Juarez Makes it Back-to-Back No-Hitters as Ohio State Wins Nightcap, 5-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 18, 2007
Box Score | Notes
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior Jamee Juarez pitched the Ohio State softball team’s second no-hitter of the day and allowed only one base runner as the Buckeyes shut out Oakland, 5-0, Sunday in the second game of a doubleheader at Buckeye Field. Ohio State (14-10) has won five of its last six games and departs Monday for a six day, six game spring break trip in Los Angeles, while Oakland falls to 5-13.
After watching teammate Kim Reeder (So., Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) throw a no-hitter in Ohio State’s 9-1 five-inning win in the opener Sunday, Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) was nearly perfect in the nightcap, retiring 21 of the 22 batters she faced, including the last 18 in a row. Juarez struck out 13, her most ever in a seven inning game, and walked one.
In the Buckeyes’ home openers, the efforts of Reeder and Juarez mark Ohio State’s first ever back-to-back no-hitters in a doubleheader. Once previously OSU pitchers threw no-hitters in back-to-back games, those coming from Katie Chain at Miami (Ohio) on April 3, 2001, and then from Kristi DeVries against Eastern Michigan on April 4, 2001. The no-hitters for Reeder and Juarez Sunday were both the second of their careers.
“We wanted to protect our home field and the kids did a good job of coming ready to play today,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “Jamee and Kim have been working very hard and it’s good to see them both get an achievement like that. Leah Ledford did a good job in centerfield filling in for Liz Caputo and came up with a big two out, bases loaded hit in the second game. Our defense didn’t have to work too hard today because of the games Jamee and Kim threw, but we made the plays we needed to.”
The win for Juarez is the 59th of her career, which ties her for second all-time at Ohio State with DeVries (2001-04). The shutout was the 21st of her career, which already ranks second, and the complete game was her 57th.
Ohio State scored once in the first and second innings, then pulled away with three runs in the third when freshman Leah Ledford (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) knocked in two runs with a two-out, bases loaded single to right field. In the first inning, senior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) drove in a run with a groundout and senior Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) walked with the bases loaded in the second to plate another run.
Senior Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) had two hits, one of which was her third triple of the season to lead off the game.
First up on the Buckeyes’ spring break trip is Long Beach State, which hosts Ohio State at 3 p.m. (PT) Tuesday.
### Go Bucks! ###
