Juarez Perfect in Buckeyes’ 13-0 Win over IUPUI in Game Two – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 18, 2007
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior Jamee Juarez threw her first career perfect game and became the Ohio State softball program’s all-time innings pitched leader as the Buckeyes blanked IUPUI, 13-0, in five innings Wednesday in game two of a doubleheader at Buckeye Field. After winning game one, 5-0, the Buckeyes erupted for a season-high 17 hits in the nightcap to sweep the Jaguars and improve to 24-14 overall, while IUPUI falls to 8-27.
The effort was the third no-hitter for Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson), who is the first Buckeye to throw a perfect game since March 6, 2004 when Kristi DeVries threw a five-inning perfect game to beat Wright State on Dayton’s home field. Juarez has now thrown more innings than any pitcher in Ohio State history with a total of 677.2, surpassing Katie Chain, who threw 677.1 from 2000-03.
“That’s Jamee. When she’s on her game, she is one of the best,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “We wanted to see her sharpen up a couple things with this midweek start and she certainly did that. And at the plate, I haven’t seen us hit like that in a long time.”
Juarez struck out 12, those coming in three stretches of four consecutive strikeouts each, meaning only three Jaguars put the ball in play. Those resulted in a fly out, a ground out and a pop out. With 65 career victories, Juarez is now two wins shy from the Ohio State all-time wins record, held by Chain.
“I am just very excited,” Juarez said. “Everything was working and I was able to keep snapping my pitches tight and it all came together. I just stayed loose and was confident and it’s a great feeling knowing when you need runs, you have an offense that can come up big like it did tonight.”
Ohio State scored four runs in the first inning, four more in the second and five runs in the third inning. Every Buckeye starter had at least one hit.
Sophomore Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) hit her sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot in the second inning, and she also doubled in a run in the third inning to end the game with three runs batted in. She went 3-for-3 in the game.
Senior Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.) went 2-for-3 with a career-high three RBI. Freshman Sam Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas) went 2-for-2 with three RBI, leaving her one RBI away from the Ohio State freshman RBI record of 36, set by Juarez in 2004.
Junior Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) went 2-for-2 and drove in two runs, as did senior Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson), who was 1-for-2.
Ohio State, which currently leads the Big Ten with a 5-1 league record, hit the road this weekend for games at Illinois Friday and Saturday and Iowa Sunday.
### Go Bucks! ###
