Tournament Run Ends for No. 21 Ohio State with 10-3 Loss to Cal State Fullerton – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 20, 2007
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the second game at Buckeye Field Sunday, Cal State Fullerton scored six runs in the top of the first inning and the Buckeyes, who led the Big Ten in fielding, committed four errors to see their season come to an end with a 10-3 loss in an NCAA Softball Regional final game. Ohio State was 21-0 at home this season entering play Sunday and the Titans (38-21) had to beat the Buckeyes twice to advance, and they did just that to extend their season into next weekend when they will travel to Tucson, Ariz., to face the tournament’s top seed and defending national champion Arizona.
A win would have given Ohio State (40-18) its first Super Regional appearance, but instead the Buckeyes conclude a season that saw them win the school’s second Big Ten title (1990), the first Big Ten tournament title, make back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in program history and notch the fourth 40-win season in OSU history.
With the loss, five Ohio State seniors see their careers come to an end with 146 wins during the last four years, which rank fifth all-time among the winningest classes in program history. That group includes Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.), Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson), Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson), Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) and Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain).
The games Sunday also marked the end of current Buckeye Field, which will be torn down in June as a $5.1 million renovation project gets underway on the facility that first opened in 1988. Ohio State is 315-123 (.719) all-time at Buckeye Field.
Fullerton senior Candace Baker was the difference for the Titans Sunday. She went six innings and allowed three runs in the first game and went another six innings of one-hit relief in game two to earn another win and keep the Buckeyes from mounting a comeback. She also went 3-for-4 at the plate in game two with four runs batted in.
The Buckeyes struck out only twice in the game, but Fullerton was errorless in the field, helping Baker retire the last 13 consecutive Buckeyes in the game.
Ohio State’s four errors were its most in a home game since March 20, 2005. Combined with two errors in game one, the six errors committed by the Buckeyes Sunday tied for their most in one day this season.
Fullerton led 6-0 in game one Sunday and held on for a 6-5 win, and the Titans were back up by six runs again in the first inning of game two thanks to a two-run home run, an OSU throwing error and a three-run triple. The Buckeyes chipped away with a run in the bottom of the first and two runs in the second, but the Titans added a run in the third and three more in the fifth to seal the victory.
Sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) pitched into the third inning, allowing seven runs but only three of which were earned. Freshman Megan Miller (Woodland Hills, Calif./El Camino Real) worked the final 4.2 innings, allowing only two runs.
### Go Bucks! ###
