2005-06 Season Begins for Buckeyes Sunday at Kent State – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sept. 22, 2005
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SETTING THE SCENE
The Ohio State softball team opens its 2005-06 season Sunday with three games at the Kent State Fall Tournament. The Buckeyes began fall practice Sept. 15 and will compete in nine games against intercollegiate opponents this fall, including four on campus in the Fifth Annual Ohio Collegiate Charity Classic Oct. 1-2.
Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis enters her tenth season with 11 letterwinners and four newcomers on the squad. Her 2005 squad posted a 32-17 overall record with a fourth-place 9-7 mark in the Big Ten.
The weekend will not only be highlighted by the Buckeyes’ first game action of the 2005-06 season, but on Saturday the softball team and all other OSU teams will be recognized on the field at halftime of the Ohio State football team’s Big Ten opener on ABC against Iowa in sold-out Ohio Stadium (102,329).
FAMILIAR FACES RETURN
Back for the start of practice last week were four seniors, four juniors and three sophomores. Seniors included OF/P Chelsea Baker, INF Billie Jo Carder, C Stacy Hibma and UT Nicole Lancaster. Juniors included 1B/C Christina Douglas, UT Jamee Juarez, INF Nycole Koyano and OF Megan Schwab, while sophomores included OF Liz Caputo, UT Stephanie Hill and UT Brittany Vanderink. A WELCOME TO FOUR NEW BUCKEYES
Four newcomers made their Buckeye Field debut for practice last week, including P/1B Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet), P Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.), C Megan Shie (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake) and UT Cortney Cannon (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby).
A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
Ohio State faces Toledo, Pittsburgh and host Kent State Sunday. Toledo was 26-29 a year ago with a 5-16 mark in the Mid-American Conference, while Kent State went 10-11 in the MAC and 25-27 overall. Pittsburgh was 8-8 in the Big East and 23-29 overall, with three of those losses coming from Ohio State.
LAST YEAR
Ohio State took three of four games from Pittsburgh last year, including both games at the Florida Atlantic Invitational in February and one of two games at Pittsburgh in May. The Buckeyes did not face Kent State or Toledo in the spring, but was 2-1 against them in the fall. OSU dropped a 9-1 decision to Kent State in the KSU Fall Tournament last September, before returning the favor by a 5-1 score at the Ohio Collegiate Charity Classic Oct. 1, the same day the Buckeyes topped the Rockets, 3-1.
2005 OSU OFFENSE AMONG THE BEST
In the final national statistical report from the NCAA, Ohio State was ranked among the national leaders in six categories, including batting average (No. 3, .321), scoring (No. 8, 5.80 runs/gm.), doubles (No. 4, 1.69/gm.), triples (No. 8, .37/gm.), stolen bases (No. 13, 1.69/gm.) and slugging percentage (No. 12, .494).
OSU MOVES UP IN THE BIG TEN
Ohio State moved up five spots in the Big Ten standings in the last two weeks of the regular season last year to take sole possession of the fourth spot in the league standings. The Buckeyes made their fourth trip to the Big Ten tournament, all within the last five seasons under the direction of head coach Linda Kalafatis.
OSU NOTCHES 30-WIN SEASON NO. 9
With a 6-0 win over Pittsburgh May 4 last season, Ohio State improved to 30-15 for the ninth 30-win season in school history. Five of those 30-win seasons have come under the direction of Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State’s ninth-year head coach. The Buckeyes finished the 2005 season 32-17.
BUCKEYES WERE ON THE BUBBLE
Ohio State was ever so close to making its fourth trip to the NCAA tournament last May, but the Buckeyes were not selected for the 64-team field following the Big Ten tournament.
“I don’t like to use excuses, because we could have won more games,” Kalafatis said, “but with a strong regular season finish, a No. 4 seed in the Big Ten tournament and a sweep of Penn State (May 7-8), we felt that should have been enough to propel us into the tournament, but the selection committee didn’t see it that way.
“We had five games against quality opponents get cancelled because of weather,” Kalafatis said, noting the Northwestern and Michigan cancellations as well as the March 19 cancellation of the Notre Dame game. “That dramatically affected our strength of schedule. I don’t know of any other sport that is affected as much as we are by losing games off the schedule due to weather.”
BUCKEYES IN THE OSU RECORD BOOK
Four Ohio State records were set or tied in 2005, while several Buckeyes etched their names on the leader board in many other categories, as well.
Single Game Records
Nycole Koyano tied the OSU record for triples in a game with two against Rutgers in the season-opener Feb. 18. Liz Caputo set the single-game freshman RBI record with seven against Long Island Feb. 27.
Season Records
Jamee Juarez’s 25 pitching wins set a new Ohio State single-season record, while freshmen Brittany Vanderink tied the rookie record for triples in a season with four. Elsewhere among single-season leaders, Koyano’s seven triples are No. 3, her 41 runs scored are No. 5 and her 30 walks are No. 5. Megan Schwab’s seven home runs are No. 7 and Karisa Evans’ 13 sacrifice hits are tied for No. 4. Juarez’s 193 strikeouts are No. 3, her 10 shutouts are No. 2 and her 213.0 innings pitched are No. 2. In the freshman record book, Caputo’s .367 average is No. 2 and Vanderink’s 14 stolen bases are No. 2.
Career Records
In the Ohio State career record book, senior Ashley Cutcliff leaves as the No. 4 all-time home run hitter with 14, while senior Karisa Evans’ .338 career batting average is tied for No. 6. Schwab’s 10 homers are tied for eighth. Juarez ranks No. 3 in strikeouts with 311, No. 5 in shutouts with 13 and is tied for No. 5 in wins with 38.
FIVE BUCKEYES ALL-BIG TEN, CUTCLIFF ALSO ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Five Ohio State players earned All-Big Ten honors last season. Soph. Jamee Juarez (utility) and fr. Liz Caputo (OF) earned second-team honors, while being named to the third-team were soph. Nycole Koyano (2B), sr. Karisa Evans (OF) and sr. Ashley Cutcliff (DP). In addition, Cutcliff was also named to the first-team of the CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic-All-District IV team. The Academic All-America team will be announced June 2. Juarez, who earned third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2004 at the same position, batted .341 in Big Ten games and fashioned a 9-5 record in the circle with a 2.52 ERA and 60 strikeouts. Her wins total ranked No. 2 and her strikeouts ranked fifth. Caputo hit a team-best .516 inside the conference, while Cutcliff was No. 2 at .370. Evans, a third-team pick a year ago, batted .359 and ranked No. 5 in on base percentage (.500), No. 3 in walks (11) and No. 2 in sacrifice bunts (6), while Koyano checked in at .306 and tied for No. 2 in the league in Big Ten games in stolen bases (7).
THREE BUCKEYES NAMED ALL-REGION
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced its 2005 All-Region softball teams May 18 and three Buckeyes were among those named to the All-Great Lakes Region team. Megan Schwab earned first-team honors, while Jamee Juarez and Liz Caputo earned a spot on the second-team.
Schwab batted .362 last season (47-for-130) with 11 doubles, seven home runs, 33 RBI, 30 runs scored and a .623 slugging percentage. In the Big Ten, her average ranked tenth and her slugging percentage ranked No. 8, and she batted .453 with runners in scoring position.
Juarez was the mainstay of the Ohio State pitching staff but also saw action at third base, right field and designated player. While batting .361 (44-for-122) with 28 RBI, she set a school single-season wins record with 25 victories and went 9-5 in the circle in Big Ten games.
In Caputo’s last 17 games of last season she batted .467 (21-for-45) to raise her season average to .367 (36-for-98), which ranked second on the OSU squad and is the second-best average by a freshman in OSU history. She batted a team-best .516 in Big Ten games and concluded her first season as a Buckeye with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 19 RBI.
NINE BUCKEYES EARN BIG TEN, OSU ACADEMIC AWARDS
Nine Ohio State players were named Academic All-Big Ten and OSU Scholar-Athletes when the 2005 season concluded, including Chelsea Baker, Ashley Cutcliff, Christina Douglas, Karisa Evans, Natalie Hales, Jennifer Johnson, Nicole Lancaster, Meghan Rowlands and Andrea Tribuzi.
OHIO STATE QUICK HITS
In a look at Ohio State’s final season statistics, the Buckeyes’ .321 batting average was No. 2 in the Big Ten and was among the national leaders (No. 3). The Buckeyes had over twice as many doubles (83-37) and three times as many triples (18-6). Ohio State was 19-for-48 (.396) when the bases were loaded with three grand slams. OSU increased its batting average to .376 with runners in scoring position and to .500 with a runner on third base and less than two outs. Buckeye pitchers racked up 265 strikeouts, while OSU hitters struck out only 187 times (fewest in Big Ten).
When leading after five innings, Ohio State was 7-0 in Big Ten games and 21-0 in all games. The Buckeyes were 31-6 when scoring at least three runs and 20-2 when holding their opponents to two or fewer runs. OSU was 12-2 when scoring in the first inning and 26-6 when scoring first in the game. Ohio State was 30-3 when outhitting or having the same number of hits as its opponent.
BUCKEYES IN THE BIG TEN
In the Big Ten regular season statistics, Ohio State ranked No. 2 in batting (.323) and No. 2 in scoring (5.90 runs/game). OSU was No. 8 in pitching (2.85 ERA) and fielding (.956), but those rankings improved in Big Ten games to No. 5 in pitching (2.95 ERA) and No. 3 in fielding (.968) in league contests. Despite having played the fewest games of all league teams, OSU ranked first in doubles (82) and triples (18) and was No. 2 in stolen bases (83). The Buckeyes also struck out the fewest times (184).
Ohio State had three of the conference’s Top 10 on base percentage leaders, as Karisa Evans ranked fifth (.482), Nycole Koyano ranked sixth (.476) and Jamee Juarez ranked ninth (.450). Megan Schwab owned the No. 10 batting average (.370) and No. 7 slugging percentage (.638). Koyano was tied for the Big Ten lead in triples (7), was No. 4 in walks (29) and was No. 9 in runs (41). Evans was No. 2 in sacrifice bunts (13) and Brittany Vanderink was No. 10 in stolen bases (14). Among Big Ten pitchers, Juarez ranked No. 3 in wins (25), No. 7 in strikeouts (187) and No. 4 in innings pitched (207.0).
### Go Bucks! ###
