Juarez Sets Career Wins Record, Shuts Out Iowa, 1-0, in Game Two – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2007
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IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ohio State softball has a new all-time wins leader, and the shutout victory for record-setting senior Jamee Juarez Sunday was important for more reasons than just that. With the 1-0 win over Iowa in game two of a doubleheader at Pearl Field in Iowa City, the Buckeyes improve to 27-15 overall and remain in a tie with Michigan for first place in the Big Ten at 8-2 in the league. Ohio State went 3-1 on the weekend, with all three wins coming by one run, to end its third-consecutive and final road weekend inside the Big Ten.
Iowa (34-18, 9-5 Big Ten) won the opener Sunday, 7-3, but then couldn’t find an answer in game two for Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson), who struck out 12, walked only one and scattered four hits. In her last four outings, which have included 21.2 innings pitched, Juarez has struck out 45 batters.
Senior Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.) drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning. Sophomore Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) scored the winning run after leading off with a double and advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Juarez.
“It was a tough, grind it out kind of trip and I’m so proud that we battled and hung tough in enemy territory,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “It took everyone. Kim Reeder and Jamee Juarez came on in relief of each other and fought hard to give us a chance to win. We were solid defensively and had just enough offense to win. We obviously wish we could have pulled out that first game today, but Iowa made some good adjustments to earn the win. I’m glad we bounced back.”
Juarez had the win in all three Ohio State victories on the weekend, including one in relief. Juarez is 13-8 this season and, combined with 13 wins as a freshman, an OSU single-season record 25 as a sophomore and 17 last year, her 68 career wins move her past former career record-holder Katie Chain, who won 67 games from 2000-03.
“Jamee has been a joy to coach,” Kalafatis said. “She does so many different things for our team. I’m proud of her and it has been an honor to coach her. I’m glad she achieved the wins record. We have a tradition of great pitchers here and Jamee is at the top of that list and we think Kim Reeder could be the next OSU pitcher to break some of those records, too.”
“It’s an honor,” Juarez said. “It’s just awesome. It’s great to break records, that has been a goal, but I couldn’t have done it without my team. It certainly wasn’t all me.”
Juarez, who already owns the Ohio State career innings pitched record (692.1), was 0-2 with a 4.07 earned run average in three career appearances against Iowa heading into the game, but came out on fire. She retired 12 of the first 13 Hawkeyes she faced, including 10 by strikeout.
“It was a good weekend,” Juarez said. “It was fun, exciting and tense and we played with a lot of heart. We just told ourselves this weekend that losing was not an option. Our goal is to win the Big Ten and advance to the postseason and this weekend was a huge part of that goal.”
The Buckeyes were held to only two hits in the game by Iowa sophomore Brittany Weil (15-5). In addition to Pruner’s double, junior Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) had a bunt single in the sixth inning.
Ohio State will be home for six games next week, including a non-conference doubleheader with Miami at 5 p.m. Wednesday before Purdue and Indiana visit Buckeye Field for Big Ten games next weekend.
### Go Bucke! ###
