Juarez Pitches, Hits Ohio State to Sweep at Illinois with 4-3 Win – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 21, 2007
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URBANA, Ill. – Senior Jamee Juarez struck out 11 in six innings of work and hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the sixth to lead the Ohio State softball team past Illinois Saturday, 4-3, at Eichelberger Field in Urbana. The Buckeyes are 26-14 overall and remain in first place in the Big Ten at 7-1, while the Illini (26-18, 5-5 Big Ten) get swept for the first time at home this season.
After earning the win Friday night with 11 strikeouts in 3.2 innings of relief work, Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) has now struck out 33 batters in her last three outings (14.2 innings) that included a perfect game Wednesday vs. IUPUI. Juarez is 12-8 this season and 4-1 in the Big Ten and with 67 career wins has tied the Ohio State all-time victories record, held by Katie Chain from 2000-03.
“Illinois has a tough lineup to get through, but our pitchers rose to the occasion,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “Yesterday Jamee came in to close the deal and today is was Kim Reeder. Right now, our team has so many people ready to step up and do enough to help us win.”
With the game tied 3-3, Juarez led off the bottom of the sixth inning and scooped a low offering from Illinois starter Vicky Brown, sending it over the 35-foot tall scoreboard beyond the left-centerfield fence. In the top of the seventh, Juarez allowed a leadoff single before handing the ball to sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.), who recorded three straight outs for her second save of the season. National home run leader Illinois hit two more homers Saturday, which accounted for all three of its runs. Again Saturday, the lefty Brown got the start in the circle for the Illini. Friday night, she couldn’t get out of the first inning, but Saturday she went the distance despite suffering the loss. She struck out five, allowed nine OSU hits and falls to 15-7.
Like they did Friday night, the Buckeyes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in their first-inning at bat. Sophomore Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) had the big hit, a two-RBI single up the middle to score junior Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood), who had walked after falling behind 0-2, and freshman Sam Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas), who singled to right. Senior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) was hit by a pitch to load the bases in the inning.
Illinois got on the board in the top of the third inning when lead-off batter Angelena Mexicano hit a solo homer to left field, her 15th of the season.
Marder’s ninth home run of the season down the left field line in the bottom of the third pushed Ohio State’s lead back to two runs at 3-1. It remained there until the top of the fifth when Shanna Diller hit her 16th homer of the season, a two-run shot, to tie the game at 3-3.
Ohio State travels to Iowa City, Iowa, for a doubleheader at 11 a.m. (CT) Sunday against the Hawkeyes (33-17, 8-4 Big Ten), who swept Penn State Friday and Saturday.
### Go Bucks! ###
