Iowa Comes Back to Top Ohio State, 7-3, in Game One – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2007
Box Score | Notes
Box Score .PDF
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa scored seven unanswered runs to erase the Buckeyes’ 3-0 first-inning lead as the Ohio State softball team fell 7-3 Sunday in the first game of the doubleheader at Pearl Field in Iowa City. With the loss, Ohio State (26-15, 7-2) slips into a first-place tie in the Big Ten with Michigan, while the Hawkeyes (34-17, 9-4 Big Ten) improve to 11-2 at home this season.
The Buckeyes, who stranded 10 runners in the game, had won eight consecutive games when they scored first and were coming a sweep at Illinois (7-6, 4-3). The Hawkeyes, who were coming off a sweep of Penn State (1-0, 7-0), have now won five consecutive games in the series with the Buckeyes and improve to 26-8 against Ohio State at Pearl Field since 1988.
OSU sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) threw her team-leading 10th complete game of the season, but suffers her first Big Ten loss. Reeder (12-6, 3-1 Big Ten) struck out three, walked one and allowed eight hits. Six of the Hawkeyes’ seven runs were earned.
Iowa starter Brittany Weil (15-4, 1.22 ERA) allowed three runs on four hits in the first inning and was pulled before the Hawkeyes were able to record the inning’s third out. Iowa’s Amanda Zust took over from there and pitched into the sixth inning for the win before Weil re-entered and got the final four outs of the game for her second save.
For the fifth-consecutive game, Ohio State scored in the first inning, this time plating three runs with two outs on four hits, including two doubles. Sophomore Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) doubled off the wall in center field to drive in one run and senior Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) singled up the middle to score another. Freshman Sam Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas) started the two-out rally with a single through the left side and went to third on a double down the right field line by senior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain). Marder scored on a wild pitch, Schwab scored on Pruner’s double and Pruner scored on Juarez’s single.
Iowa scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to cut Ohio State’s lead to 3-2. In the third, the Hawkeyes got a single, stolen base and RBI triple to score and in the fourth Iowa put together double, sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly to plate a runner.
Iowa junior Emily Nichols hit her 12th home run of the season, a three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth inning to push the Hawkeyes ahead, 5-3. Iowa scored two more runs in the sixth inning to seal the win.
Ohio State and Iowa meet in game two Sunday at approximately 1:30 p.m. (CT).
### Go Bucks! ###
