Ohio State Scores Twice in Seventh for 7-6 Win at Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 20, 2007
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URBANA, Ill. – The Buckeyes scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning and senior Jamee Juarez struck out 11 of the 12 Illinois batters she faced in 3.2 innings of relief as the Ohio State softball team topped the Illini, 7-6, Friday night at Eichelberger Field in Urbana. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 25-14 overall and keep their lead in the Big Ten at 6-1, while Illinois falls to 26-17 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten.
Prior to the seventh inning, every time the Buckeyes scored in their half of the inning, Illinois answered in its half and the Illini led, 6-5, after six innings. That changed in both team’s final at bat, however, as Ohio State scored on an RBI ground out and a wild pitch and Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) struck out the side to end the game.
“The energy our team had in that last inning carried us,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “We obviously had a lot of clutch things happen, from our pinch-runners, to Jamee’s great at bat to lead off the seventh, to Lauren Daykin’s 0-2 single to Courtney Pruner hobbling up there and the putting the ball in play to bring home a run. Illinois had great fan support, but sports is about momentum. Sometimes it’s about stopping the other team’s momentum and sometimes it’s about creating your own, and we did both tonight.”
Illinois entered the weekend leading the nation in home runs and hit two in the game, but the Buckeyes out-hit Illinois, 10-7, overall and Juarez, who threw a perfect game Wednesday, went 2-for-3 with two doubles and scored the game-tying run in the top of the seventh inning with a head-first slide under the tag after she led off with a double.
With two runs batted in, freshman Sam Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas) broke the Ohio State record for RBI by a freshman with 37. The previous record of 36 was set by Juarez in 2004.
In the seventh, Juarez fouled off four pitches before doubling into the right-centerfield gap. With two strikes, senior Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.) then grounded a single through the left side, bringing sophomore Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) as a pinch-hitter after she was forced out of the starting lineup because of an ankle injury suffered Thursday in practice. Pruner grounded to first base and Juarez slid across the plate to tie the game at 6-6 before the tag from Illinois catcher Lana Armstrong could get her.
Freshman Arlynda Flores (Uvalde, Texas/Uvalde), pinch-running for Daykin at second, advanced to third on a single up the middle by senior Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) and scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch by UI freshman Ashley Wright, who suffered the blown save and loss.
OSU sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) struck out four and pitched into the bottom of the fourth inning. Juarez, who became Ohio State’s all-time innings pitched leader during her perfect game Wednesday, earned the win to improve to 11-8 this season and is now within one win of the OSU all-time wins record of 67 held by Katie Chain (2000-03).
Freshman left-hander Vicky Brown got the start for Illinois but gave up two runs in the top of the first and was pulled after recording only one out. Junior Claire DeVreese worked through the fourth inning before Wright came on for the final three innings.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Koyano led off with a walk and junior Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) reached on a fielding error by Brown on a sacrifice bunt. Marder then drove them in with a single to left field that UL’s Makenzie Smith let get away from her, allowing Vanderink to score from first. Marder received one RBI on the play, giving her 36 for the year, which ties the Ohio State record for RBI set by Jamee Juarez in 2004.
Illinois junior Shana Diller tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer, her 15th of the season, which ranks second in the Big Ten.
Ohio State took a one-run lead in the top of the third on an RBI sacrifice fly to right field from Daykin. Senior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) scored on the play after leading off the inning with a single to left field.
The Illini scored twice in the bottom of the third inning to take a 4-3 lead and Reeder work out of bases loaded jam to stop the damage. The Buckeyes scored twice with two outs in the top of the fourth, however, on an RBI double by Marder and a UL throwing error. Vanderink got the OSU rally started the rally with a single up the middle and scored from first on Marder’s double.
When Illinois scored two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, Reeder was lifted for Juarez, who struck out a pair to get out of the inning and keep the Illini’s lead at 6-5.
Ohio State and Illinois will meet again at noon (CT) Saturday. The Buckeyes then move on to Iowa for a doubleheader at noon Sunday against the Hawkeyes (31-17, 6-4 Big Ten).
### Go Bucks! ###
