No. 4 Seed Ohio State Ousts No. 5 Seed Penn State, 9-6 – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 12, 2006
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. – After being shut out at Penn State last Sunday in its regular-season finale, the No. 4 seed Ohio State softball team returned the favor with a 9-6 win over the No. 5 seed Nittany Lions Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, hosted by league champion Northwestern. Ohio State (38-20, 11-7 Big Ten) scored in each of the first five innings and advances to play No. 1 seed and 12th-ranked Northwestern in a semifinal game at 12:30 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, with the championship game beginning at 2 p.m.
Penn State (37-15, 10-10 Big Ten) carried the nation’s 10th-ranked pitching staff (1.15 ERA) into the game, but Ohio State collected 10 hits, including a homer and two triples, to erase the memories of getting swept in University Park, Pa., by the Nittany Lions last weekend.
“We challenged the top of our lineup to produce and they did,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “We were able to execute our bunts and also found some gaps. We felt like we didn’t swing our bats the way we are capable of last weekend at Penn State, so it was nice to start the tournament hitting so well. We got back to playing Ohio State softball.”
These two teams combined for a total of seven runs in their two games last weekend but had scored that many runs by the end of the third inning Friday. OSU sophomore Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) went 3-for-5 with a two-RBI triple and scored three runs, junior Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) drove in two runs for her team-leading 10th multiple-RBI game of the season and senior Chelsea Baker (Gahanna, Ohio/DeSales) hit her team-leading eighth home run of the year which gave OSU the lead for good.
The Nittany Lions entered the game 27-1 when scoring first and put two runs on the board in the top of the first inning, but the Buckeyes never trailed again for put give Penn State loss No. 2 in that department. In addition, the Lions were 14-3 in neutral site games coming into the game, while Ohio State improves to 7-9 in that department. Meeting for the third time in the last seven days, the Buckeyes improve to 2-1 all-time against Penn State in the Big Ten tournament.
Vanderink, who was named first-team All-Big Ten Thursday, extended her career-best hitting streak to 13 games, during which time she is hitting .553 (26-for-47). The 13-game hitting streak is fourth-best at Ohio State since 1998.
Penn State’s Ashley Esparza put the Nittany Lions up early with a two-run homer in the top of the first, but the Buckeyes knotted the score at 2-2 in their first at bat. Junior Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) led off with a single to left field and Vanderink followed with a single through the left side. The two moved up on a grounder to third by junior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) and then scored on an RBI groundout by Juarez and a single through the left side by freshman Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet). A walk to Baker reloaded the bases with two out but PSU starter Jenn Reynolds was able to induce a ground out by junior Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson).
Reynolds shut out Ohio State last Sunday, snapping the Buckeyes’ school-record 28-game scoring streak, but was chased from the game in the second inning when a two-out RBI single up the middle by Juarez brought home Vanderink, who had singled, giving OSU a 3-2 lead. Reliever Missy Beseres, PSU’s all-time wins leader, came on to get the third out and would pitch into the fifth before the Buckeyes would bounce her from the game, too.
A RBI double by Penn State’s Danielle Kinley knotted the game at 3-3 in the third, which prompted Kalafatis to bring Pruner into the circle in relief of Juarez. Pruner worked into the fifth for a total of 2.1 innings pitched with three strikeouts to earn the win, improving to 6-1 this season.
Baker’s solo homer in the third inning, which put OSU up 4-3, was her team-leading eighth homer of the season and the 15th of her career, giving her sole possession of fourth place in the OSU record book.
The Buckeyes tacked on two more in the fourth on a RBI triple by Schwab and a squeeze bunt by senior Billie Carder (Celina, Ohio/Celina).
Penn State brought its deficit back to one run at 6-5 in the top of the fifth inning when Hollee Haines knocked a two-RBI double off Pruner. Kalafatis then went back to her bull pen and brought on freshman Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.), who would finish out the game for her first collegiate save.
Leading 6-5 heading into the fifth, Vanderink knocked her two-run triple and then scored on a groundout by Schwab for OSU’s ninth run.
### GO BUCKS! ###
