Buckeyes Top Dayton, 6-2, For Second Consecutive Sweep – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 7, 2004
Box Score| Notes
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Winning for the sixth time in its last seven games, the Ohio State softball team took a 6-2 win from Dayton Wednesday night in game two of a double-header at Buckeye Field. The Buckeyes (23-12, 2-2 Big Ten) improve to 9-2 at home this season and to 11 games over the .500 mark for the first time since the 2002 season.
Freshman Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) led off the game with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch to give Ohio State a 1-0 lead before junior Ashley Cutcliff (Zionsville, Ind./University of Florida) blasted a solo homerun, her third homer of the year, to put the Buckeyes up 2-0 and on their way their way to a second-consecutive double-header sweep. Ohio State took two games from Butler Tuesday night.
“It wasn’t about sweeping these two non-conference opponents, but how we played that was important,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “Each week is a mini-season, and we take one game at a time. We’re just trying to focus on ourselves.”
Sophomore Chelsea Baker (Gahanna, Ohio/DeSales) retired 14 of the first 18 Dayton batters of the game to pick up the win and improve to 5-1 on the season. She struck out four batters and scattered six hits and added a two-run single of her own in the fifth inning to put the Buckeyes up, 5-0.
Freshman Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) drilled an RBI double in the fifth inning prior to Baker’s run-producing hit. Freshman Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut), who went 2-for-3 in the game for her ninth multi-hit game of the season, scored on the double by Juarez. Junior Jennifer Johnson (La Mirada, Calif./La Mirada) singled in the sixth inning, stole second base and then scored on an RBI double by freshman Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson).
“Sweeping two teams this week gives us a lot of momentum going into this weekend’s games at Michigan,” Johnson said. “Our bats started out a little slow today, but we picked it up as the game went on.”
Ohio State travels to Michigan this weekend to face the Big Ten leading and ninth-ranked Wolverines in Ann Arbor. Game times are set for 4 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday. Live scoring will be available at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
“Michigan is playing really well and they are tough at their place,” Kalafatis said.
Sophomore Andrea Tribuzi (Plano, Texas/Plano East) pitched the seventh inning for Ohio State without giving up a hit.
### Go Bucks! ###
