Buckeyes Heads to USF adidas Invitational in Clearwater – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 6, 2007
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – A five-day trip to Clearwater, Fla., begins Wednesday for the Ohio State softball team as the Buckeyes travel for at least six games, and as many as eight, at the South Florida adidas Invitational. The 24-team event, which includes five pool-play games followed by a championship bracket, is hosted by USF at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater.
2007 USF adidas Invitational
Hosted by South Florida, March 8-11, Clearwater, Fla.
Tournament Complex: Eddie C. Moore Complex
Fields 1-4: 3050 Drew St., Clearwater, Fla.
Fields 8-9: 2998 Drew St., Clearwater, Fla.
Complex info: www.myclearwater.com/gov/depts/parksrec/
Tournament info: www.GoUSFbulls.com
GameTracker: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Ohio State Tournament Schedule:
Thurs., March 8: vs. Fordham (4 p.m.), vs. Robert Morris (6 p.m.)
Fri., March 9: vs. Central Michigan (4 p.m.), vs. Hofstra (6 p.m.)
Sat. March 10: vs. Virginia Tech (11 a.m.), vs. TBA (bracket play begins)
Sun., March 11: vs. TBA (bracket play continues)
Tournament Field:
Pool A: South Florida (14-7), North Carolina (13-8), Oklahoma State (11-12), Jacksonville (4-17), Western Michigan (3-2), Wagner (0-0).
Pool B: Michigan State (7-6), Villanova (6-2), UT-Chattanooga (10-11), N.C. State (14-6), Long Island (3-7), Mercer (5-9).
Pool C: Ohio State (7-7), Hofstra (4-8), Virginia Tech (15-5), Robert Morris (0-0), Central Michigan (2-8), Fordham (6-4).
Pool D: Massachusetts (4-5), Georgia Tech (20-3), Indiana (3-4), Northern Illinois (3-3), Illinois-Chicago (4-11), Tennessee Tech (13-8).
Pool play begins Thursday when the Buckeyes (7-7) will face Fordham (6-4) at 4 p.m. and Robert Morris (0-0) at 6 p.m. On Friday, Ohio State takes on Central Michigan (2-8) and Hofstra (4-8) at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. Pool play ends Saturday against Virginia Tech (15-5) at 11 a.m., after which all teams will be seeded and placed in either gold, silver or bronze single-elimination brackets.
The trip this week is the team’s second-longest of the season. Only the upcoming six-day spring break trip in Los Angeles March 19-24 is longer.
Following the USF adidas Invitational this week, Ohio State hosts the two-day Buckeye Invitational March 17-18.
ABOUT THE USF adidas INVITATIONAL
Hosted by South Florida, the USF adidas Invitational includes 24 teams that are split into four groups for pool play. Once pool play concludes Saturday afternoon, the top two teams from each pool are placed in the gold bracket, the third and fourth teams from each pool go to the silver bracket and the fifth and sixth teams enter the bronze bracket. Single elimination bracket-play begins Saturday evening and concludes Sunday.
The Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater is made up of nine fields. The main complex contains fields 1-4, while fields 8-9 are about a half mile away.
Tickets can be purchased on www.Fastpitchlearningacademy.com by clicking on the USF/adidas tickets link. Tournament passes are $25 for an adult and $20 for a child. Single day tickets are $8 for an adult and $6 for a child. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the event. Parking is free.
OHIO STATE AT A GLANCE
The Buckeyes are off to a 7-7 start against a tough schedule that has included six ranked opponents and two others that are receiving votes in the national poll. Of Ohio State’s seven losses, four have come against Top 10 teams. The Buckeyes are hitting .250 as a team, which ranks third in the Big Ten, and own a 3.46 staff earned run average, which ranks seventh.
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 267-153 for a .640 winning percentage, which ranks third in the Big Ten during that time.
NOTING THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State pitchers threw three complete games in four outings last weekend, including one by Jamee Juarez and two by Kim Reeder, which included her first career no-hitter and then a two-hitter.
The efforts turned in by OSU pitchers helped the Buckeyes keep their record at the .500 mark despite extending their streak to five games without collecting more than five hits. The last time Ohio State went as long without more than five hits was a seven-game stretch from April 26 to May 4, 1997.
Senior Christina Douglas needs two hits and junior Brittany Vanderink needs four to reach 100 in their careers. Three current Buckeyes already own at least 100 career hits, including seniors Megan Schwab (172), Nycole Koyano (169) and Jamee Juarez (147).
Juarez needs to record two outs from the circle to reach 600 career innings pitched, becoming only the fifth Buckeye in program history to pitch 600 or more innings. Juarez is already only the third Buckeye with 100 or more career RBI. Schwab is close behind with 97 RBI and needs one more run to reach 100 runs scored.
Freshman Sam 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. Current Buckeyes who are on that list include Caputo and sophomore Courtney Pruner. 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.
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. Last weekend, Ohio State was at the UAB Magic City Classic (2-2) in Birmingham. Next up is the South Florida-adidas Invitational this week in Clearwater, Fla.
Ohio State then hosts the Buckeye Invitational March 17-18 before departing for a six-day, six-game trip in the Los Angeles area during spring break.
OSU COMING OFF 2-2 TRIP TO UAB
Led by its pitching staff, Ohio State went 2-2 last weekend at the UAB Magic City Classic in Birmingham. In the circle, the Buckeyes fashioned a 0.78 staff earned run average (27 IP, 3 ER), best in the tournament, but batted just .182 as a team.
Sophomore pitcher Kim Reeder threw a no-hitter and a two-hitter to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Freshman catcher Sam Marder also was named to the all-tournament team after batting a team-best .444 (4-for-9) with three RBI.
The Buckeyes opened the weekend with a 2-1 loss to Samford, but Reeder’s no-hitter against UAB in the nightcap Saturday got OSU back on the winning track. Marder drove in the game-winner over UAB and then drove in two more runs Sunday morning in a 3-1 win over Birmingham-Southern. A 3-1 loss in a rematch with UAB ended the weekend.
OSU-OPPONENT CONNECTIONS
Ohio State sophomore Courtney Pruner (Ellet H.S.) and Robert Morris sophomore Stacy Davidson (Springfield H.S.) are both from Akron, Ohio, and played against each other in high school. RMU is the Buckeyes’ 13th opponent of the season but the first with an Ohio native on its roster.
Located in Moon Township, Pa., Robert Morris is located just 20 miles from the hometown of Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis, who grew up in Bethel Park.
Hofstra junior Pam Dreslinski is from Edgewood, Ohio. Buckeye seniors Christina Douglas (Mesa) and Megan Schwab (Glendale) and Fordham senior Megan Hansen (Chandler, Ariz.) are all from the Phoenix area.
Virginia Tech junior Stephanie Savre is from Simi Valley, Calif., not far from the hometowns of OSU’s Megan Miller (Woodland Hills) and Sam Marder (Calabasas).
A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
Hofstra (4-8) began the season 4-3 before going on a five-game skid at the NFCA Leadoff Classic Feb. 23-25. All five defeats came by a combined eight runs, including two to nationally ranked teams Michigan and Southern Illinois. Sophomore pitcher Kayleigh Lotti (2-3, 1.35 ERA) was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week Feb. 20 following a no-hit, five-inning effort over East Tennessee. The Pride returns three All-CAA performers from last year’s team that won the conference title and went 37-20.
Fordham (6-4) went 3-1 and placed third at the ECU Pirate Clash March 2-4. Freshman Erin Fisher received Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Week honors following her performance at the Cox Communication Classic Feb. 16, where she hit .438 (7 for 16) with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI. 12 letterwinners return for the Rams, who went 37-23 and won the A-10 Conference.
Robert Morris (0-0) begins its season this weekend under the guidance of 16th-year head coach Craig Coleman. The Colonials return 13 letterwinners from their 2006 team that finished with a 26-19 mark and tied for first in the Northeast Conference. Key returnees include senior shortstop Jill Spargo and senior catcher Jill Dorsch, both All-NEC first-team selections a year ago.
Central Michigan (2-7) has dropped four of its last five despite the performance of sophomore Tracy Kaatz, who began the season with a nine-game hitting streak. The Chippewas return 10 letterwinners from their 2006 team that went 22-27 and finished second in the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 13-7 league mark. Head coach Margo Jonker, who is in her 28th year at CMU, has won 917 games in her career.
Virginia Tech (15-5) beat Stetson 3-0 in the championship game of the Knight Games March 2-4, earning head coach Scot Thomas his 400th career victory. Junior pitcher Angela Tincher (12-1, 0.41 ERA) sits at the top of the Virginia Tech all-time strikeout list with 1,043 career strikeouts. Tincher last year became the first All-American in Tech history and is on the USA Softball preseason player of the year watch list.
ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES
Ohio State is 15-0 all-time against Robert Morris, with 14 of those games being played at Buckeye Field in Columbus. OSU won 11-2 last season in the Buckeye Invitational.
Ohio State is 2-2 all-time against Central Michigan and won 8-3 last year at home in the Buckeye Invitational.
Virginia Tech won the only meeting between Ohio State and the Hokies, winning 1-0 in 2004 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga.
Ohio State will be meeting Fordham and Hofstra for the first time in program history.
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 (341-239, .590) and is one of three Big Ten coaches with more than 600 career wins (614-354-2, .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 93 walks, which rank second in OSU history and are 25 shy of the school record. She ranks third all-time in stolen bases (63) and fourth all-time in runs scored (125). 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 (100) and is ranked in the Top 5 in four career pitching statistics, including innings pitched (No. 5, 599.1), wins (No. 3, 56), strikeouts (No. 3, 546) and shutouts (No. 2, 19).
Senior Megan Schwab is fourth all-time with 39 doubles and tied for fourth with 15 home runs. Schwab’s 97 RBI are fifth and her 99 runs scored are ninth.
Five Buckeyes rank among the Top 15 in career batting average at Ohio State, including Liz Caputo (.349), Brittany Vanderink (.332), Megan Schwab (.320), Nycole Koyano (.321) and Jamee Juarez (.297).
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! ###
