Ohio State Softball Knocks Off South Carolina, 3-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 5, 2005
Box Score
MARIETTA, Ga. – Ohio State scored all three of its runs in the second inning and sophomore Jamee Juarez pitched a four-hit shutout to lead the Buckeye softball team (9-5) to a 3-0 win over South Carolina (13-8) Saturday to wrap up pool play at the Buzz Classic hosted by Georgia Tech at the Al Bishop Softball Complex in Marietta, Ga.
The Buckeyes, who won the tournament in 2002, finish competition in their five-team pool undefeated, joining Georgia Tech from pool one, Auburn or Iowa from pool two (they play at 4 p.m.) and Virginia Tech from pool four as one of the top four seeds in the single-elimination tournament, which will begin Saturday night. Ohio State, which earned a first-round bye, will find out its Sunday morning quarterfinal opponent late tonight.
The shutout for Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) was her second of the tournament and fifth of her career. She struck out five Gamecocks in the game and set down the last eight (and 12 of the last 14) batter she faced. Juarez shut out Gardner-Webb, 4-0, Friday, retiring the last 18 batters she faced.
“Jamee (Juarez) came out and threw like our ace today,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “And our girls scored enough runs to get the two wins we needed today. We played good defense and have accomplished our first goal, which was to win our pool. We have put ourselves in a position to win the tournament.”
The game marked just the second time this season South Carolina has been shut out. The Gamecocks, who have been to the NCAA tournament each of the last six seasons, threw their top pitcher, Melanie Henkes, against the Buckeyes. Henkes sees her record slip to 6-3. At the plate, Juarez knocked a double in the second inning, which scored sophomore Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson), who led off the inning with a single. Juarez would score on a first-and-third double-steal with freshman Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood), who singled. Vanderink then scored on an RBI single by freshman Liz Caputo (Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly). Caputo finished the game 2-for-3 for her third multi-hit game of the season.
With two outs and two USC runners on base in the fifth inning, Juarez faced South Carolina’s top hitter, Jessica Josker, who was sporting a .425 average at the time with 34 hits already this season. Juarez forced Josker into a ground out to second base and the Gamecocks never threatened again.
Ohio State’s current five-game winning streak is its best of the season and longest since winning five in a row March 19-23 last season. The Buckeyes are now 4-0 in March this season as they aim to duplicate recent success in this month (12-4 in 2004 and 2003, 20-7 in 2002 and 17-7 in 2001).
### GO BUCKS! ###
