Juarez’s Walk-off Homer Sends Ohio State Past Fordham, 3-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 8, 2007
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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Senior Jamee Juarez led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk-off home run, which Fordham disputed as an out, to deliver a 3-2 win for the Ohio State softball team Thursday at the USF adidas Invitational at Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla. Ohio State (8-7) had only two hits and committed five errors and Fordham (6-5) left 10 runners on base.
On a 2-2 count, Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) lofted a fly ball to left field that Fordham left fielder Melissa Andrews caught, but as the ball settled into her glove she fell through the temporary fence, resulting in a home run and a win for the Buckeyes.
Nevertheless, it was the first homer this season for Juarez and the first walk-off homer for a Buckeye since Chelsea Baker’s long ball beat then-No. 15 Northwestern April 9, 2006, at Buckeye Field.
Winning her fourth-consecutive decision, Ohio State sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) improved to 6-2 in the circle with the complete game, her fourth of the season. She struck out five, walked three and allowed only two unearned runs.
Not since Feb. 9, 2003 in a 7-2 win over No. 23 Alabama had Ohio State committed five or more errors in a game but still won.
Fordham starter Sara Kinney, a second-team All-Atlantic 10 selection last year, allowed only two hits in the game – a double in the first inning to freshman Sam Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas) and the homer to Juarez.
Fordham’s Krystle Henry led off the game with a double down the right field line and scored when Ohio State committed two of its errors in the first inning. The Buckeyes tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first when junior Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) walked, Marder doubled and sophomore Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) hit an RBI sacrifice fly to center.
Ohio State went up 2-1 in the fourth when Juarez drew a two-out walk and scored on a three-base throwing error on a grounder to short hit by freshman Whitney Cooper (Barstow, Calif./Barstow).
The Rams tied the game 2-2 in the sixth with two singles and an OSU error.
Next up, the Buckeyes take on Robert Morris at 7 p.m. Thursday.
### Go Bucks! ###
