Ohio State Hosts Buckeye Invitational this Weekend – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 14, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After 22 games on the road to begin the season, the Ohio State softball team hosts the Buckeye Invitational Saturday and Sunday in Columbus. The Buckeyes (12-10) will play four games in the event, which includes Oakland (5-11) and Binghamton (2-9). Ohio State plays at noon and 2:15 p.m. Saturday, followed by games at 2:15 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
2007 Buckeye Invitational
Hosted by Ohio State at Buckeye Field … March 17-18, Columbus, Ohio
Tournament info: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
GameTracker: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Invitational Schedule:
Saturday, March 17
Noon – Ohio State (H) vs. Binghamton
2:15 p.m. – Ohio State vs. Oakland (H)
4:30 p.m. – Binghamton (H) vs. Oakland
Sunday, March 18
Noon – Oakland (H) vs. Binghamton
2:15 p.m. – Ohio State vs. Binghamton (H)
4:30 p.m. – Ohio State (H) vs. Oakland
Check the tournament central page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com for GameTracker links, weather and schedule updates and the all-tournament team. A note to fans that the OHSAA girls’ state basketball finals at the nearby Jerome Schottenstein Center will affect parking on Saturday only. Following the Buckeye Invitational, Ohio State departs Monday for a six day, six game spring break trip in the Los Angeles area.
The Buckeyes are coming off eight games in four days at the South Florida adidas Invitational in Clearwater, where they went 5-3. Ohio State pitchers posted a 1.76 staff earned run average during the tournament and opponents hit only .190 against them.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYE INVITATIONAL
The six games of the invitational are preset and there will not be a championship bracket. Best record in the tournament will determine the champion and, if needed, a tie-breaker system will be used to determine order of finish.
Ohio State is 42-1 all-time in the Buckeye Invitational, with the lone loss coming to Ball State in 1989. The Buckeyes have won 36 in a row in their early season tournament. Ohio State went 21-2 at Buckeye Field last year and is 96-10 in non-conference home games under 11th-year head coach Linda Kalafatis.
OHIO STATE AT A GLANCE
The Buckeyes are off to a 12-10 start with signature wins over then-No. 22 Fresno State (now 18-8), then-No. 17 Cal (now 18-10) and No. 26 Virginia Tech (21-7). Of Ohio State’s 10 losses, four have come against Top 10 teams.
The Buckeyes are hitting .247 as a team, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten, and own a 2.82 staff earned run average, which ranks sixth. In Ohio State’s last 12 games, the pitching staff has posted a 1.68 ERA (70.2 IP, 17 ER).
Ohio State has 10 letterwinners and eight starters back from its 2006 squad that went 39-23 and 11-7 in the Big Ten and went to the Tucson Regional of the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes have led the Big Ten in batting the last two years.
All three pitchers return in 2007, including senior Jamee Juarez and sophomores Kim Reeder and Courtney Pruner. Starters returning in the field include Juarez (P/3b, 2nd-team All-Big Ten), Lauren Daykin (c), captain Christina Douglas (1b), Nycole Koyano (2b, 2nd-team All-Big Ten/Region), Megan Schwab (lf, 2nd-team All-Big Ten/Region), Liz Caputo (cf) and Brittany Vanderink (rf, 1st-team All-Big Ten/Region), while Pruner returns at designated player.
Head coach Linda Kalafatis is in her 11th year at Ohio State and is one of three coaches in the Big Ten with more than 600 wins. Since 2000, the Buckeyes are 272-156 for a .640 winning percentage, which ranks third in the Big Ten during that time.
REEDER, MARDER EARN HONORS
For the first time since 2002, Ohio State has swept the Big Ten weekly softball honors as Kim Reeder was named the league’s pitcher of the week and Sam Marder was named the player of the week, the conference announced Tuesday. The duo helped lead the Buckeyes to a 5-3 record at the South Florida adidas Invitational in Clearwater, Fla., last weekend.
Reeder went 3-1 in the circle last weekend with a 1.28 earned run average 19 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched that included a three-hit shutout over No. 26 Virginia Tech. Marder hit .455 (10-for-22) with three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI while posting a .600 on-base percentage that included eight walks, including a school-record five against Hofstra.
The weekly league honor is the first for both players and marks the first time the Buckeyes swept the awards since March 26, 2002, when Wendy Allen was named player of the week and Katie Chain was pitcher of the week.
NOTING THE BUCKEYES
Last weekend, the Buckeyes played eight games in one tournament for the first time in program history. On seven occasions previously, Ohio State had played seven games in one tournament. Of note, three of Ohio State’s eight games last weekend were walk-off decisions (2-1).
Ohio State pitchers have thrown nine complete games in the last 12 outings, including five by Kim Reeder and four by Jamee Juarez.
The Buckeyes were no-hit by Virginia Tech All-American Angela Tincher Sunday in the USF adidas Invitational Silver Flight championship game. Ohio State had not been no-hit since March 30, 2001, against Iowa’s Sarah Thompson.
In Clearwater last weekend, senior Christina Douglas and junior Brittany Vanderink both collected their 100th career hits and senior Megan Schwab collected her 100th career RBI.
In the circle, Juarez moved into the Top 3 all-time at Ohio State in innings pitched (623.2). She was already in the Top 3 in wins (58), strikeouts (571) and shutouts (20). At the plate, Juarez is one of three Buckeyes all-time with more than 100 RBI (103).
Junior Brittany Vanderink celebrates her 21st birthday Friday.
RING OF FIRE GETTING HOTTER
Ohio State’s pitching staff has steadily improved its numbers this season. After the Buckeyes’ season-opening tournament in Tempe, OSU owned a 5.65 ERA. They lowered it to 4.59 after Palm Springs. In the last 12 games, however, the staff owns a 1.68 ERA (70.2 IP, 17 ER) to lower its season ERA to 2.82.
Those last 12 games have seen OSU pitchers throw nine complete games, a no-hitter (Kim Reeder at UAB March 3) and strike out 78 batters.
AND A FRESHMAN SHALL LEAD THEM
Freshman catcher/designated player Sam Marder leads Ohio State in batting average (.364), home runs (7), runs batted in (23), total bases (44), slugging percentage (.800), walks (19), hit by pitch (4) and on-base percentage (.551). Marder also leads the Buckeyes in multiple-RBI games (8) and shares the team lead in multiple-hit games (6) and longest hitting streak (6).
Marder hit two home runs Feb. 25 against No. 9 Oklahoma, becoming the fourth OSU freshman this decade to go deep twice in the same game. Marder hit a grand slam against New Mexico Feb. 9, becoming the first OSU freshman to hit a grand slam in her first collegiate game.
BUCKEYES IN THE BIG TEN
Ohio State ranks ninth in the league in batting (.247), sixth in pitching (2.82 ERA) and ninth in fielding (.944). Among individual leaders, freshman Sam Marder leads the league in on-base percentage (.551), ranks second in RBI (23) and home runs (7) and is tied for second in walks (19). Junior Brittany Vanderink is tied for third in sacrifice bunts (6) and joins senior Nycole Koyano in the Top 6 for stolen bases (nine and eight stolen bases, respectively).
Among Big Ten pitchers, sophomore Kim Reeder is tied for third in wins (8), sixth in ERA (2.11), fourth in opponents’ batting average (.190), eighth in innings pitched (66.1) and ninth in strikeouts (57), while senior Jamee Juarez is sixth in strikeouts (64), eighth in ERA (2.22) and 10th in opponents’ batting average (.232).
OSU COMING OFF 5-3 TRIP IN FLA.
Ohio State played a school-record eight games in one tournament last weekend, going 5-3 at the South Florida adidas Invitational in Clearwater. The Buckeyes beat Fordham in the opener on a Jamee Juarez walk-off home run, the topped Robert Morris, 8-0, in six innings. Day-two saw Ohio State fall to Central Michigan and Hofstra, but the Buckeyes responded with a win over Virginia Tech and Long Island Saturday. In the Silver Flight semifinals Sunday, Ohio State beat UMass, 4-1, the dropped a rematch with VaTech, 2-0. During the invitational, freshman Sam Marder batted a team-best .455 (10-for-22), while Kim Reeder went 3-1 in the circle with a 1.28 ERA and Jamee Juarez went 2-2 with a 1.44 ERA.
OSU-OPPONENT CONNECTIONS
Ohio State sophomore pitcher Kim Reeder and Binghamton sophomore pitcher Jessica Whitaker were teammates at Notre Dame H.S. in Salinas, Calif. Ohio State’s Leah Ledford (Lakota West) and Oakland’s Maria Benza (Cincinnati Hills Christian) are both from the Cincinnati area. Seven Buckeyes are from the Los Angeles area, as are Binghamton’s Liz Sequeira (Lakeland) and Meghan Quinn (Temecula). Binghamton head coach Ali Brian was an assistant coach at Dayton the last two years. Her assistant coach, Shannon St. Clair, was an assistant at Cleveland State last year and played at Dayton from 2001-04, facing Ohio State four times in her career.
SCOUTING GRIZZLIES & BEARCATS
Binghamton (2-9), located in south-central New York state, began the season with a seven game losing streak but is 2-3 since then and is coming off a 16-0 win over Niagara last Sunday. The Bearcats went 15-32 last year and 8-13 in the America East Conference, with three out its top five hitters returning, including transfers Mia Bieman and Emilie Palmcrantz, who ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.
Oakland (5-11), located in Rochester, Mich., is 3-3 in its last six games. Sophomore Jessica Granger earned Mid-Continent Conference Pitcher of the Week honors after wining two games at the Mercer Classic and posting a 1.00 ERA for the weekend. The Grizzlies return four starters, including All-Mid-Con selection Tosha Hodgkinson, who led them to a 28-31 overall record in 2006.
ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES
Ohio State is 9-1 all-time against Oakland and swept the Golden Grizzlies in Columbus last year, 8-0 and 8-1. The Buckeyes have never played Binghamton.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
As usual, Ohio State travels west and south often in the early weeks of the season. The Buckeyes opened the season in Tempe, Ariz., Feb. 9-11 at the ASU Kajikawa Classic (2-3) and were at the Palm Springs Classic (3-2) Feb. 23-25. Ohio State was at the UAB Magic City Classic (2-2) March 3-4 in Birmingham and traveled to the South Florida-adidas Invitational (5-3) last week in Clearwater, Fla. After hosting the Buckeye Invitational this weekend, Ohio State departs Monday for a six-day, six-game trip in the Los Angeles area during spring break.
HEAD COACH Linda Kalafatis
Head coach Linda Kalafatis is in her 11th season at Ohio State and in her 19th season as a collegiate head coach. She is OSU’s all-time wins leader (346-242, .590) and is one of three Big Ten coaches with more than 600 career wins (619-357-2, .634). Six times the Buckeyes have won at least 30 games under Kalafatis, who has guided OSU to the NCAA tournament three times (2002, 2004, 2006). She is assisted by former collegiate All-Americans Ali Viola (Nebraska) and Erica Beach (Arizona State).
RECORD BOOK WATCH
Senior Nycole Koyano owns 95 walks, which rank second in OSU history and are 23 shy of the school record. She ranks third all-time in stolen bases (67, one shy of second place) and fourth all-time in runs scored (130, 12 shy of second place). If Koyano leads the Buckeyes in runs this season, she will be the first to do that all four years.
Senior Jamee Juarez ranks third all-time in career RBI (103) and is ranked in the Top 3 in four career pitching statistics, including innings pitched (No. 3, 623.2, 7.8 IP shy of No. 2), wins (No. 3, 58, one shy of No. 2), strikeouts (No. 3, 571) and shutouts (No. 2, 20, six shy of No. 1).
Senior Megan Schwab is third all-time with 41 doubles (four shy of No. 2) and tied for fourth with 15 home runs. Schwab’s 100 RBI are fourth and her 101 runs scored are ninth.
Five Buckeyes rank among the Top 15 in career batting average at Ohio State, including Liz Caputo (.335), Brittany Vanderink (.332), Megan Schwab (.314), Nycole Koyano (.315) and Jamee Juarez (.294).
BUCKEYE FIELD TO GET $5.1M FACELIFT
Buckeye Field, home of Ohio State softball since 1988, will get a $5.1 million renovation as soon as the 2007 season is over. The new 1,500 seat stadium will include indoor and outdoor batting cages, a three-plate bullpen, 650-square foot press box, player clubhouse, lounge and locker room, new dugouts, coaches and umpires locker room and a concession area.
### Go Bucks! ###
