Ohio State and Wright State Meet at Buckeye Field Wednesday – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 9, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After having its last six games cancelled because of snow and cold weather, the Ohio State softball team returns to Buckeye Field at 5 p.m. Wednesday for a doubleheader against Wright State. The Buckeyes (21-13, 4-0 Big Ten), who are 6-0 at home this season, have not played since April 1, while the Raiders (14-19, 1-4 Horizon) were able to play this past Saturday but were swept at Loyola.
Ohio State’s student radio station will broadcast both games live on its Web site at www.OhioStateSports.com. Live statistics will be available via GameTracker at www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Links are found on the softball schedule page.
All but five of the 20 Big Ten softball games scheduled for last weekend were cancelled because of weather. No. 7 Northwestern (31-7, 6-1 Big Ten), which hosts Ohio State this Friday and Saturday, played three of those games, winning all of them.
The Buckeyes’ 4-0 start in the Big Ten is their first since 1990 when they won their first and only league title. After facing Wright State Wednesday, Ohio State will embark on its second of three consecutive weekend road trips inside the Big Ten. The Buckeyes will not play another home Big Ten game until April 27.
OHIO STATE AT BUCKEYE FIELD
Ohio State is 98-10 in non-conference games at Buckeye Field since 11th-year head coach Linda Kalafatis took over the program in 1997. The Buckeyes have won 21-consecutive home non-conference games in a streak that dates back to April 21, 2004 when Kentucky nipped Ohio State, 4-3. Last year at Buckeyes Field, Ohio State went 21-2, batted .350 as a team and owned a 1.58 staff earned run average. OHIO STATE AT A GLANCE
The Buckeyes (21-13) have won seven of their last eight games and 12 of their last 16, but will seek to shake off a nine-day layoff when Wright State visits Columbus Wednesday. Ohio State is hitting .272 as a team, which includes a .313 team batting average in its last 12 games.
Ohio State pitchers own a 2.68 staff earned run average, which is down nearly two full runs a game since February ended with a 4.59 ERA. The Buckeyes are 16-4 when they score first. They are 17-3 when they out-hit their opponent. Ohio State has outscored its opponents 27-12 in the first inning this season and 29-14 in the third. The Buckeyes’ current four-game winning streak is their longest of the season.
Ohio State owns signature wins over then-No. 22 Fresno State, then-No. 17 Cal and then-No. 26 Virginia Tech. Four of the Buckeyes’ losses have come against Top 10 teams.
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.
All three pitchers return in 2007, including senior Jamee Juarez and sophomores Kim Reeder and Courtney Pruner. Starters returning in the field include Juarez (P/3b, 2nd-team All-Big Ten), Lauren Daykin (c), captain Christina Douglas (1b), Nycole Koyano (2b, 2nd-team All-Big Ten/Region), Megan Schwab (lf, 2nd-team All-Big Ten/Region), Liz Caputo (cf) and Brittany Vanderink (rf/2b, 1st-team All-Big Ten/Region), while Pruner returns at designated player.
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 281-159 for a .640 winning percentage, which ranks third in the Big Ten during that time.
A LOOK AT THE RAIDERS
Wright State (14-19, 1-4 Horizon League) had won five of its last eight games before entering conference play last weekend when the Raiders were swept at league leader Loyola by 4-0 and 3-2 scores. WSU, which is 7-3 at home this season and beat Big Ten member Purdue at the Buzz Classic in Georgia March 2, has nine letterwinners back from its 2006 team that went 7-41. The Raiders are led by junior Jherica Williams (.355, 2 HR, 21-22 SB), who was named the Horizon League softball player of the week March 13, and freshman Kristen Bradshaw (.330, 4 HR, 25 RBI). In the circle, freshmen Jamie Perkins (6-11, 3.70) and Allison Cox (8-8, 5.91) have thrown all but 8.1 innings of the season thus far. Head coach Mike Larabee is in his third season at WSU.
BUCKEYES VS. RAIDERS
Ohio State is 23-1 all-time against Wright State, including 17-0 at Buckeye Field. The Buckeyes swept the Raiders last year in Columbus, winning 10-2 in the first game and 3-2 in the second. In the opening game of the doubleheader last year, Ohio State scored seven runs in the third inning on its way to the 10-2 win. Five Buckeyes had multiple-hit games, led by Jamee Juarez’s 3-for-3 day at the plate, while Kim Reeder struck out six and allowed only two hits for her 14th win of the season. In the nightcap, Juarez struck out 10 and won her 15th game of the season, while Megan Schwab delivered a game-winning, walk-off shot to the wall in the bottom of the seventh.
BUCKEYES-RAIDERS CONNECTIONS
Ohio State so. RF Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet H.S.) played club softball on Ohio Ice with Wright State fr. C/IF Danielle Philen (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge H.S.). OSU jr. 2B Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood H.S.) and WSU jr. INF Jacqueline Macy (Middletown, Ohio/Madison H.S.) were teammates on the Maddogs travel softball team. Two Raiders are from Central Ohio, including fr. INF Ashley Davis (Worthington) and sr. C/OF Kristen Farley (Marysville). Seven WSU players are from southwest Ohio, as is OSU fr. OF Leah Ledford (West Chester, Lakota West H.S.).
BUCKEYES IN THE BIG TEN
Ohio State ranks seventh in the Big Ten in batting (.272), fifth in pitching (2.68 ERA) and eighth in fielding (.954). Freshman Sam Marder is tied for the lead in walks (33), ranks ninth in slugging percentage (.674) and 10th in runs batted in (30). Senior Nycole Koyano ranks second in triples (5) and fifth in stolen bases (13). Junior Brittany Vanderink is tied for ninth in stolen bases (11) and is tied for sixth with senior Christina Douglas in sacrifice bunts (8).
Among the league’s pitchers, senior Jamee Juarez ranks fifth in ERA (1.82), eighth in strikeouts (111), fourth in fewest walks allowed (20) and ninth in innings pitched (104.0). Sophomore Kim Reeder ranks seventh in opposing batting average (.212), 10th in innings pitched (102.2) and strikeouts (96) and is tied for seventh in wins (11).
STREAKS ON THE LINE WEDNESDAY
Junior Brittany Vanderink owns a team-best 12 game hitting streak, which is one shy of her career longest. The longest hitting streak at Ohio State since 1998 when hitting streaks were first kept is 18 games by Anna Smith in 2002.
Six other Buckeyes also own hit streaks, including a six game streak by senior Nycole Koyano and a four game streak by senior Christina Douglas. Koyano leads the Buckeyes with 13 multiple-hit games this season, including seven in her last 11 games. During that time, Koyano is batting .410 (16-39).
Senior Jamee Juarez has won her last six decisions and is closing in on Ohio State records for career wins (64, record is 67) and innings pitched (664.2, record is 677.1).
RECORD BOOK WATCH
Senior Nycole Koyano owns 101 walks, which rank second in OSU history and are 17 shy of the school record. She ranks second all-time in stolen bases (71) and fourth all-time in runs scored (140, 2 shy of second place). If Koyano leads the Buckeyes in runs this season, she will be the first to do that all four years.
Senior Jamee Juarez ranks third all-time in career RBI (112) and is ranked in the Top 3 in four career pitching statistics, including innings pitched (No. 2, 664.2), wins (No. 2, 64), strikeouts (No. 3, 618, 6 shy of No. 2) and shutouts (No. 2, 22, four shy of No. 1).
Senior Megan Schwab is third all-time with 44 doubles (1 shy of No. 2) and fourth with 17 home runs. Schwab’s 106 RBI are third and her 109 runs scored are seventh. She has started 97 consecutive games for the Buckeyes, the longest streak on the team. Sam Marder’s 33 walks this season are already an OSU freshman record and her 30 runs batted in are six shy of the record, set by Juarez in 2004.
Five Buckeyes rank among the Top 15 in career batting average at Ohio State, including Brittany Vanderink (.335), Liz Caputo (.333), Nycole Koyano (.320), Megan Schwab (.313) and Jamee Juarez (.298).
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 (355-245, .591) and is one of three Big Ten coaches with more than 600 career wins (628-360-2, .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).
OSU COMING OFF 4-0 WEEKEND
It has been more than a week ago, but last time out Ohio State pulled off its first 4-0 start to the Big Ten season since 1990, when the Buckeyes went on to win the league title. In two games each against Minnesota and Wisconsin, Ohio State won close games in the opener but won lopsided decisions in game two. In both of the close games, senior Lauren Daykin had the big hit with a game-tying two-RBI double in a 4-2 win over Minnesota and a game-winning RBI double in a 4-3 win over Wisconsin.
The Buckeyes collected a season-high 13 hits in game-two against Wisconsin Sunday in their first-ever series sweep of the Badgers. During the weekend, three senior batted over .400 at the plate, including Christina Douglas (.667, 6-9), Megan Schwab (.500, 6-12) and Nycole Koyano (.429, 6-14). In the circle, Jamee Juarez and Kim Reeder both went 2-0 with 2.10 and 2.62 ERAs, respectively, while Juarez added a save.
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! ###
