Buckeye Softball Blanks Dayton, 8-0, In Twin Bill Opener – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 7, 2004
Box Score| Notes
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State head softball coach Linda Kalafatis won her 250th game at the helm of the Buckeye program and senior Kristi DeVries pitched her 24th career shutout as Ohio State blanked Dayton Wednesday evening, 8-0, in the first game of a double-header at Buckeye Field.
Ohio State (22-12, 2-2 Big Ten) erupted for five runs in the fifth inning and then ended the game in the sixth inning to notch the team’s third consecutive mercy rule victory. The Buckeyes have won five of their last seven games to go 10 games over the .500 mark for the second time this season.
Kalafatis set Ohio State’s all-time wins record last season and has guided the Buckeyes to at least 20 wins in each of her eight seasons.
“It (winning No. 250) is a symbol for the kids that played during that time and the kids playing now,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said.
DeVries (Corona, Calif./Corona) allowed just one hit and four base runners in the game as she improved to 8-6 on the season. With 11 strikeouts in the game, she upped her team-leading total to 106 this season and 532 for her career.
Freshman Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) led off the game for Ohio State with a double and scored one batter later on a Dayton throwing error following an infield single by freshman Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut). In her second at bat of the game, Koyano walked then stole second, which was her 13th stolen base of the season, setting a new Ohio State record for steals by a freshman. All five of Ohio State’s runs in the fifth inning were unearned and came with two outs. Freshman Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) drew an RBI walk, sophomore Chelsea Baker (Gahanna, Ohio/DeSales) hit a two-run single and senior Beth McAbier (Carrollton, Ohio/Carrollton) smacked an RBI single during the inning.
Sophomore Billie Jo Carder (Celina, Ohio/Celina) led off the sixth inning with her first career triple. One batter later, sophomore Stacy Hibma (Buena Park, Calif./Valley Christian) delivered a two-run homerun, her second in as many days, to end the game via the eight-run mercy rule.
Dayton (10-20, 1-1 Atlantic 10) starter Melissa Myher suffered the loss to fall to 8-8 on the season.
These two teams will meet in the second game of the double-header Wednesday night at approximately 7 p.m.
### Go Bucks! ###
