Ohio State Hosts Buckeye Invitational Friday Through Sunday – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 14, 2006
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team plays four games, including its home opener, this weekend as host of the Buckeye Invitational. The 13-game, six-team tournament will be held at Buckeye Field, with the first game beginning at 2 p.m. Friday and the final game commencing at 4 p.m. Sunday.
Ohio State (9-10) will host Robert Morris (5-5) at 4 p.m. Friday before taking on Pittsburgh (9-11) at 6 p.m. The Buckeyes will then face Central Michigan (7-13) at 3 p.m. Saturday before meeting Kent State (7-7) at 5 p.m. Youngstown State (0-4) is also a tournament participant but does not play OSU.
GameTracker will have all 13 games of the tournament live on the softball page at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Any changes to the tournament schedule because of weather will be posted there, as well.
The Buckeyes had all four of their games rained out last weekend at the Evansville Tournament, where OSU was to have played two games each against Evansville and No. 22 Louisville. Ohio State last played March 3-5 at the Hampton Inn Crimson Classic, where the Buckeyes went 3-2 and knocked off sixth-ranked Alabama.
Following the Buckeye Invitational, Ohio State will travel to Los Angeles for six games over spring break against Loyola Marymount, Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYE INVITATIONAL
The 13 games of the tournament are prescheduled and there will not be a championship bracket. Best record in the tournament will determine the Invitational champion and a tie-breaker system, beginning with head-to-head results, will be used in the event two teams own the same record. Run differential of all games is the second tie-breaker. Ohio State is a perfect 19-0 in the five years of the Buckeye Invitational. Past teams the Buckeyes have defeated include Buffalo (2001), Cleveland State (2001), IUPUI (2001), Robert Morris (2002, 04), Kent State (2002), Seton Hall (2002), Oakland (2003), Morehead State (2003), Loyola-Chicago (2004), Northern Illinois (2004), Ball State (2005), Eastern Michigan (2005) and Marshall (2005).
OHIO STATE AT A GLANCE
Ohio State won its first two games in the Hampton Inn Crimson Classic March 3-5, including a 3-0 shutout of Coastal Carolina and a 3-1 win over host and sixth-ranked Alabama, but the Buckeyes dropped two of their last three games in the event to end their stay in Alabama with a 3-2 record. After winning its first four games of the season in Las Cruces, N.M., Ohio State is 4-10 since.
After 19 games Ohio State led the Big Ten in home runs (18), runs scored (79), triples (5) and stolen bases (30).
Sophomore Liz Caputo leads Ohio State with a .364 batting average but is out until early April with a broken tibia. Senior Stacy Hibma’s .313 average is tops among the active players, while Megan Schwab is hitting .310 with 10 RBI and Nycole Koyano is hitting .298 with 12 stolen bases. Courtney Pruner’s four home runs are tops on the squad.
In the circle, junior Jamee Juarez (5-5, 3.56 ERA) and freshman Kim Reeder (4-5, 2.41 ERA) have started Ohio State’s 19 games, while freshman Courtney Pruner (0-0, 1 save, 5.91 ERA) has made seven relief appearances.
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).
OSU IN NON-CONFERENCE HOME GAMES
Since head coach Linda Kalafatis took over the Ohio State program for the 1997 season, the Buckeyes are 87-10 in non-conference home games at Buckeye Field. Among its best season records in non-conference home games, OSU was 14-2 in 2001 and 13-1 in both 2002 and 1998. The Buckeyes were 7-0 in non-league games at Buckeye Field last year, batting .389 as a team in those games and averaging 9.7 runs per game.
BUCKEYES EXCEL ON OPPONENT’S TURF
The Buckeyes may be 6-9 in neutral site games this season, but they are 3-1 when playing on an opponent’s home field. Those wins include Feb. 10 at New Mexico State (won 11-1), Feb. 19 at Stetson (5-2) and March 3 at No. 6 Alabama (3-1). The lone loss was Feb. 18 at Stetson (2-0). In those four games, Ohio State is batting 22 points higher than in neutral site games (.283-.261) and even more impressively OSU pitchers have an ERA that is 2.09 better (3.65-1.56). Five Buckeyes are batting .300 or better on opponent’s home fields compared to just one in neutral site games.
OSU WINS AT NO. 6 ALABAMA
Ohio State freshman pitcher Kim Reeder scattered six hits and struck out seven and junior Christina Douglas hit a two-run homer to lift the Buckeyes to a 3-1 win at sixth-ranked Alabama March 3. The win was OSU’s first over a Top 10 opponent in three years and at the same time ended the Crimson Tide’s 16 game home winning streak.
Prior to the win at Alabama, the Buckeyes last defeated a Top 10 team when they did it on back-to-back days against No. 6 California and No. 7 Cal State Fullerton March 1 and 2, 2003, at the Fullerton/Worth Invitational. The win over Alabama was the second-consecutive for the Buckeyes over the Crimson Tide after OSU’s 7-2 win in February 2003 in Miami, Fla., when the current OSU seniors were freshmen.
A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
Robert Morris, the preseason coaches’ poll choice to repeat as Northeast Conference champions, is coming off a 2005 season in which it made its first ever NCAA tournament appearance. The Colonials (5-5) were 29-22-1 last year (17-3 NEC) and have seven starters back, including reigning NEC Player of the Year Keri Meyer and NEC Pitcher of the Year Danielle Cohen. Ashlee Smith is the current NEC Player of the Week after hitting .440 with 11 RBI at the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando last week. Head coach Craig Coleman is in his 16th season at RMU with an overall record of 369-335-4.
Pittsburgh (9-11) has 18 letterwinners and eight starters back from its 2005 team that went 23-29 overall and 8-8 in the BIG EAST. The Panthers were 9-1 in the fall, including a win over Ohio State, but started out the spring schedule 1-6. Pitt is 8-5 since then, however, and is coming off a runner-up finish at the Winthrop Invitational last weekend. Francesca DiMaria hit .333 last year and is batting a team-best .381 in 2006, while Christa Hunter leads the way in the circle with a 3-1 record and 0.74 ERA. Michelle Phalen is in her ninth year at Pitt with an overall record of 149-253-1.
Defending Mid-American Conference West Division champ Central Michigan has nine starters back from its 2005 squad that went 29-16 (16-6 MAC). The Chippewas are 7-13 overall but are 3-2 in their last five games and reached the title game of the bronze bracket at the adidas Invitational last weekend in Clearwater, Fla. Amy Hudson leads CMU with a .446 batting average, while Jessica Garvin and Jill Deroche both have three wins in the circle. Head coach Margo Jonker won her 900th game last Sunday with a 5-3 come-from-behind win over Temple and is now 900-495-5 in 28 seasons in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Kent State has won seven of its last 11 games to improve to 7-7 overall and was narrowly defeated by No. 17 Nebraska, 1-0, to end its stay in Tallahassee, Fla., last weekend. Among those seven wins was a 4-2 win over host Florida State. Brittney Robinson was named to the all-tournament team and the MAC-East Pitcher of the Week after pitching in all six of Kent State’s games, while teammate Jamie Fitzpatrick was the MAC-East Player of the Week after hitting .350 with two homers during the event, including one in the win over FSU. Head coach Karen Linder is 247-223 in her 11th year at Kent State.
Youngstown State returns 13 letterwinners, including seven starters and three pitchers, in 2006, but the Penguins are off to an 0-4 start. YSU was 19-34 last year for head coach Christy Cameron, who is 114-189-1 in her seventh year in Youngstown. Tiffany Patteson leads YSU with a .533 average, while Becky Hibner is hitting .455 and Jamie Fornal owns a .333 average.
ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES
Ohio State is 13-0 all-time against Robert Morris, with the last three meetings coming in the Buckeye Invitational (2004 and twice in 2002). Twelve of the 13 games between these two schools have come at Buckeye Field, with the other coming in 2000 at the Florida International Tournament.
The Buckeyes are 7-1 against Pittsburgh, including 2-0 at Buckeye Field. OSU and Pitt met four times last year, including twice at the Florida Atlantic Classic (OSU won both) and in a double-header at Pittsburgh (split).
The 2002 NCAA Region 6 Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., set the stage for the last meeting between Central Michigan and Ohio State, a game in which the Buckeye won 7-0. Of the two other games in the series between OSU and the Chippewas, CMU won both on neutral fields.
Ohio State and Kent State have 29 meetings in their history, with the Buckeyes leading the all-time series 16-13. Most of the games in the series have come at Buckeye Field, including the last match-up at the 2002 Buckeye Invitational when OSU won 4-1. Among the more historic games in the series came in 1990 at Buckeye Field when these two teams met in the NCAA Midwest Regional, with the Golden Flashes winning twice.
OSU-OPPONENT CONNECTIONS
Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis and Youngstown State head coach Christy Cameron are both graduates of California (Pa.), Kalafatis in 1988 and Cameron in 1996. Kalafatis’ hometown of Bethel Park, Pa., is only 20 miles from Robert Morris University (Moon Township) and 10 miles from Pittsburgh.
RMU freshman Stacy Dorsch and OSU’s Courtney Pruner are both from Akron, Ohio – Dorsch went to Springfield H.S. and Pruner went to Ellet H.S. Youngstown State freshman Allyse Ledford is also from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S.).
Central Michigan’s Allie Hansen is from Agoura Hills, Calif., a northwest suburb of Los Angeles, while Ohio State’s Nycole Koyano (Walnut), Stacy Hibma (Buena Park), Jamee Juarez (La Puente) and Liz Caputo (Riverside) are all from the east side of L.A.
OHIO STATE SHORT HOPS…
Of Ohio State’s 74 RBI, 47 percent of them (35) have come with two outs. Ohio State pitchers saw their team ERA creep up to 4.11 after 11 games but did not allow over three earned runs in their next seven games to drop their ERA to 3.06. The Buckeyes are 9-0 when leading after four innings. OSU is 9-3 when scoring three or more runs.
Junior Jamee Juarez tied a Big Ten and Ohio State record Feb. 25 with three home runs in a 6-0 win over No. 22 Oregon in Palm Springs. Her five RBI in that game are 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 .393 average with runners on base is tops on the team. With runners in scoring position, sophomore Brittany Vanderink’s .455 average is tops. Sophomore center fielder Liz Caputo suffered a broken tibia at Stetson Feb. 19 and is out four to six weeks.
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.
BUCKEYES IN THE BIG TEN
In Big Ten statistics as of last week, Ohio State ranked seventh in the Big Ten in batting (.266 avg.), eighth in pitching (3.21 ERA) and eighth in fielding (.951 pct.). The Buckeyes led the Big Ten in runs (79), home runs (18), triples (5) and stolen bases (30) and ranked second in hits (139). Courtney Pruner was tied for third in the Big Ten in home runs (4) and Billie Carder led the league in triples (2). Three Buckeyes were tied for fifth in the Big Ten in runs scored with 11, including Nycole Koyano, Chelsea Baker and Megan Schwab. Koyano ranked first in stolen bases (12), Pruner was tied for seventh in RBI (11) and Schwab was tied for fourth in total bases (31). Brittany Vanderink was tied for fifth in stolen bases (5). Jamee Juarez and Kim Reeder ranked among the Top 6 in wins with five and four, respectively, while Juarez ranked fifth in strikeouts (59). Those two ranked second and third in innings pitched, while Courtney Pruner’s seven games in relief were tied for most in the Big Ten.
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 304 victories in Columbus (304-219-0, .582), and her overall record stands at 577-334-2 (.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.
JUNIORS & BAKER IN OSU RECORD BOOK
Junior Jamee Juarez has five wins this season to increase her career total to 43 and move past current OSU assistant coach Belinda Quisenberry (38 wins) and former Buckeye Genice Turley (39). Juarez is now third all-time in wins and ranks eighth on the innings pitched list with 430.1 (less than two innings away from the No. 7 spot).
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, tied for fourth in stolen bases with 44 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.
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).
### GO BUCKS! ###
