Ohio State Comes Back to Top Minnesota, 4-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 30, 2007
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scoring four runs with two outs in the sixth inning, the Ohio State softball team came from two runs down to top Minnesota, 4-2, Friday in its Big Ten opener at Buckeye Field. In the sixth, senior designated player Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.) hit a two-run double off the right-field wall to tie the game and an RBI single up the middle from junior Liz Caputo (Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) put the Buckeyes on top for good.
Despite playing in Minneapolis the last two seasons, Ohio State (18-13, 1-0 Big Ten) wins its sixth-consecutive game against Minnesota (13-13, 0-1 Big Ten).
“We were frustrated early on and I thought lost our confidence a little,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “But we stayed with it and got tougher and put it together when we needed to.”
It was Daykin who put it together when the Buckeyes needed it most. With two outs and a runner on first and second, she sent a shot over the Gopher right-fielder’s head that hit off the wall, allowing both runs to score and ignited the OSU offense, which scored two more runs in the inning. After striking out in her first two at bats, Daykin’s double extended her current hitting streak to four games.
“Every time I step up the plate I have the confidence that I will get a hit,” Daykin said. “I was getting frustrated after my first two at bats, but in that situation, with two runners on and us down by two runs, I knew we needed a big hit and I was just glad to have an opportunity to get the job done for my team.”
“About two weeks ago, we were flip-flopping our designated player trying to get some production,” Kalafatis said. “But I said Lauren is the experienced one. She’s the senior, let’s go with her, and it has paid off. She hung tough in there and got all of that ball.”
In the sixth, senior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) singled up the middle and senior Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) reached on a fielder’s choice. With two outs, senior Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) hit an infield single, bringing Daykin to the plate, whose double scored Juarez and Douglas all the way from first base. Caputo’s single scored pinch-runner Michelle Reynolds-Parra (so., Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor) to put Ohio State up, 3-2, and after Caputo stole second, junior Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) hit a single up the middle to bring her home and give the Buckeyes a two-run lead.
OSU sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) pitched into the seventh inning to earn her 10th win of the season. She struck out seven, walked two and allowed six hits. Juarez came on in relief with one out in the seventh and faced three batters to earn her second save of the season.
Minnesota got on the board first in the top of the third inning when Megan Higginbotham led off with a single up the middle, stole second and scored on a one-out double down the right field line by the Gophers’ leading hitter, Mandy Valadez.
The Gophers made it 2-0 in the fifth when Lisa Parks hit a solo home run, her fifth of the season, that tucked just inside the right field foul pole.
Ohio State and Minnesota will meet at Buckeye Field again at noon Saturday.
### Go Bucks! ###
