Buckeyes Travel to Wisconsin for Final Series of 2011 – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game 50/51
May 13-14, 2011 (6 p.m. ET/1 p.m. ET)
Ohio State at Wisconsin
Goodman Diamond
Madison, Wis.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team closes the 2011 season this weekend at Wisconsin in a two-game series beginning at 6 p.m. ET Friday live on Big Ten Network. The game Saturday will begin at 1 p.m. ET from Goodman Diamond in Madison, Wis. The Buckeyes (14-35, 3-15 Big Ten) return to play after dropping a doubleheader at home against Penn State Wednesday, losing 10-2 in game one and 4-3 in nine innings in game two at Buckeye Field. Last time out, the Badgers (28-23, 7-11 Big Ten) split a series at Purdue May 7-8 in West Lafayette, Ind.
BIG TEN NETWORK
The game Friday evening will be televised live on Big Ten Network. Eric Collins will do the play-by-play with Heather Lyke as an analysis.
LIVE STATS
Follow both games live on Gametracker available on uwwbadgers.com. A link also will be available on the schedule page of Ohio State softball at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
QUICK HITS
- Wisconsin leads the all-time series vs. the Buckeyes, 20-16.
- The Buckeyes have won four-consecutive series vs. the Badgers and eight of the last nine. Last season, the Scarlet and Gray swept a doubleheader in Columbus with 6-4 and 12-4 victories.
- Junior co-captain Alicia Herron leads the squad batting .352, recording 29 RBI, 38 runs, 11 doubles, eight home runs and four triples. She also leads the team with a .655 slugging percentage while going a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts.
- Senior Brittany Goodchild is second on the team in batting with a .301 average, collecting 40 hits with four doubles.
- Senior co-captain Dee Dee Hillman is second on the team in runs scored with 22 this season. She is batting .261 with 43 hits and three triples with seven stolen bases.
- Freshman Evelyn Carrillo is first on the squad with 34 RBI and second with six home runs. She has claimed 45 hits and 69 total bases and is slugging .460 at the plate this season. Carrillo is batting .379 with eight RBI in the last 10 games.
- Sophomore Megan Coletta gave the Buckeyes a 7-5 lead at Minnesota in game two April 2 in the top of the seventh when she posted a two-out, two-run home run – her second long ball of the season. Coletta guided the Buckeyes to a 2-1 victory vs. Youngstown State April 21 after notching a two-out double in the bottom of the eighth at Buckeye Field. She is third on the team with 19 RBI. Coletta holds a .296 batting average the last 10 games.
- Senior pitcher Karisa Medrano claimed both victories at Minnesota April 2. In 10.2 innings of work, Medrano had seven strikeouts while opposing hitters batted just .143 against the senior Buckeye. She struck out seven YSU batters in four innings of work April 21 in Columbus to earn the victory. Against Morehead State April 29, Medrano claimed the victory in game one, pitching 10.0 innings with seven strikeouts. She recorded her first career save in game two. Against Michigan State May 8, Medrano struck out seven batters en route to a two-hit shutout vs. the Spartans.
- Freshman catcher Melissa Rennie is batting .242 in 40 starts with a .368 slugging percentage.
- The Buckeyes posted a season-high 12 runs, 11 RBI and a .415 batting average in the 12-4 win vs. Evansville Feb. 20 in Mobile, Ala.
THANK YOU SENIORS!
Ohio State honored its 2011 senior class of Brittany Goodchild, Dee Dee Hillman, Karisa Medrano and Rachael Shepherd in a postgame celebration May 8 at Buckeye Field. These four Buckeyes have helped Ohio State to 133 wins so far in their four years at Ohio State, including 42 victories in conference action. Beyond that, this class helped Ohio State to its highest ranking in the national polls, hitting No. 12 in 2009, en route to the Buckeyes’ first appearance at an NCAA Super Regional. The 2011 senior class also helped Ohio State advance to its second-consecutive NCAA regional appearance in 2010 for the second time in program history, finishing in the Top 2 of the Big Ten in back-to-back seasons.
SENIOR VICTORY
Ohio State defeated Michigan State, 1-0, May 8 at Buckeye Field on Senior Day. The Scarlet and Gray claimed an early run in the first inning, while senior pitcher Karisa Medrano threw a two-hit shutout performance in the circle. Offensively, the Buckeyes were led by junior co-captain Alicia Herron, sophomore Megan Coletta and freshman Evelyn Carrillo. Herron went 2-for-3 with a double and scored the lone run of the game, Coletta was 2-for-2 with a walk and Carrillo collected the lone RBI of the afternoon, going 1-for-2.
HERRON NAMED TO ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT IV TEAM
Alicia Herron was named to the Capital One Academic All-District IV Second Team for the second time in her career last week. The three-year starter at shortstop leads the team with a .352 batting average while maintaining a grade-point average greater than 3.30 in speech and hearing science. The Cyrpess, Calif., native becomes the fifth Buckeye in program history and fourth under head coach Linda Kalafatis to be named to an all-district team in back-to-back seasons.
MEDRANO CLAIMS 100 STRIKEOUTS
Senior pitcher Karisa Medrano posted her 100th strikeout of the season in the final inning against Michigan State May 8. The native of Albuquerque, N.M., claimed her eighth win of the season after throwing a two-hit shutout with seven strikeouts vs. the Spartans on Senior Day. She leads the team in multiple categories including ERA, wins, appearances, starts, complete games, shutouts, saves, innings pitched, strikeouts and opponent batting average this season. Medrano had thrown just 12.2 innings for the Buckeyes in the previous three years combined.
HILLMAN AT THE PLATE
Senior co-captain Dee Dee Hillman led the Buckeyes at the plate in the doubleheader vs. Penn State Wednesday in the home finale. In her last games at Buckeye Field in her career, the native of Defiance, Ohio, went 5-for-9 with a double and two RBI. The Buckeye left fielder has started in more games than any other Buckeye and will finish her career with 205 starts in four years.
HERRON’S HITTING
Junior co-captain Alicia Herron is leading the team with a .352 batting average in 49 starts this season. The Cypress, Calif., also leads the Buckeyes in multiple offensive categories including hits (50), doubles (11), triples (4), home runs (8), slugging percentage (.655), on-base percentage (.471), stolen bases (10) and walks (29). At Minnesota April 2, Herron went 2-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and three walks in the doubleheader. The Buckeye shortstop notched a 3-for-4 performance vs. Purdue April 17 with a home run, double, two runs scored and two RBI. She also led off game one at Indiana April 13 with a solo home run vs. IU starting pitcher Morgan Melloh.
She leads the team with 14 multi-hit performances this season and has collected 49 overall in her career. Herron heads to Madison with a .364 career batting average, 119 runs, 173 hits, 33 doubles, seven triples, 34 home runs and 127 RBI in less than three complete seasons.
KALAFATIS CLAIMS 500 WINS
Head coach Linda Kalafatis claimed her 500th career victory at the helm of the Buckeyes last week in the 4-1 win vs. Harvard March 18 in San Diego, Calif. In her 15th season at Ohio State, Kalafatis is one of the most successful coaches in the Big Ten and the NCAA. She is one of four conference coaches with more than 700 career wins, placing her among the Top 30 active coaches in the country.
The Buckeyes have won 30 or more games in nine of Kalafatis’ 14 seasons in Columbus and in each of the last seven seasons. Also the Big Ten coach of the year in 2002, she has guided Ohio State to six of the program’s seven NCAA tournament appearances (2002, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’09, ’10), including its first trip to the NCAA Super Regional in 2009.
