Ohio State Softball Beats Illinois, 1-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 23, 2004
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team (28-18; 4-7 Big Ten) beat Illinois (30-16-1; 7-4 Big Ten), 1-0, in game one Friday evening at Eichelberger Field in Champaign, Ill. In the top of the third, Karisa Evans, who was 1-for-2 at the plate, hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, which scored Meghan Rowlands and gave the Buckeyes their fourth Big Ten win this season. Ohio State senior Kristi DeVries earned the win and moved to 10-9 on the season. Illinois’ Amanda Fortune was credited to the loss and is now 19-9.
Evans (Jr.; Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) nailed a single to right field in the first, but was left on base when Illinois turned a double play to catch Evans and Jamee Juarez (Fr.; La Puente, Calif./Wilson) at second and first base, respectively. Illinois’ Rachelle Coriddi singled to second base, but was caught stealing to end the first inning with no scores on the board.
Ohio State went three-up, three-down at the top of the second. Illinois’ Erin Montgomery was caught swinging for the first out, but Erin Jones singled to right field and was moved to second off a sacrifice bunt by LeeAnn Butcher. Jones was left on second when Katie O’Connell flied out to OSU second baseman Nycole Koyano (Fr.; Walnut, Calif./Walnut).
Beth McAbier (Sr.; Carrollton, Ohio/Carrollton) reached first when she was hit by the first pitch of the third inning. Natalie Hales (Jr.; Canton, Ohio/Eastern Michigan) moved McAbier to second and made it to first when she bunted to the Illinois third baseman, who was credited with an error. Rowlands (Jr.; Hilliard, Ohio/Bishop Ready) was brought in to pinch run for McAbier at second base. A fielder’s choice put Koyano on first and loaded the bases for the Buckeyes. Evans’ sacrifice hit to centerfield scored Rowlands and send Ohio State up 1-0 at the end of the top of the third. UI’s Janna Sartini was hit by a pitch to reach first base and Sara Baumgartner was brought in to run at first. Coriddi singled to third base, but both Fighting Illini runners were left on base to end the third when Jenna Hall popped up to Ohio State’s Koyano.
After an inning-and-a-half of no base runners for either team, in the bottom of the fifth Illinois’ Sartini was hit by pitch for the second time during the game, but was left on base to end the fifth with Ohio State maintaining a 1-0 advantage.
Buckeye Koyano singled to left field to get things going in the top of the sixth. Evans reached first and sent Koyano to second off an Illinois error by pitcher Fortune. A sacrifice bunt by Juarez moved Evans and Koyano to second and third, respectively; however both runners were left on base when Ashley Cutcliff (Jr.; Zionsville, Ind./Florida) was out at first and Chelsea Baker (So.; Gahanna, Ohio/DeSales) was caught swinging.
In the bottom of the sixth, Illinois’ Hall doubled to left field and Laura Zobrist was brought in to run for her. The Ohio State defense tallied two outs and ended the inning with Zobrist on second.
With Ohio State up 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Butcher singled to third base and reached second off an O’Connell sacrifice bunt. The Buckeye defense responded by notching two consecutive outs to keep Butcher on second and capture the team’s fourth conference win this season.
The Buckeyes face Illinois in game two at 1 p.m. EDT Saturday at Eichelberger Field in Champaign, Ill. Ohio State then travels to Iowa for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday in Iowa City.
