Ohio State, Miami Meet at Buckeye Field Wednesday – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 24, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – An eight-game homestand begins Wednesday for the Ohio State softball team, which hosts Miami at 5 p.m. for a doubleheader at Buckeye Field. Just two weeks remain in the regular season for the Buckeyes (27-15, 8-2 Big Ten), who are 8-0 at home this season and in a first place tie with eighth-ranked Michigan atop the Big Ten standings.
The RedHawks (20-31-1, 8-6 Mid-American Conference) bring a six-game winning streak with them to Columbus Wednesday. Last year in Oxford, Miami upset the Buckeyes 6-5 in eight innings to snap Ohio State’s season-best 12-game winning streak.
The Buckeyes are coming off their third-consecutive weekend on the road inside the Big Ten, sweeping Illinois in Urbana and splitting with Iowa, teams that were a combined 13-7 in the Big Ten before meeting up with Ohio State.
After the doubleheader with Miami, the Buckeyes welcome Purdue and Indiana for league series this weekend. The 6 p.m. game with Purdue Friday will be televised locally by Columbus Sports Network.
5 WARM-UP PITCHES
1. Ohio State is 100-10 in non-conference home games under 11th-year head coach Linda Kalafatis.
2. Last year, the Buckeyes took a 12-game winning streak to Oxford, but lost 6-5 in eight innings to the RedHawks.
3. Ohio State is beginning an eight-game homestand Wednesday, where they are 8-0 this season and are batting .399 with a 1.48 ERA.
4. OSU senior Jamee Juarez is the current Big Ten Pitcher of the Week and has struck out 46 batters in her last 21.2 innings with only one walk.
5. The Buckeyes are 22-5 this season when they score first.
BUCKEYES LIVE ON THE WEB
Ohio State’s student radio station will broadcast both games against Miami Wednesday live on the internet at www.OhioStateSports.com. GameTracker will have live statistics at www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Links are found on the schedule page.
OHIO STATE AT BUCKEYE FIELD
Ohio State is 100-10 (.909) in non-conference games at Buckeye Field since 11th-year head coach Linda Kalafatis took over the program in 1997. The Buckeyes have won 25-consecutive home non-conference games in a streak that dates back to April 21, 2004 when Kentucky nipped Ohio State, 4-3. So far in 2007, the Buckeyes are 8-0 at home, are batting .399 and own a 1.48 staff earned run average. Last year at Buckeye Field, Ohio State went 21-2, batted .350 as a team and owned a 1.58 staff earned run average.
BUCKEYES ATOP THE BIG TEN
The Buckeyes are 8-2 in the Big Ten and in a first-place tie with No. 8 Michigan. Ohio State plays its final three Big Ten opponents at home, which include Purdue (6-7), Indiana (1-13) and Penn State (3-5). The Wolverines are also home for their final three opponents, including Minnesota (2-5), Wisconsin (5-7) and Michigan State (2-8).
Ohio State and Michigan did not meet this season after getting snowed out in Ann Arbor April 8. By rule, Big Ten games are not rescheduled. The Buckeyes’ two league losses were at Northwestern (11-3) and Iowa (9-5), while UM lost at Northwestern and Illinois (7-5).
Last week, Ohio State was in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten for the first time since April 22, 2002, when Ohio State was in first place at 13-3.
OHIO STATE AT A GLANCE
The Buckeyes have won 13 of their last 16 games and 18 of their last 24. After an 11-day layoff that saw eight games cancelled because of weather, Ohio State returned to the field April 13 with an impressive win at No. 7 Northwestern. The Buckeyes also own signature wins on neutral fields over then-No. 22 Fresno State, then-No. 17 Cal and then-No. 26 Virginia Tech.
Ohio State is hitting .280 as a team, compared to .234 by its opponents. The pitching staff owns a 2.68 ERA, which is more than a full run lower than the opposition (3.83).
At the plate, the Buckeyes are led by freshman Sam Marder (.372, 9 HR, 38 RBI) and junior Brittany Vanderink (.324, 14 SB). Four other Buckeyes are batting over .285, including sophomore Courtney Pruner (.296, 6 HR, 29 RBI), and seniors Christina Douglas (.295), Jamee Juarez (.292) and Nycole Koyano (.287).
In the circle, Juarez (13-8, 1.81 ERA) and sophomore Kim Reeder (12-6, 2.95 ERA) have combined to start 39 of Ohio State’s 42 games. See later note regarding Juarez’s career records.
Ohio State has 10 letterwinners and eight starters back from its 2006 squad that went 39-23 and 11-7 in the Big Ten and went to the Tucson Regional of the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes have led the Big Ten in batting the last two years.
Head coach Linda Kalafatis is in her 11th year at Ohio State and is one of three coaches in the Big Ten with more than 600 wins. Since 2000, the Buckeyes are 287-161 for a .641 winning percentage, which ranks third in the Big Ten during that time.
PRACTICE SWINGS…
The Buckeyes own a .957 fielding percentage overall this season, but improve that to a Big Ten best .979 in conference games. Of 280 fielding chances in Big Ten games, Ohio State has committed only six errors.
Ohio State is 19-2 when leading after five innings … OSU is 22-5 when scoring first … OSU is 14-4 when scoring in the first inning and scored in the first inning in five consecutive games from April 18-22 … when the Buckeyes score first and go on to out-hit their opponent, they are 16-1, with the only loss coming in eight innings at Cal State Fullerton March 24.
When the bases are loaded, the Buckeyes are batting .321 (17-53) with two grand slams (Marder, Pruner). With a runner on third and less than two outs, Ohio State bats at a .571 clip (52-91). How good is the top of Ohio State’s lineup? The Buckeyes have outscored their opponents 39-15 in the first inning this season and 39-18 in the third inning.
JUAREZ REWRITING RECORD BOOKS, NAMED BIG TEN PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Not many pitchers at any level have had a week quite like Ohio State senior Jamee Juarez experienced last week. On Wednesday, she threw her first collegiate perfect game in a 13-0 win over IUPUI and became the Buckeyes’ all-time innings pitched leader. Then on Sunday she shut out Iowa, 1-0, for her third Big Ten win of the weekend and an OSU record 68th career win.
In four appearances last week, Juarez struck out 46 batters in 21.2 innings pitched. The Big Ten recognized Juarez’s efforts by naming her the league’s pitcher of the week Monday.
The perfect game against IUPUI was Juarez’s third career no-hitter and second of the season. In the OSU career record book, Juarez ranks first in wins (68), first in innings pitched (692.1), second in strikeouts (672, 30 shy of record), second in shutouts (24, 2 shy of record) and third in complete games (61). Of Juarez’s eight losses this season, five have come to No. 1 Arizona, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 7 Northwestern, No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 26 Virginia Tech.
In addition, Juarez ranks third all-time at Ohio State in runs batted in with 115 and sixth in doubles with 37.
A LOOK AT THE REDHAWKS
Miami (20-31-1, 8-6 Mid-American Conference) went through a month-long 2-17-1 skid earlier this season, but is 12-8 since then and is challenging for the MAC title, which the RedHawks won in 2005. Miami has won six in a row, outscoring their opponents 39-12 during that span. Junior Halle Popson leads MU at the plate with a .384 average, 66 hits and 11 stolen bases. In the circle, four different RedHawks have at least five decisions, with freshman Shalise Lugo (7-5, 2.15 ERA) leading the way. Miami has nine starters back from its 2006 team that went 21-34 overall and 7-15 in the MAC. Kelly Kovach Schoenly, a 1995 Michigan grad and two-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, is in her first season in Oxford after serving as an assistant at Michigan (1995-98) and Penn State (1998-2006).
OHIO STATE VS. MIAMI
The Buckeyes are 20-15-1 all-time against Miami. These teams met every season from 1993-2001, with all but the 1994 and 2001 games being played in Columbus. Ohio State is 12-4 against the RedHawks at Buckeye Field.
LAST YEAR: MIAMI TOPS OSU 6-5 in 8
Then-freshman Courtney Pruner homered twice, but Ohio State saw its 12-game winning streak come to an end with a 6-5 loss in extra-innings at Miami last season (April 19). The Buckeyes led 3-0 after their half of the third inning, but Miami came back to hand OSU a loss in its only road game in a current 19-game span. Miami took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third, but Pruner’s second homer sent the game into extra-innings, where the RedHawks loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and got a pinch-hit game-winning RBI single from Jamie Arundel.
Ohio State’s Jamee Juarez pitched into the sixth inning and allowed five runs, only one of which was earned thanks in part to four OSU errors. Pruner pitched the final two innings and suffered the loss, her first of the season (4-1).
BUCKEYES-REDHAWKS CONNECTIONS
Ohio State jr. 2B Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio) played club softball with Miami jr. 1B Halle Popson (Solon, Ohio) and jr. UT Christine Bills (Canal Fulton, Ohio). OSU seniors Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz.) and Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz.) and Miami soph. Ashley Gartland (Tempe, Ariz.) are all from the Phoenix area. Five RedHawks are from the Los Angeles area, as are seven Buckeyes.
BUCKEYES IN THE BIG TEN
As of April 23: In overall offensive statistics, Ohio State ranks eighth in the Big Ten in batting (.280), fifth in pitching (2.68 ERA) and eighth in fielding (.957). Freshman Sam Marder leads the Big Ten in on base percentage (.530), is second in walks (33, 2nd in nation), seventh in slugging percentage (.697) and 10th in batting average (.372) and RBI (38). Senior Nycole Koyano ranks second in triples (5, 6th in nation) and tied for ninth in stolen bases (13). Junior Brittany Vanderink is tied for seventh in thefts (14).
In Big Ten games only, Ohio State ranks fourth in batting (.294), fifth in pitching (3.15 ERA) and first in fielding (.979 fielding pct.). Senior Christina Douglas ranks 10th in batting (.423) and tied for third in sacrifice bunts (4).
Among the league’s pitchers, in all games senior Jamee Juarez is tied for first in saves (3), fifth in ERA (1.81), third in strikeouts (165), second in fewest walks allowed (22), eighth in opposing batting average (.226), tied for eighth in wins (13) and ninth in innings pitched (131.2). Sophomore Kim Reeder ranks seventh in opposing batting average (.224). Reeder and Juarez’s rankings in Big Ten games only are nearly identical.
WE’RE GOING STREAKING…
Senior Christina Douglas and freshman Sam Marder both extended their career-best hit streaks to 10 games last weekend before seeing them halted Sunday at Iowa. Despite the end of their streaks, Douglas is batting .419 (13-31) in her last 12 games and Marder is batting .444 (16-36) in her last 11 games.
Junior Brittany Vanderink had a team-best 12-game hitting streak going until April 13 at Northwestern. She has hit safely in 24 of her last 27 games. Other Buckeyes hot at the plate include senior Jamee Juarez (.412, 14-34, last 11 games) and sophomore Courtney Pruner (.546, 12-22, last eight games).
RECORD BOOK WATCH
In addition to senior Jamee Juarez (see earlier note), several other Buckeyes are moving up the career record charts. Senior Nycole Koyano owns 106 walks, which rank second in OSU history and are 12 shy of the school record. She ranks second all-time in stolen bases (71) and third all-time in runs scored (145). If Koyano leads the Buckeyes in runs this season, she will be the first to do that all four years.
Senior Megan Schwab is tied for second all-time with 45 doubles and fourth with 18 home runs. Schwab’s 108 RBI are fourth and her 116 runs scored are sixth. She has started 105 consecutive games for the Buckeyes, the longest streak on the team. Sam Marder’s 33 walks and 36 RBI this season are already OSU freshman records. Her nine homers are one shy of the frosh record.
Five Buckeyes rank among the Top 15 in career batting average at Ohio State, including Brittany Vanderink (.335), Liz Caputo (.321), Nycole Koyano (.314), Megan Schwab (.313) and Jamee Juarez (.302).
OSU COMING OFF FROM 3-1 ROAD TRIP
Ohio State is coming off its third-consecutive Big Ten road trip, but it was a successful one with a sweep at Illinois and a split at Iowa. All three OSU wins came by one run. The 7-6 win Friday at Illinois was a come-from-behind effort in the top of the seventh and the other two wins involved scoring late to break a tie game.
Jamee Juarez had the win in all three OSU victories (see previous note) and struck out 34 batters against only one walk in 16.2 innings pitched. At the plate, Sam Marder led the way with a .429 average (6-14), while Courtney Pruner batted .400 (4-10) with four RBI.
HEAD COACH Linda Kalafatis
Head coach Linda Kalafatis is in her 11th season at Ohio State and in her 19th season as a collegiate head coach. She is OSU’s all-time wins leader (361-247, .591) and is one of three Big Ten coaches with more than 600 career wins (634-362-2, .634). Six times the Buckeyes have won at least 30 games under Kalafatis, who has guided OSU to the NCAA tournament three times (2002, 2004, 2006). She is assisted by former collegiate All-Americans Ali Viola (Nebraska) and Erica Beach (Arizona State).
BUCKEYE FIELD TO GET $5.1M FACELIFT
Buckeye Field, home of Ohio State softball since 1988, will get a $5.1 million renovation as soon as the 2007 season is over. The new 1,500 seat stadium will include indoor and outdoor batting cages, a three-plate bullpen, 650-square foot press box, player clubhouse, lounge and locker room, new dugouts, coaches and umpires locker room and a concession area.
### GO BUCKS! ###
