Ohio State Hosts Buffalo in Midweek Doubleheader – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 3, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team begins a six-game homestand with a doubleheader against Buffalo at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Buckeye Field.
The Buckeyes (21-11, 5-1 Big Ten) have won six-consecutive games, including a series sweep at Michigan State March 31-April 1 in East Lansing, Mich. Sophomore Evelyn Carrillo led the Scarlet and Gray to a 5-0 mark last week, batting .722 with 13 hits, 13 RBI, two home runs and a 1.167 slugging percentage and was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
GAMETRACKER
Gametracker will be available for both games Wednesday. A link can be found on the softball schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
WATCH THE BUCKEYES LIVE
Ohio State fans can watch the OSU home softball games by logging on to OhioStateBuckeyes.com for live video streaming on Buckeye Vision. Packages available for purchase include a one-month subscription for Buckeye Vision for $9.95 or a yearly all-inclusive pass for $79.95. Sign up today and watch the Buckeyes from anywhere.
FOLLOW THE BUCKEYES
To stay up to date on Buckeye softball, follow the team on its official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/OhioStateSoftball. Fans can also follow the squad on Twitter here: @OhioState_SB.
QUICK HITS
• Ohio State swept its first conference series at Michigan State March 31-April 1. The Buckeyes are currently tied for second in the Big Ten standings with Michigan with both teams at 5-1. •Senior captain Alicia Herron is 11th in the nation in RBI per game (1.23), seventh in triples (4) and 13th in on-base percentage (.533).
• In the Big Ten, Herron is first in home runs (10), slugging percentage (.884), on base percentage (.533), total bases (76) and RBI (37), second in walks (24) and tied for second in runs scored (31). Freshman Taylor Watkins is seventh in the league with 38 hits.
• Herron is second on the OSU all-time career home run list with 45 home runs.
• Senior pitcher Mikayla Endicott is fourth overall in the Big Ten in ERA with a 2.09 and third in strikeouts (125) in 25 appearances.
• As a team, Ohio State is in the Top 5 in several conference batting statistics, including tied for second in batting average (.313) and triples (5), second in runs scored (179) and total bases (393), third in hits (271) and fourth in slugging percentage (.453), on-base percentage (.398) , home runs (27) and RBI (160).
• In Big Ten games, sophomore Evelyn Carrillo is first in batting average (.696), on base percentage (.708), hits (16), RBI (11), second in total bases (21) and third in slugging percentage (.913). Sophomore pitcher Melanie Nichols is first in ERA (.047), second in hits allowed (15), runs allowed (6) and fifth in opposing batting average (.234).
• Herron has reached base safely in a career-high 27-consecutive games. Watkins has reach based safely in 13-consecutive contests.
• Freshman Taylor Watkins is currently on a season-high 13-game hit streak. She leads the team with 38 hits and is third in batting average at .369.
• Sophomore Evelyn Carrillo is batting .625 in the last 10 games, collecting 20 hits, three doubles, two home runs, 16 RBI and a .906 slugging percentage.
• Ohio State claimed its 1,000th win in program history after claiming a 5-0 shutout vs. Georgetown in game one and a 12-3 victory in five innings vs. Longwood in game two March 2 at the 2012 Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla.
• Ohio State returns 13 letterwinners and five starters from its 2011 squad.
• Nine newcomers join the Buckeye roster for this season, seven of them freshmen.
• The Buckeyes have made four NCAA appearances in the last six years, including their first run in program history to the NCAA Super Regional in 2009. Ohio State also made the tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2010.
CARRILLO NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK, NICHOLS NABS CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Sophomore Evelyn Carrillo was named Big Ten Player of the Week, while sophomore Melanie Nichols was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week, the conference announced Monday.
Carrillo, a native of Corona, Calif., hit .917 in Ohio State’s three-game sweep of the Spartans over the weekend, combining for an OPS of 2.167. The OSU first baseman was 11-for-12 during the three-game set, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate in games two and three of the series. Carrillo drove in eight runs, including a career-high six RBI in the opening game of the series and scored three more on the weekend. She wins her first career conference accolade.
Nichols, a native of San Jacinto, Calif., earned two wins and a save last week in three appearances, allowing no earned runs in 12 innings of work. She earned the win in a midweek game against Wright State, striking out three against just five hits. Nichols pitched a complete-game against the Spartans in game two of the set before coming on in relief for a three-inning save in the finale, combining for just six hits in eight innings of work against Michigan State. She wins her first career conference accolade.
LAST TIME OUT
The Buckeyes swept a three-game series at Michigan State March 31-April 1 after the team batted .438, combining for 29 runs on 42 hits against the Spartans.
Sophomore Evelyn Carrillo batted .636 with eight RBI followed by junior captain Megan Coletta, who claimed a .636 average with five runs scored. Sophomore pitcher Melanie Nichols notched a spotless ERA in two appearances, going 1-0 with a save in eight innings pitched.
SCOUTING THE BULLS
Buffalo is 7-15 overall and 0-3 in conference play. Last time out, the Bulls fell at home against Central Michigan, 7-0, March 31. Buffalo is batting .222 as a team led by Alexis Curtiss at .291 and Holly Luciano at .279. In the circle, Tori Speckman is 5-6 with a 4.49 ERA in 18 appearances. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series between the two schools, 2-0. Ohio State defeated the Bulls twice during the 2001 campaign during the Buckeye Invitational by scores of 6-0 and 10-1.
HERRON CHASING MULTIPLE RECORDS
In her final season as a Buckeye, Alicia Herron is chasing multiple OSU career batting records. Most recently, Herron passed former Buckeye Sam Marder (2006-10) for third on the OSU career runs scored list with 151 in the series at Michigan State March 31-April 1.
• Second in home runs (45)
• Third in RBI (165)
• Tied for fourth in triples (11)
• Fifth in batting average (.371)
• Fifth in walks (85)
• Tied for seventh in doubles (36)
• Tied for eighth in hits (210)
27 AND COUNTING
Senior captain Alicia Herron has reached safely a career-high 27-consecutive games this season. The OSU shortstop posted a career-high 15-game hit streak during the stretch between Feb. 19 and March 24. Herron is batting .410 with 31 hits, 22 walks and a .558 on-base percentage during the span.
WATKINS, LEBEAU AT THE PLATE
Freshman Taylor Watkins and junior Danielle LeBeau are having great starts in their first season with the Buckeyes, batting .369 and .364, respectively.
Watkins, a native of Bonney Lake, Wash., is first on the team in hits with 38 and tied for third in runs scored with 22. The Buckeye lead-off hitter is currently on a season-high 13-game hit streak, hitting .447 with 12 runs scored, nine RBI, a .532 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage during that span. She also leads the team with 10 multi-hit games.
LeBeau, a junior from Poway, Calif., is third on the team in RBI (18), slugging percentage (.468) and second in on-base percentage (.443). LeBeau, who has 21 starts as the designated player, collected a nine-game hit streak from March 2-March 20. She has posted six multi-hit games.
IN THE CIRLCE
Senior Mikayla Endicott is 13-7 overall with a 2.09 ERA in 25 appearances in 2012. The first-year Buckeye has collected 125 strikeouts, which is third-best in the conference. In her last five appearances, the native of Roseburg, Oregon, is 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched, including one save.
Last time out, Endicott claimed her 13th win of the season in game three of a road series at Michigan State, throwing four innings, allowing three earned runs, while limiting the MSU bats to five hits with three strikeouts.
AND IT’S GONE
Senior captain Alicia Herron posted a two-run home run last time out in game three at Michigan State April 1 to up Ohio State’s grand total of homers in 2012 to 27. The Buckeyes have seen 11 players combine for 27 home runs this season with senior shortstop Herron recording a team-high 10 in 31 games. Junior Megan Coletta, who has seven career home runs, has collected three this season along with sophomore Evelyn Carrillo and freshman Caitlin Conrad. Junior Danielle LeBeau and senior Vanessa Spears each have two long balls.
The Ohio State pitching corps has allowed its opponents to hit just eight home runs this season.
UP NEXT
Ohio State hosts No. 20 Michigan in a three-game series this weekend at Buckeye Field. The Buckeyes and Wolverines will play at 5:30 p.m. Friday live on BTN and will conclude the series with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.
