Ohio State Blows by New Mexico State, 11-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 10, 2006
Box Score
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Ohio State’s Nycole Koyano hit her first collegiate grand slam and Jamee Juarez pitched a four-hitter to lead the OSU softball team to a season-opening 11-1 win over host New Mexico State Friday in the nightcap of the opening day of the Hilton Las Cruces Invitational.
OSU Junior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) added a three-run homer to cap off a four-run sixth inning to seal the Buckeyes’ win.
New Mexico State (1-2) senior pitcher Sarah Seagraves, who won 22 games and struck out 241 batters in 2005, pitched a one-hit shutout over Colorado State Thursday, but saw the Buckeyes collect 15 hits Friday night.
The four RBI for Koyano (Jr., Walnut, Calif./Walnut) marked a career high. Her one-out grand slam came in the second inning and broke a scoreless game.
Juarez (Jr., La Puente, Calif./Wilson), coming off a 2005 season in which she won a school-record 25 games, retired 10 of the first 11 batters she faced and finished the night with four strikeouts.
Senior Stacy Hibma (Buena Park, Calif./Valley Christian) collected a career-high three hits, including a two-RBI single in the fifth inning, which pushed the Buckeyes’ lead to 6-1. Freshman Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) singled home Ohio State’s first run of the sixth inning.
Sophomore Liz Caputo (Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) set a career high with four hits in the game, all singles.
Koyano drew a walk to lead off the game and advanced to second base when Caputo dropped a bunt single down the third base line. The two moved up a base on a double-steal but were left stranded with Seagraves retired the next three Buckeyes in order. Hibma and senior Billie Carder (Celina, Ohio/Celina) led off the fourth inning with back-to-back singles but OSU was kept from adding to its lead. Hibma and Carder again knocked back-to-back singles in the sixth inning.
### GO BUCKS! ###
