Ohio State Wins Buckeye Invitational With 14-7 Win Over Marshall – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 20, 2005
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scoring five runs in the first inning and tacking on six more in the seventh, the Ohio State softball team defeated Marshall, 14-7, Sunday at Buckeye Field in the championship game of the Buckeye Invitational. Ohio State wins its early season tournament for the fourth time in as many years, improving to 19-0 all-time in the event.
Marshall entered the game 3-0 in the tournament and 14-8 on the season after knocking off Notre Dame Saturday night, setting up the first-place showdown Sunday with the Buckeyes. Ohio State (14-6) has won 10 of its last 11 games and departs Monday for a six-day, five-game spring break trip to southern California.
Ohio State went 3-0 in the tournament this weekend, which saw two games Saturday lost to the weather, while runner-up Marshall went 3-1. Rounding out the tournament field, in order of finish, were Notre Dame (2-1), Eastern Michigan (1-2), Ball State (1-3) and Oakland (0-3).
Ohio State’s four sophomores were all named to the Buckeye Invitational all-tournament team, including Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson), Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson), Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) and Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain). Their statistics for the tournament and the complete all-tournament team are listed below.
Against Marshall Sunday, the Buckeyes matched their season-best first inning run production, scoring five times off the strength of three doubles and two singles. Ohio State, the visiting team in the game, built its lead to 8-3 heading into the seventh inning when it added six more runs, four of which came from a Douglas grand slam, her first career grand slam and Ohio State’s fourth grand slam of the season.
“I liked the way we came out and hit the ball this weekend,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “That is our strength and we need to continue to produce offensively at that pace. Marshall is a solid ball club and we knew we were going to have to score a lot of runs. We got out and scored some runs early, but we still need to get better, and we have one more road trip to work on it before the Big Ten season starts.”
OSU junior Billie Jo Carder (Celina, Ohio/Celina) notched her first career four hit game with a 4-for-5 performance at the plate against the Thundering Herd. Douglas set a pair of career highs in the game with three hits and six RBI.
Koyano’s RBI triple in the fifth inning was her fifth triple of the season, which already ranks tied for fifth for triples in a season and is the most since All-American Anna Smith had eight triples in 2002. Koyano scored three runs in the game for the third time in her career.
Juarez went the distance in the circle for Ohio State, winning her eighth-consecutive decision. She won all three games for the Buckeyes in the tournament to improve her record to 10-4 on the season. She struck out nine Marshall hitters, matching her season-best total, and walked just one.
Ohio State’s 14 runs in the game are a season best and its 14 hits are second-best. The Buckeyes improve to 5-0 all-time against Marshall, which scored four of its runs in the seventh inning with one out.
2005 Buckeye Invitational All-Tournament Team
Ohio State, Megan Schwab (.700, 7-for-10, 2 2b, 5 RBI)
Ohio State, Jamee Juarez (.556, 5-for-9, 2 2b, 3b, 7 RBI; pitching, 3-0, 3.20 ERA, 21 K, 15.1 IP)
Ohio State, Nycole Koyano (.556, 5-for-9, 2 2b, 2 3b)
Ohio State, Christina Douglas (.500, 4-for-8, 2 2b, HR, 8 RBI)
Marshall, Rachel Folden (.692, 9-for-13, 4 2b, HR, 10 RBI)
Marshall, Amanda Williams (.438, 7-for-16, 2b, 4 RBI)
Marshall, Randi Nielson (2-0, 4.74 ERA)
Notre Dame, Liz Hartmann (.700, 7-for-10, 4 2b, HR, 7 RBI)
Notre Dame, Stephanie Brown (.455, 5-for-11, 2 2b)
Eastern Michigan, Nikki Denman (.333, 3-for-9, 2b, 3 RBI)
Eastern Michigan, Lindsay Schmid (.333, 3-for-9, 2b, 3 RBI)
Ball State, Amanda Pick (.417, 5-for-12, HR, 4 RBI)
Ball State, Kelli Jeziorski (.357, 5-for-14, 3 2b, 3 RBI)
Oakland, Laura Chomokos (.444, 4-for-9, 2 2b)
### GO BUCKS! ###
