two – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 9, 2003
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio– Jennifer Link (Sr., Yorba Linda, Calif.) went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored and freshman Chelsea Baker (Gahanna, Ohio) pitched her second complete game of the season as the No. 25 Ohio State softball team (19-12, 2-2 Big Ten) defeated Toledo, 4-1, in game two of a doubleheader Wednesday at chilly Buckeye Field. With the sweep, the Buckeyes are now 13-1 all-time against the Rockets (5-20, 2-8).
“It’s nice to get back on the winning track,” Linda Kalafatis, OSU head coach, said. “Hopefully this is the beginning of long string of wins for us. I was pleased with the way Chelsea pitched today and I liked our level of energy in both games. We just need to keep it going.”
Unlike the first game, Toledo got on the board first when Gina Muratori scored on an error by Link who made an errant throw to first base. Unfortunately for Toledo, that was all the scoring Baker and the Buckeyes would allow.
Ohio State did not mess around as they came right back in the bottom half of the first to score two. Karisa Evans (So., Franklin, Ohio) started things off with an infield single and advanced to second when she saw no one covering second base. Link immediately drove home Evans with a single up the middle the very next at bat. After Link moved to third on a passed ball, Kristine Himes (Sr., Bolivar, Ohio) drove in Link with a sacrifice fly to center.
The Buckeyes added two more runs as they scored one in the third and fourth to finish out the scoring. The fourth inning saw Rogeanna Hottinger (Sr., Newark, Ohio) hit her third career triple as Stacy Hibma (Fr., Buena Park, Calif.) scored all the way from first on the play.
With the win, Baker improves to 2-1 on the season. She now has 30 strikeouts in 30.1 innings of work. Evans went 2-for-3 for the second-consecutive game and scored twice. Beth McAbier (Jr., Carrollton, Ohio), Himes, Hibma and Hottinger all recorded one hit for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State will hit the road Thursday for a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Akron before returning home Sunday to face Big Ten leader Iowa (25-8, 3-1) for a noon twinbill at Buckeye Field.
