Long Beach State Comes Back to Top Ohio State, 10-6 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 20, 2007
Box Score | Notes
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LONG BEACH, Calif. – Host Long Beach State scored 10 unanswered runs, all with two outs, to erase a 6-0 deficit and beat the Ohio State softball team, 10-6, Tuesday at the 49er Softball Complex in Long Beach. OSU sophomore Courtney Pruner’s grand slam in the fourth inning gave the Buckeyes (14-11) a six run lead, but the 49ers (11-14) came back to win for the seventh time in their last nine games.
The grand slam for Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) was the first of her collegiate career and marked her third homer of the season, but Long Beach scored four runs in the fifth inning to tie the game and scored four more in the sixth to take the lead for good.
Ohio State, which left 10 runners on base in the game, had been 9-0 this season when leading after four innings.
OSU sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) allowed two hits and no runs through three innings and pitched into the sixth before being relieved by senior Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson). Reeder suffered the loss, falling to 9-4 this season. The last run allowed by Reeder, and all three by Juarez, were unearned.
Ohio State scored twice in the top of the first on a two-RBI double over the right fielder’s head by freshman Sam Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas). Scoring were senior Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut), who led off the game with a walk, and junior Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood), who followed with an infield single.
Pruner’s grand slam in the fourth then made it 6-0, scoring Koyano, Vanderink and sophomore Michelle Reynolds-Parra (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor), pinch-running for Marder. The blast chased 49er starter Bridget Pagano, the Big West Conference pitcher of the week last week who entered the game with nine of Long Beach’s 10 wins this season.
The 49ers got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth, then hit three-run home runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to account for four of their six runs. Long Beach reliever Kelly Cross worked the final three innings, allowing no runs and only two hits, for her second win of the season.
Koyano, Vanderink and senior Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) all had two hits for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State continues its spring break trip at noon (PT) Wednesday with a doubleheader at Loyola Marymount.
### Go Bucks! ###
