Ohio State Heads to Alabama’s Crimson Classic – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 1, 2006
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SETTING THE SCENE
The Ohio State softball team travels to the Hampton Inn Crimson Classic hosted by Alabama this weekend where the Buckeyes will go up against Coastal Carolina, Drake and the host sixth-ranked Crimson Tide. Ohio State (6-8) will face Coastal Carolina at 1:30 p.m. Friday before taking on Alabama at 6:30 p.m. OSU will meet Drake at 11 a.m. Saturday in the final game of pool play before the four teams are seeded for semifinal games that evening. The consolation and championship games will be played Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
GameTracker will have all games live at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com and any games involving Alabama can be heard on its official website, RollTide.com
Coastal Carolina (1-8) and Drake (2-9) are off to slow starts this season but are proven programs, while Alabama (11-2) has four starters back from its 2005 team that went 63-13 (31-3 at home), won the Southeastern Conference and advanced to the College World Series.
Ohio State, making its first ever trip to Alabama, is coming off a 1-4 record at the prestigious Palm Springs Classic last weekend. The Buckeyes knocked off No. 22 Oregon but dropped games to No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 UCLA, UNLV and UC-Santa Barbara.
Following the Crimson Classic this weekend, the Buckeyes will have one more road tournament left on their schedule, which will take them to Evansville, Ind., next weekend before hosting the Buckeye Invitational March 17-19.
ABOUT THE CRIMSON CLASSIC
The Hampton Inn Crimson Classic is the second of two early season tournaments at the Alabama Softball Complex (cap. 1,595). The four times will face each other once then be seeded, with No. 1 vs. No. 4 playing at 4 p.m. Sat., before No. 2 vs. No. 3 at 6:30 p.m. Sunday will feature the consolation game at 11 a.m., followed by the championship game at 1 p.m. More information about the tournament can be found on the softball page at RollTide.com
OHIO STATE AT A GLANCE
Ohio State (6-8) won its first four games of the season in Las Cruces, N.M., but is 2-8 since then. The competition has been tough, however, including three ranked teams and five that played in the NCAA tournament last year. After 14 games Ohio State leads the Big Ten in home runs (17) and stolen bases (23).
In the circle, junior Jamee Juarez (4-5, 4.17 ERA) and freshman Kim Reeder (2-3, 2.78 ERA) have started Ohio State’s 14 games, while freshman Courtney Pruner (0-0, 1 save, 5.88 ERA) has made six relief appearances. Sophomore Liz Caputo leads Ohio State with a .364 batting average but is out until early April with a broken tibia. Senior Stacy Hibma is batting .361, while senior Chelsea Baker and junior Megan Schwab are both batting .311. Pruner’s four home runs are tops on the squad.
OSU returns 11 letterwinners and welcomes four newcomers in 2006 for head coach Linda Kalafatis, who is in her tenth season. The Buckeyes were 32-17 overall in 2005 and finished fourth in the Big Ten with a 9-7 league mark. OSU ranked among the NCAA’s Top 13 in six categories, including scoring (8th, 5.8 runs/game).
A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
Alabama (11-2), ranked No. 6 in the nation this week, won its first seven games this season, then went on a 2-2 stretch that included a loss at home to Missouri State, but is coming off wins over Georgia Tech and fifth-ranked Michigan last weekend in the rain-shortened NFCA Leadoff Classic. Its first season of competition was in 1997 but already the Crimson Tide have been in the NCAA tournament seven times and made three trips to the College World Series, including last year when Alabama was 63-13 overall. Ninth-year head coach Patrick Murphy is 397-150 at Alabama and has four starters back this season, including All-American pitcher Stephanie VanBrakle (6-0, 0.49 ERA), who was 34-7 last year with 341 strikeouts. She is on the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List.
Coastal Carolina (1-8) was 24-25 a year ago and finished third in the Big South Conference. Three of the Lady Chanticleers’ losses have come to ranked teams this season and their lone win was against the Big Ten’s Minnesota. Eight starters return for 19th-year head coach Jess Dannelly, who is 573-418 at CCU. Senior Meagen Johnson owns a team-best .300 average and is also Coastal’s top pitcher with a 1-1 record in 2006 after a 9-4 season in 2005.
Drake (2-9) opened its season with an 8-2 win at St. Mary’s (Calif.) before eight consecutive losses. In the Bulldog’s last four games, however, they have a win and their three losses have all come by one run. Head coach Rich Calvert (90-81) is in his third year at Drake and has seven starters back, including pitcher Kristin Birocci, whose sister Lisa was a two-time All-American at Iowa.
ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES
Ohio State and Coastal Carolina have met once previously, that being an 11-3 OSU win Feb. 28, 1998, at the Arizona State/Coca-Cola Classic. The Buckeyes hold a 3-2 series lead over Drake, including two wins in Columbus (1990 and 1995). These two teams last met March 15, 1996, at the Lady Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla., with Drake taking a 6-5 win. Ohio State and Alabama have met twice, both coming in Miami, Fla., in February of 2003. The Crimson Tide, which rolled to the College World Series that season, won the first meeting, 6-4, before the Buckeyes won the following day, 7-2. In the OSU win, current senior Stacy Hibma, then a freshman, went 2-for-4, while Billie Carder was 1-for-4 and Nicole Lancaster stole a base and scored a run. Volunteer assistant coach Kristi DeVries, then a junior, pitched four innings in the win and was 2-for-3 at the plate with and RBI.
OSU-OPPONENT CONNECTIONS
Ohio State’s Nycole Koyano (Walnut), Stacy Hibma (Buena Park), Jamee Juarez (La Puente) and Liz Caputo (Riverside) are all from California communities near Los Angeles, as are Coastal Carolina’s Lynee Hastings (Burbank) and Brittany Birnbaum (Chino).
OHIO STATE QUICK HITS
Ohio State is 6-1 when leading after five innings. The Buckeyes’ 4-0 start matched their best four-game start in program history (1979). Ohio State went into extra-innings in four of its first six games of the season and went 2-2 in those contests. The Buckeyes won back-to-back games in extra-innings Feb. 11 for the first time among available records. The last time OSU played consecutive extra-inning games was when the Buckeyes played three straight extended contests in March of 2002 (2-1). OSU was 3-3 in extra-inning games last year.
Junior Jamee Juarez tied a Big Ten and Ohio State record last Saturday with three home runs in a 6-0 win over No. 22 Oregon in Palm Springs. Her five RBI in that game is a career high. Freshman Courtney Pruner’s first collegiate hit was a home run (Feb. 11) and she now has four homers on the season, which are tied for second-most in a season by a freshman in OSU history with Juarez (2004). Pruner is the all-time home run leader in Ohio high school history.
Juniors Nycole Koyano, Juarez and Megan Schwab all have moved up in the career record book this season (see later note). Senior Billie Carder’s five-game hitting streak to open the season tied her career best hitting streak. Her .409 average with runners on base is tops on the team. With runners in scoring position, senior Stacy Hibma’s .385 average is tops. Sophomore center fielder Liz Caputo suffered a broken tibia at Stetson Feb. 19 and is out four to six weeks.
BUCKEYES IN THE BIG TEN
Ohio State ranks seventh in the Big Ten in batting (.278 avg.), seventh in pitching (3.72 ERA) and eighth in fielding (.946 pct.). The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten in home runs (17) and stolen bases (23) and rank second in runs (66) and hits (111). Courtney Pruner’s four home runs are tied for best in the conference, while Megan Schwab and Chelsea Baker are tied for third in runs scored (10). Pruner, Schwab and Jamee Juarez rank among the Top 10 in RBI. Nycole Koyano and Brittany Vanderink rank second and fourth, respectively, in stolen bases with eight and five apiece. Koyano’s seven walks are tied for most in the Big Ten. Juarez and Kim Reeder rank among the league’s Top 10 pitchers in innings pitched, batters struck out and wins.
JUAREZ TIES BIG TEN, OSU RECORD
Junior Jamee Juarez tied a Big Ten and Ohio State record Feb. 25 when she hit three home runs in a game, leading the Buckeyes to a 6-0 win over No. 22 Oregon at the Palm Springs Classic. The only other player in Big Ten history to hit three homers in a game is Ohio State’s Amy Haug against Texas Feb. 14, 1997. In addition to Juarez’s three homers and career-best five RBI, she pitched her 14th career shutout, allowing only two Oregon hits.
JUNIORS & BAKER IN OSU RECORD BOOK
Junior Jamee Juarez has four wins this season to increase her career total to 42 and move past current OSU assistant coach Belinda Quisenberry, who had 38 wins, and former Buckeye Genice Turley, who had 39, on the career wins list. Juarez is now third all-time in wins and ranks eighth on the innings pitched list with 416.2.
Junior Megan Schwab has hit three home runs to increase her career total to 13, which ranks tied for fifth in OSU history. Ashley Cutcliff, a senior last year, ranks fourth with 14. Chelsea Baker has three homers this year to give her 10 for her career, which is tied for eighth with Wendy Allen.
Junior Nycole Koyano ranks seventh in OSU history with 64 walks, seventh with 40 stolen bases and tied for 12th in runs scored with 82. She is already tied for ninth in career triples with seven and her next triple will tie her for fourth.
KALAFATIS WINS NO. 300 AT OSU
OSU head coach Linda Kalafatis won her 300th game at the helm of the Buckeye program with a 5-2 win over Stetson last Sunday. Kalafatis is already Ohio State’s all-time wins leader and owns a mark of 301-217-0 in Columbus. She is one of four Big Ten coaches with over 500 career wins and is 574-332-2 in her 18th year as a collegiate head coach.
BUCKEYES 4-1 IN LAS CRUCES
Ohio State opened the season at the Hilton Las Cruces Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M., Feb. 10-12. The Buckeyes opened the event with four consecutive wins, beating host New Mexico State 11-1 before topping Colorado State, 8-7, and Portland State, 7-6, in extra-innings. OSU then knocked off Utah, 11-9, before falling in the tournament championship game, 9-8, to Texas-San Antonio, in extra-innings.
7+ RUNS IN FIVE STRAIGHT A FIRST
The Buckeyes scored at least seven runs in all five games in Las Cruces Feb. 10-12, marking the first time in program history OSU has scored at least seven runs in five consecutive games. Ohio State had scored six or more runs in five consecutive games on two occasions previously (2002 and 2003) but during both streaks scored exactly six runs in at least one game.
Ohio State’s 9.0 run average over the five-game tournament is among the best in program history. The 1994 Buckeyes, who finished 40-20, averaged 10.4 runs per game over two five-game spans during a 17 game winning streak.
2005 OSU OFFENSE AMONG BEST
Ohio State ranked among the national leaders in six categories last year, 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).
BAKER, KOYANO 2006 OSU CAPTAINS
Senior Chelsea Baker and junior Nycole Koyano have been elected captains of the 2006 Buckeyes. Baker, an outfielder and pitcher, is a three-year letterwinner, while Koyano, a second baseman, has played in all 107 games the last two years. She is the first junior to be elected captain since All-American Anna Smith in 2002.
KALAFATIS IN 10TH YEAR AT OSU
Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis is in her 10th season at the helm of the Buckeyes’ softball program in 2006. She is already OSU’s all-time wins leader with 301 victories in Columbus (301-217-0, .582), and her overall record stands at 574-332-2 (.639) in 18 years as a collegiate head coach. She is assisted by former Buckeyes Belinda Quisenberry and Kristi DeVries and former Nebraska All-American Ali Viola.
### GO BUCKS! ###
