Buckeyes Rally For 12-7 Win Over Eastern Michigan – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 18, 2005
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team (13-6) scored five runs in the sixth inning to break open a 7-7 tie game against Eastern Michigan Friday at Buckeye Field. Ohio State improves to 2-0 in the 2005 Buckeye Invitational as big hits from sophomores Jamee Juarez and Christina Douglas and junior Stacy Hibma helped Ohio State erase a 6-2 deficit after two innings.
Eastern Michigan falls to 0-5. Ohio State will face Notre Dame (11-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) hit a bases-loaded, two-out double in the fourth inning to tie the game at 6-6, Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) knocked a two-RBI double in the sixth inning to put the Buckeyes on top for good and Hibma (Buena Park, Calif./Valley Christian) drilled a three-run home run later in the sixth inning to seal the win for Ohio State.
Juarez finished the game with a career-high tying four RBI, while Hibma’s three RBI are a new career best.
The Buckeyes improve to 2-0 at home in 2005 and to 18-0 all-time in the Buckeye Invitational, which is in its fifth year. Ohio State has won nine of its last 10 games this season.
Freshman Nicole Gragson (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson) pitched the first four innings for the Buckeyes before Juarez came on in relief to earn the victory, her seventh in a row. Juarez worked the final three innings, striking out three.
Juarez tripled in the third inning, her second career triple, while senior Meghan Rowlands (Hilliard, Ohio/Bishop Ready) also tripled, that coming in the second inning for the third triple of her career. Rowlands added a single in the fourth inning.
OSU sophomore Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) went 2-for-3 and was one of three Buckeye to score three runs in the game. Her three-run effort tied her career high, while the three runs scored for Douglas and freshman Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) are their new career-best.
For the second game in a row, the Buckeyes tied their season high for doubles in a game with four.
### GO BUCKS! ###
