Ohio State Pulls Away from Central Michigan, 8-3 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 18, 2006
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team scored five runs in the sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie and pull away from Central Michigan en route to an 8-3 win Saturday at Buckeye Field during the second day of the Buckeye Invitational. Ohio State improves to 11-10 overall and 21-0 all-time in the Invitational, while Central Michigan falls to 8-14.
In other games Saturday at the Buckeye Invitational, Central Michigan topped Robert Morris 6-1, Pittsburgh beat Youngstown State 8-0 and Kent State beat YSU 12-5. Four games are on the schedule for Sunday, beginning with Central Michigan vs. Pittsburgh at 11 a.m., Kent State vs. Pittsburgh at 1 p.m., Youngstown State vs. Robert Morris at 3 p.m. and Ohio State vs. Robert Morris at 5 p.m.
In the win over the Chippewas Saturday, Ohio State’s first three hitters in the lineup went a combined 7-for-10 with four runs scored and four RBI, while in the four spot freshman Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) walked all four of her at bats to tie the OSU record for walks in a game, held by Julie Bauman at Michigan in 1999.
OSU junior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) went 3-for-3 to extend her current hitting streak to a season-best six games, which is tied for best on the team this season. Her two-RBI double in the sixth inning broke a 3-3 tie and another two-run double, this time by junior Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.) three batters later, would put the game out of reach for the Chippewas.
Junior Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) was 2-for-4 with a two-RBI double in the fourth inning and junior Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) was 2-for-3.
Freshman Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) pitched in to the fifth inning for the Buckeyes, but a CMU run in the fifth tied the game at 3-3. OSU junior Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) would work two innings of one-hit relief to earn the win and improve to 7-5 this season. Reeder struck out seven Chippewas and scattered four hits, while Juarez struck out three.
Trailing 2-0, the Buckeyes scored three runs in the fourth inning behind Koyano’s double to score senior Billie Carder (Celina, Ohio/Celina), who had walked, and senior Nicole Lancaster (Magnolia, Ohio/Sandy Valley), who was pinch-running for Reeder, who had also walked. Koyano then scored on an error by the CMU left fielder after a single by Douglas.
After the two-run doubles by Schwab and Daykin in the sixth, a ball hit by Carder was booted by the CMU shortstop, allowing Daykin to score for OSU’s final run.
### GO BUCKS! ###
