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Buckeyes Split At Cathedral City – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 24, 2012
Cathedral City, California –
With a beautiful backdrop of the San Jacinto Mountains, the Ohio State softball team split day one of the 2012 Cathedral City Classic Friday in Cathedral City, Calif. The Buckeyes (7-5, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated Fresno State, 3-0, in game one before falling, 4-3, to host-school Oregon State in game two at the Wrigley site at the Big League Dreams Complex.
“It was a solid day of softball,” head coach Linda Kalafatis said. “In game one we got the clutch hit we were looking for and unfortunately in game two we let them crawl back into it. We had a couple of at-bats where we could have sealed the deal and we need to correct that. I think Mikayala has gotten comfortable throwing for the Buckeyes and I’m pleased with the way she is competing and executing pitches for us.”
Game One: Ohio State 3, Fresno State 0 Led by a complete-game, one-hit shutout performance by senior pitcher Mikayla Endicott, the Buckeyes downed Fresno State, 3-0, in game one at the elite national tournament.
Endicott, who improves to 4-3 overall, struck out a season-high nine batters, allowing just one hit and no runs. En route to the victory, Endicott, a native of Roseburg, Oregon, retired the last 16 batters she faced after giving up a walk with two outs in the bottom of the second. In her last four appearances, Endicott is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched with 20 strikeouts.
Offensively, Ohio State was led by junior Danielle LeBeau, who gave the Buckeyes the eventual gamewinning hit on a three-run home run in the top of the sixth vs. Fresno State starter Michelle Moses.
After senior Vanessa Spears drew a walk, senior shortstop Alicia Herron blasted a single up the middle to put OSU in business with runners on second and third with one out.
LeBeau took care of the rest, launching a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall against Moses to make it 3-0 for her second home run of the season. The native of Poway, Calif., LeBeau is batting .300 with five RBI four runs scored in 15 at-bats through her first 11 games in the Scarlet and Gray.
Endicott punched the Buckeyes’ seventh win of the season with two strikes outs in the final inning to improve the team’s win streak to five-consecutive games.
Game Two: Oregon State 4, Ohio State 3 After Oregon State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, the Buckeyes rebounded quickly with two runs in the top of the third to make it 2-1 in favor of the Scarlet and Gray.
With two outs, freshman Taylor Watkins tied the game, 1-1, on an RBI single to center field, scoring senior Katie Simonton from third base. The OSU rally continued with the bat of Danielle LeBeau, who singled up the middle to score Watkins. In the top of the third, the Buckeyes scored two runs with two outs on four hits.
The Scarlet and Gray extended their lead to 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning after senior tri-captain Alicia Herron posted an RBI single down the right field line to score Watkins from first base.
But the Beavers answered in the bottom half of the inning with three runs to claim their second lead of the afternoon. Following an RBI single, Nichols was relieved by Endicott with two runners on and one out. After claiming a strikeout, designated player Paige Hall singled through the left side to score two runs to make it 4-3 – the eventual final score.
Sophomore pitcher Melanie Nichols had a soling outing for the Buckeyes, but falls to 3-2 on the season, throwing 4.0 innings, allowing four runs with three strikeouts.
As a team, Ohio State collected eight hits, but left eight runners on base.
Vanessa Spears made the highlight reel twice in left field for the Buckeyes against Oregon State, saving two runs in both the second and sixth innings with two outs.
UP NEXT Ohio State continues action at the 2012 Cathedral City Classic at 6 p.m. PT Saturday against Cal State Fullerton.
