Softball Plays Host to Penn State to Close Regular Season – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 2, 2003
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team (25-22; 4-10 Big Ten) closes the regular-season portion of their schedule against Penn State (29-20; 8-8 Big Ten) at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 3 and 4, at Buckeye Field in Columbus, Ohio.
ABOUT PENN STATE
Penn State is 29-20 overall and 8-8 in conference competition. Gina Bianchini, Megan Humphrey, Mandy Nuxoll and Kelley Galigher are leading the Lady Lions with a .329, .317, .315, and .303 average, respectively. Galigher is the team leader with 35 RBI’s. Jackie Dabrowski has been the power from the plate for Penn State in conference games with a team-best .312 batting average.
Marisa Hanson is 13-8 from the mound for PSU, Shana Riggleman is a combined 10-3 on the year and Tina Skelly is 6-9 this season. Hanson has a 1.14 ERA, Riggleman has a 1.81 ERA and Skelly owns a 1.86 ERA.
PENN STATE’S ROBIN PETRINI
Penn State’s Robin Petrini is in her seventh year with the Lady Lions and had accumulated a 185-155-1 record entering this season. She has led Penn State to four consecutive trips to the Big Ten Tournament and three straight NCAA Regional Tournament appearances.
A native of South San Francisco, Calif., Petrini is a 1983 graduate of Utah State University with bachelor’s degrees in political science and physical education. She enjoyed a successful playing career as a four-year letterwinner and starting shortstop for the Aggies’ 1980 and 1981 national championship squads. A three-time all-conference selection, she was also an All-America nominee. GOTTA WEAR SHADES
Buckeyes fans, don’t forget your pair of Buckeye sunglasses to show your support for Ohio State softball. Sunglasses are available in the press box.
KALAFATIS REACHES 500
As darkness fell on the Buckeyes in their 6-0 win in five innings over Marshall April 30, head coach Linda Kalafatis tallied her 500th career victory. Kalafatis moves to 500-281-2 overall (14 years) and 226-166-0 (seven years) at Ohio State.
11 MORE TO 700
Katie Chain is the first Buckeye to reach 600 strikeouts and needs 11 more to reach 700. Chain currently has 689 total K’s.
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.
SENIORS’ FINAL SALUTE AT BUCKEYE FIELD
This weekend’s games with Penn State will be the seniors’ last times on Buckeye Field. The winningest class in Ohio State history, which consists of Katie Chain, Kristine Himes, Jennifer Link, Liz Kacsanek and Rogeanna Hottinger, will be playing their last games at home vs. the Lady Lions. The Buckeyes will also say goodbye to seniors Amy Ellis and Annie Dedic, who both transferred into Ohio State their sophomore years.
BACK ON THE WINNING TRACK
The Buckeyes got back on track with their two wins vs. Marshall April 30. The squad broke a five-game losing streak as they won 3-2 and 6-0 vs. the Thundering Herd.
GAME VS. AKRON CANCELLED
The Ohio State softball game vs. Akron scheduled for May 1 was cancelled due to rain and poor field conditions. The game will not be rescheduled.
HIBMA MAKING A NAME FOR HERSELF
Freshman Stacy Hibma had a huge game against Marshall in the first meeting. Hibma not only got the Buckeyes on the scoreboard with a solo shot homerun to left field, but the Buena Park, Calif., native also stepped up with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to nail a double and bring sophomore Meghan Rowlands and senior Jenn Link home to clinch the victory for Ohio State.
SATURDAY’S RAFFLE
During the Ohio State-Penn State game Saturday, the Buckeyes will be raffling off several OSU items, including hats, shirts, polo shirts, a team autographed softball and a helmet. Winning tickets will be drawn in the third, fifth, and final innings of the game today. All ticket holders will be eligible for the grand prize, which will be drawn in the final inning. The winner of the grand prize drawing will receive an autographed football signed by Archie Griffin.
Proceeds will go to former Buckeye softball player, Sherri Winland-Thomas’ family. Sherri and her husband, Jeff, have four children, Emily, Benjamin, Dillan, and Zoey. Sherri and Jeff’s second son, Benjamin, was diagnosed over a year ago with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of head and neck cancer that affects 4 in 1 million kids under the age of eight. Benjamin has under gone 10 weeks of chemotherapy and 28 radiation treatments over the past 11 months. This Monday will be his final chemotherapy treatment and we are very happy to announce that he is in remission.
EVANS’ LEADING THE WAY
Sophomore Karisa Evans is leading the Buckeyes offensively with a .331 batting average. Evans has started in all 47 games this season and has tallied a team-best 45 hits, 29 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 67 career wins to her name and DeVries, a junior, has 43 career victories.
SENIORS TOP THE HISTORY BOOKS WITH 154
With two wins at Ohio April 16, seniors 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 154 career victories.
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 130 K’s on the year.
HOME RUNS GALORE
The Buckeyes have tallied 17 home runs in the last 35 games, including one from Stacy Hibma in the bottom of the seventh vs. Marshall, which brought home the winning runs and one from Kristine Himes in the second game vs. Marshall. Leading the way in the homer category is senior Kristine Himes with nine. Cutcliff is next with five followed by Rogeanna Hottinger with four. Amy Ellis, Karisa Evans, Stacy Hibma, Jennifer Johnson, 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 108 of their 170 runs this year in the first three innings, 86 of which have been in the second and third innings. The Buckeyes are outscoring the opposition 170-117 and are averaging 3.62 runs per contest.
ONE-GAME CONTESTS
The Buckeyes are no strangers to close contests as 19 games this season have been decided by one run. Ohio State is 6-11 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 47 games this season. Kristi DeVries and Rogeanna Hottinger have each started all of the games in which they have played; DeVries has played in 43 and Hottinger has made appearances in 45 outings.
