Buckeye Softball Heads to Dayton Flyer Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 4, 2004
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team will take on its first in-state foes of the season this weekend as the Buckeyes travel to the Dayton Flyer Invitational, March 6 and 7. Ohio State (5-6, 0-0 Big Ten) will meet a pair of Ohio squads Saturday, including host Dayton at 9 a.m. and Wright State at 11 a.m. The Buckeyes will then take on IUPUI at 9 a.m. Sunday before bracket play begins.
Ohio State’s first 11 games of the 2004 campaign have come against some of the best teams in the nation. Of the Buckeyes’ 10 different opponents, all but one was selected for the NCAA tournament last season and eight are currently ranked or receiving votes in the national polls. That type of competition should provide a solid foundation for Ohio State, as just two of the team’s next 12 opponents were postseason qualifiers last year and none currently appear in the national polls.
Despite going up against those tough early season opponents, Ohio State has proven it has the potential to join them in the national rankings yet this season. The Buckeyes have more stolen bases (13 to 11), a better stolen base percentage (.684 to .647) and a better batting average when runners are on base (.231 to .228). In addition, Ohio State pitchers have struck out 10 more hitters than opposing hurlers.
KALAFATIS ON THE WEEKEND
“In retrospect, I think it hurt our team to open up the season and then sit the very next weekend before heading out to the Leadoff Classic,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “We played some tough games down there (last weekend) and we’re looking forward to getting right back on the field this weekend a little closer to home. Dayton has played a tough preseason schedule, Wright State was the only team from Ohio to participate in the NCAA tournament last year and IUPUI is an up-and-coming program so we’ll have to play good softball against all three of these teams.”
BUCKEYES WIN TWO IN GEORGIA
Ohio State is coming off a six-game weekend at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., where the Buckeyes posted a 2-4 record against some of the top teams in the nation. Ohio State defeated Florida Atlantic, 4-3, and then-No. 24 Cal State-Fullerton, 7-2, while falling to then-No. 13 LSU, then-No. 3 California, Virginia Tech and Massachusetts. Virginia Tech and UMass are both receiving votes in the national polls, while LSU jumped to No. 3 in this week’s NFCA poll. Ohio State advanced to the bronze bracket consolation title game before falling to UMass, 4-3, in a 9-inning thriller. Ohio State’s win vs. Fullerton is the team’s third victory over a ranked team this season.
BUCKEYE LEADERS
Junior Karisa Evans, who led Ohio State last season with a .345 average, is again at the top of the Buckeye season box score with a .321 average. Her .429 slugging percentage and .457 on base percentage are also tops on the squad. Other offensive leaders include freshman Megan Schwab (.306), junior Meghan Rowlands (.273), senior Breana Pozzi (.250) and freshman Nycole Koyano (.231). In addition, freshman Jamee Juarez leads the team with three extra-base hits, including two homeruns, and ranks second on the squad with a .364 slugging percentage.
Juarez leads the pitching staff with six starts, 39 innings pitched and 38 strikeouts. She has a 4-2 record with a 1.97 ERA. Senior Kristi DeVries (1-3, 3.25 ERA) has four starts and 18 strikeouts in 23.2 innings pitched, while sophomore Chelsea Baker (0-1, 0.46 ERA) has pitched 15.1 innings and totaled seven strikeouts.
NFCA LEADOFF CLASSIC HIGHLIGHTS
Junior Meghan Rowlands went 5-for-10 at the plate last weekend at the NFCA Leadoff Classic to raise her season batting average to .273. Her .615 on base percentage during the Classic was the best on the squad and she also belted her first extra-base hit, a double vs. Cal State-Fullerton, since February of her sophomore season.
Freshman Jamee Juarez pitched all nine innings of Ohio State’s 4-3 loss in nine innings to UMass in the bronze bracket consolation title game. In that contest, she struck out 16 hitters, just one strikeout shy of the tournament record set by Danielle Henderson of UMass vs. Nicholls State in 1999. Juarez pitched and hit Ohio State to a 4-3 win vs. Florida Atlantic Saturday with six strikeouts on the mound and a solo homerun at the plate that put the Buckeyes up 2-0 early in the game.
Senior Kristi DeVries picked up her first win of the season in leading Ohio State to a 7-2 win vs. then-No. 24 Cal State-Fullerton Sunday. Her strikeout total of eight was not only a 2004 season-high, but equaled her season-high from all of last season. DeVries added a two-run single in that game, as well.
Sophomore Chelsea Baker made two relief appearances and one start during the weekend and allowed just one run in 14 innings of work. The earned run she allowed snapped a streak of 14 consecutive innings pitched this season without allowing an earned run.
Junior Karisa Evans went 3-for-3 with a solo homerun vs. Florida Atlantic Saturday. Both were the third such feats of her career and the team-best third multi-hit effort of the season.
Freshman Megan Schwab’s game-winning RBI vs. Florida Atlantic, a single in the bottom of the seventh inning, was her second game-winner of the season. She smacked a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning in Ohio State’s 3-1 win vs. then-No. 20 Oregon, Feb. 14.
Freshman Christina Douglas blasted a two-run homer in the eighth inning vs. UMass Sunday, which marked her first collegiate hit.
SCOUTING DAYTON
With all 10 starters returning from last season’s 23-21 squad, the Dayton Flyers (2-10) will not lack experience going into the tough Atlantic 10 Conference, in which they finished fifth last season with a 9-7 record. Even though the Flyers have only posted wins this season against Miami and Bradley, they have played against some of the best talent in the nation, with respect to No. 3 Arizona, No. 5 Washington and No. 23 Arizona State in the Fiesta Bowl Tournament. In addition to the 10 starters returning, senior outfielder Tiffany Ward and senior second baseman Maegan Swisher come back after missing a considerable amount of time last season due to injury. Both of these players hope to give senior starting pitcher Dana Campbell and sophomore pitcher Melissa Myher much-needed run support, as UD was 19-3 last season when it scored three or more runs, and 34-5 the past two seasons.
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
The 2004 softball season has begun well for the Wright State Raiders (6-4), as they finished second at the Georgia State Spring Showdown in Atlanta last weekend. Despite a 17-37 record and an eighth place finish in the Horizon League last year, the Raiders made it to the 2003 NCAA Division I Tournament. Wright State lost three starters, but seven are coming back and are ready to make its 13-0 loss to Michigan in last season’s NCAA Division I Tournament a distant memory.
SCOUTING IUPUI
After losing four of their five games at the West Georgia Tournament in Carrollton, Ga., the Jaguars of Indiana-University Purdue-University Indianapolis (1-5) look to bounce back at this weekend’s Fairfield Inn Flyer Invitational in Dayton, Ohio. Returning eight letter winners and three medical redshirts from last year’s squad, IUPUI wants to improve upon last season’s 12-35 overall and 3-17 record in the Mid-Continent Conference. IUPUI will certainly be a threat on the base paths this year, as head coach Julie Pratt’s team was fourth in the nation with 2.3 steals per game last season. Senior outfielder and stealing threat Jennifer Owens and junior infielder Blair Branson lead the offensive charge for the Jaguars, who were voted sixth in the Mid-Continent Conference preseason coaches poll.
OHIO STATE’S WINNING FORMULA
Several interesting variables have factored into Ohio State’s five wins so far this season. The Buckeyes are 4-1 when they hit at least one homerun. The homerun in that loss (a two-run homer by Christina Douglas vs. UMass Feb. 29) was still very crucial, though, as it extended the game into the ninth inning. Ohio State is 4-0 when collecting more hits than their opponent. The Buckeyes have been tough to come back on, as Ohio State is 4-1 when leading after five innings and 4-0 when entering the seventh inning with the lead.
BUCKEYES’ UNSUNG HEROES
Six Buckeyes, including junior SS Jennifer Johnson and freshman 2B second baseman Nycole Koyano, have started all 11 games for Ohio State this season. That pair has been solid in the middle of the Buckeye defense, as Johnson has committed just three errors in her last 44 chances and Koyano has committed just two errors in 38 chances. Johnson owns a team-best 19 assists and had her first multi-hit game of the season with a pair of singles vs. Cal State-Fullerton. Koyano had four hits in the Buckeyes’ final two games in Ga., last weekend.
Junior catcher Natalie Hales has been equally solid behind the plate. In her 10 complete games this season, she has yet to have a passed ball and has thrown out four would-be base stealers. In addition, she is tied for the team-lead in RBI with five.
SEVEN STARTERS RETURN
Seven starters return for the Buckeyes in 2004, including senior P/1B Kristi DeVries (.288, 15 RBI, 12-8, 1.33 ERA), junior OF Karisa Evans (.345, 13 2b, 17 RBI), junior 1B/DP Ashley Cutcliff (.280, 5 HR), sophomore SS Billie Jo Carder (.271), junior OF Meghan Rowlands (.192), senior 1B/DP Beth McAbier (.185) and junior IF Jennifer Johnson (.169). A total of 13 letterwinners return.
DEVRIES, POZZI NAMED CAPTAINS
Senior P/1B Kristi DeVries and senior 3B Breana Pozzi have been selected as co-captains for the 2004 Buckeyes. DeVries is already near the top of most Ohio State pitching records and also has been a solid contributor at the plate for the Buckeyes, as well. Pozzi, who heads into the 2004 season as the starter at third base, has proven to be a spark at the plate for Ohio State. Nagging injuries hampered her junior season after she batted .329 with 12 RBI as a sophomore.
SENIORS AIMING FOR WINS RECORD
The 2004 senior class of P/1B Kristi DeVries, 3B Breana Pozzi and 1B/DP Beth McAbier has been a part of 132 victories while wearing scarlet and gray, which is 25 wins shy of the Ohio State-record of 157 wins collected by the senior class of 2003. Should the 2004 seniors break the wins record, it would mark the third-consecutive season the Buckeye senior class has broken the school’s wins record.
A HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR JUAREZ
Freshman Jamee Juarez celebrated her 19th birthday Feb. 15 with an outstanding performance in Ohio State’s 6-3 win vs. then-No. 19 Arizona State. The La Puente, Calif., native pitched all seven innings, allowing just six hits, and got the job done at the plate, as well, with a grand slam homerun to put the Buckeyes on top, 5-0, in the fourth inning.
In the Arizona State Fiesta Bowl Tournament, which marked her collegiate debut, Juarez was 3-0 on the mound with a 1.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 21 innings of work. She was also Ohio State’s fourth-ranked hitter by batting average with a .188 mark (3-for-16).
KALAFATIS REACHES MILESTONES
The 2003 season provided Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis with a pair of prestigious accomplishments. A 4-1 win vs. Toledo April 9 was Kalafatis’ school-record 221st while at Ohio State, surpassing the previous record of 220 set by Gail Davenport from 1989-1996. Then April 30 a 6-0 win vs. Marshall gave Kalafatis her 500th career victory as a collegiate head coach. Kalafatis is now 506-288-2 (.640) in her 16th season as a collegiate head coach and 233-173-2 (.576) in her eighth season at the helm of the Ohio State program.
LOSSES FROM 2003 SQUAD
The 2003 senior class left Ohio State as the winningest class in the history of the program. 3B Kristine Himes, 2B Jennifer Link, IF Elizabeth Kacsanek, OF Rogeanna Hottinger, OF Amy Ellis, C Annie Dedic and P Katie Chain racked up 157 victories while wearing scarlet and gray. Chain set career records at Ohio State for innings pitched (677.1), wins (67), strikeouts (692) and shutouts (26). She and Link received All-America honors in 2002, while Himes belted a school-record 41 career homeruns.
2004 OUTLOOK
The Ohio State softball program is looking to return to their winning ways under the direction of head coach Linda Kalafatis, who is in her eighth season at the helm of the Buckeye program. A combination of new talent, experienced leaders, versatility and lights at Buckeye Field for the first time in program history should prove to add up to an exciting softball season in Columbus. Ohio State finished 55-14 in 2002 but saw its record slip to 26-23 last season.
“We were not pleased with the second half of our season (last year) and I think that really has motivated our team,” Kalafatis said. “I think we have some very determined young ladies.” In addition to a freshman class that will contribute immediately, Kalafatis is confident in her senior class, which consists of DeVries, McAbier and Pozzi.
“We have three seniors who are all capable of having their best seasons yet,” Kalafatis said. “So far they have provided good leadership for our team and they have the potential to leave as the winningest class in Ohio State softball history, like the two previous senior classes did.”
The pitching mound will have one of the Buckeyes’ leaders and all-time best pitchers this year in DeVries, who ranks second in career wins (44) and strikeouts (426) at Ohio State. The infield is perhaps where the most experience and the most versatility lies on the Buckeye squad. Returnees include DeVries, who doubles as a pitcher and first base player, McAbier, who led the team with 211 putouts last year at first base, Carder and Johnson, who shared time at shortstop last season, and Pozzi, who split time between third base and shortstop. A pair of catchers, junior Natalie Hales and sophomore Stacy Hibma, played in 16 and 28 games, respectively, last year. Rowlands, who played leftfield last season, will shift to centerfield this season and will be joined by returning starter junior Karisa Evans, who batted a team-high .345 in 2003.
BUCKEYES PERFECT IN FALL BALL
Ohio State fashioned a perfect 9-0 record during the fall over two weekends of tournament play. Once again Ohio State hosted the Ohio Collegiate Charity Classic, which raised nearly $10,000 for breast cancer research. Kalafatis’ squad won the event with a 5-0 record for the third consecutive year. A week later, the Buckeyes were a flawless 4-0 at the Wright State Fall Tournament in Dayton, Ohio.
NEXT UP
Following Ohio State’s weekend at the Dayton Flyer Invitational, the Buckeyes will travel to the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C., March 12-14. Ohio State will face North Carolina A&T, Winthrop, North Carolina State and Furman, with the rest of the tournament being played based on seeding.
