Ohio State Softball Falls at No. 10 Michigan, 3-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 9, 2004
Box Score| Notes
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Ohio State senior pitcher Kristi DeVries allowed just three hits, but the Buckeyes were held to two hits of their own as the 10th-ranked Michigan softball team took a 3-0 victory at Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Mich., Friday afternoon. DeVries struck out three Wolverines and did not allow a walk, but Ohio State saw its four-game winning streak halted in its first Big Ten road game of the season.
Ohio State falls to 23-13 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten, while Michigan improves to 30-6 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines won for the 13th consecutive game and remain atop the Big Ten standings with Iowa.
“It was a very well-played game on both sides,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “Their pitcher, Jennie Ritter, did a great job. We struck out looking five times, but I’m not sure I can fault our hitters on some of those.”
DeVries (Corona, Calif./Corona) retired the first 11 Michigan hitters of the game, including three by strikeout in consecutive order in the second inning. With two outs in the fourth inning, the Wolverines’ No. 3 hitter, Tiffany Haas, singled to right field and one batter later, UM cleanup batter Jennifer Olds belted her ninth homerun of the season to centerfield to put Michigan up, 2-0.
Ohio State junior Natalie Hales (Canton, Ohio/Eastern Michigan) doubled to leadoff the third inning but did not advance past second base. With one out in the fourth inning, junior Karisa Evans (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) singled, bringing OSU’s RBI-leader Jamee Juarez (Fr., La Puente, Calif./Wilson) to the plate. Juarez lifted a shot to centerfield, but it was caught on the warning track and Michigan then registered the third out of the inning one batter later to end the OSU scoring threat. Michigan added another run in the fifth inning as Nicole Motycka tripled and scored with one out on a sacrifice fly by Angie Churchill.
DeVries, who allowed just four Michigan base runners all game, falls to 8-7. UM’s Jennie Ritter improves to 13-3.
Ohio State and Michigan will meet again Saturday at 1 p.m. Visit www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com for live scoring.
### Go Bucks! ###
