Juarez Tosses 1-0, 10-inning Shutout Over No. 25 Auburn in NCAA Regional Opener – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 18, 2006
Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz. – Ohio State junior Jamee Juarez threw a 10-inning shutout and the Buckeyes turned a triple play in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, where a single up the middle by junior Megan Schwab gave OSU a 1-0 win over No. 25 Auburn Thursday in the opening game of the Arizona Regional of the NCAA tournament.
Hosted by No. 1-ranked Arizona at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium in Tucson, No. 3 seed Ohio State (39-21) advances to play the winner of No. 1 seed Arizona and No. 4 seed Marist at 4:30 p.m. (EDT) Friday, while Auburn (34-21) will face the loser of the Arizona-Marist game at 7 p.m. (EDT).
Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson), now 17-10, scattered six hits and notched her 500th career strikeout in the first inning. She would go on to toss her sixth shutout of the season and the 19th of her career and match her career-high for innings pitched, which she first did in Ohio State’s last NCAA tournament win, a 2-0 win over Bethune-Cookman in the Tallahassee Regional on May 20, 2004.
“There were quite a few defensive game-savers out there today,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “And defense starts with pitching and Jamee threw a phenomenal game. It was one of our best defensive games of the season and I hope we continue to bring our A-game all weekend. I’m proud of our kids and hope we come back out tomorrow and continue to give it our best shot.”
The last time Ohio State and Auburn hooked up, OSU’s Kristi DeVries, now an assistant coach for the Buckeyes, threw a nine-inning, two-hit shutout over the Tigers in 2001. On Thursday, Juarez would duplicate the shutout feat and tie DeVries for second-place on the OSU career shutouts list. The game also marked Juarez’s 16th complete game of the season and 51st of her career.
The last time Ohio State won a game 1-0 was April 23, 2004, at Illinois.
Auburn junior pitcher Holly Currie (18-13) entered the game with four no-hitters this season and eight shutouts and kept OSU off the scoreboard until the top of the 10th inning. The Buckeyes stranded 10 runners in the game, but in the top of the 10th, junior Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.) reached on a throwing error by the Auburn shortstop and pinch runner Stephanie Hill (So., Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) would eventually score on the single by Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain). Hill moved to second on a sacrifice by junior Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) and went to third on a single by sophomore Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood), who led the Buckeyes with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
Ohio State turned a triple play in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra-innings. Auburn’s Curry and Taryn Gray both singled, then Heather Garrison lifted a fly ball to shallow right field, which Vanderink charged and caught for the first out and flipped to first to catch Gray for the second out. During the putout at first, pinch-runner Brittany Scott took off for third, and OSU first baseman Christina Douglas (Jr., Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) threw across the diamond to third baseman Stacy Hibma (Sr., Buena Park, Calif./Valley Christian), who applied the tag for the third out.
Ohio State won back-to-back games in extra-innings in its first tournament of the season and entered the game 4-4 in extra-inning games this season, while Auburn entered the game having played half as many extra-inning games (2-2).
Auburn’s leadoff hitter singled to open the third and fourth innings, but the OSU defense cut down the lead runner both times when the Tigers attempted to bunt her to second. Hibma had the assist in the third inning and Juarez began the play in the fourth inning, which then ended when senior shortstop Billie Carder (Celina, Ohio/Celina) turned a line-drive double play to nab the runner off the bag at first.
Ohio State put two runners on base in the top of the first inning with one out when Vanderink singled to the right of the Auburn second baseman and Schwab reached on an error by the shortstop. Currie left both runners on, however, after getting Juarez to pop out and Carder to ground out.
The Buckeyes were set down in order in the second inning but loaded the bases with two outs in the third when Koyano singled down the left field line, Vanderink singled to first base and Juarez walked, but Currie got Carder to pop out to end the scoring opportunity.
From the fourth through ninth innings, Ohio State had just one hit, a single though the left side to lead off the sixth by Juarez. Two sacrifice bunt attempts failed, however, and Juarez was left at first.
Just as critical as Ohio State’s triple play in the seventh inning was the Buckeyes’ key defensive play in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and a runner on second, Gray sent a fly ball into the gap in left-center field. Schwab, coming from left field, and Baker, coming from center field, collided attempting to make the play. Schwab hung onto the ball for the third out, but Baker was injured on the play and was helped off the field. Her status for the remainder of the tournament has yet to be determined.
Juarez allowed just one base runner in the ninth and tenth innings and had the assist on the final out of the game.
### GO BUCKS! ###
