Ohio State Upsets No. 7 Northwestern, 5-3, in Extra Innings – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 13, 2007
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EVANSTON, Ill. – Sophomore Courtney Pruner homered twice, including a two run shot in the top of the ninth inning, to send the Ohio State softball team to a 5-3 win in extra-innings over defending Big Ten champ and national runner-up Northwestern Friday at Sharon S. Drysdale Field in Evanston. Shaking off an 11 day layoff after their last eight games were cancelled because of poor weather, the Buckeyes (22-13, 5-0 Big Ten) remain atop the conference standings and win at Northwestern (31-8, 6-2 Big Ten), ranked No. 7 this week, for the first time since 2002.
Sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) went eight innings for Ohio State and struck out six to improve to 12-5 this season, while Northwestern’s Eileen Canney, the 2006 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, falls to 16-8.
Northwestern’s Erin Dyer hit a two out, three run home run in the sixth inning to tie the game at 3-3 and force extra-innings, but Reeder was perfect in the seventh and eighth innings and senior Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) came on in relief with a runner on in the ninth and retired the side for her third save of the season.
“I knew we were anxious to play but we had concerns about how sharp we would be,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “I knew we’d come out and play hard, that is one of the things I’m most proud of. Obviously Pruner had a standout game, Reeder pitched really well and Jamee did a good job in relief. Scoring first was big and we got good defense, especially from Brittany Vanderink, who handled a couple hot grounders at second, Megan Schwab in left and Nycole Koyano at short who took a bloop hit away.”
Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) is now 3-for-7 in her career against Canney with three home runs. The homers Friday were her fourth and fifth of the season.
“Everyone was a little anxious from not playing in 11 days,” Pruner said. “We wanted to get out there and get a big win and we all pulled together for a team effort. I was just trying to focus on putting the ball in play this weekend and a couple of them just happened to go out. Canney is a very good pitcher. Northwestern won the Big Ten last year and is a very well known team, so it’s great to get a win over a highly ranked team.”
In the top of the second inning, Pruner hit a one out, solo home run to put the Buckeyes up, 1-0. Pruner also homered against Canney in the second inning last year at Buckeye Field and Ohio State went on to win, 2-1.
In the fourth, Ohio State added two more runs, both unearned, to go up 3-0. Senior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) led off with a walk and the Wildcats then committed two errors on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Sam Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas). Canney fielded the bunt but threw the ball past first base and down the right field line, where Jessica Miller picked it up and threw it into the OSU dugout, allowing Schwab to trot home and Marder to go to third. Senior Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) then hit an RBI single to shortstop to score sophomore Michelle Reynolds-Parra (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor), running for Marder.
Pruner’s home run in the ninth came after Marder led off with a single to left-centerfield.
Ohio State and Northwestern will meet again Saturday at noon CT in Evanston.
### Go Bucks! ###
