Buckeyes Win Twice To Close Out OCCC – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Oct. 4, 2015
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Split into two squads on the final day of the Ohio Collegiate Charity Classic (OCCC), Ohio State posted convincing victories in front of home crowds at Buckeye Field. Team Scarlet started off the day with a 10-5 decision over Toledo while Team Gray followed with 11-0 rout of Northern Kentucky.
Game One: Scarlet 10, Toledo 5
Freshman Emily Clark went two-for-three with a home run and three RBI while Shelby McCombs was in command in the circle, pitching six innings and allowing just two earned runs as Scarlet defeated Toledo, 10-5.
Scarlet scored in each of the first five innings, beginning with a Alex Bayne lead-off home run in the bottom of the first. Three runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the second despite not registering a hit, thanks to four walks and a hit by pitch.
Meanwhile, McCombs was cruising along, getting a strikeout to end the top of the first, a double play to end the top of the second and a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third. A solo home run by Clark to straight away center field in the third inning made the score 5-0, and the flood gates opened in the bottom of the fourth inning when Scarlet put up four runs on four hits, highlighted by Clark’s two-run single and a two-run double by Cassidy Clough.
Scarlet tacked on one more run in the fifth inning thanks to a wild pitch to make the score 10-1. The Rockets scored three times in the seventh inning, but that’s as close as they would get. McCombs was the winning pitcher, scattering just three hits over six innings with five strikeouts. Clark and Bayne (3-for-4, three runs scored, one RBI) each registered multiple hits while Clough also drove in a pair of runs.
Game Two: Gray 11, Northern Kentucky 0
Cammi Prantl and Maddy McIntyre combined to go seven-for-eight five RBI and five runs scored to lead an offense that pounded out 14 hits while Morgan Ray tossed six scoreless innings in her Buckeye Field debut.
Taylor White led off the game with a triple to left field and later scored on a groundout by Brianna Betschel. The scored stayed at 1-0 until McIntyre sent a 3-2 pitch deep over the left center field fence, making in 3-0 in favor of Gray. At that point, Ray was in total command, striking out five over the first three innings.
RBIs by Prantl, McIntyre and Betschel in the bottom of the fourth made the score 6-0 and a five-run fifth inning put the game out of reach. In the fifth, Ashley Goodwin started things off with a single, followed by a walk and two groundouts. McIntyre drove in a run with a single to left field and then Clark added two more RBI with her double to left center.
Three different players – Betschel, Prantl and McIntyre – drove in multiple runs as Gray had five extra base hits (three doubles, one triple, one home run). Ray scattered seven hits in six innings while not allowing a run and striking out five.
Clark, who played in both games, finished the day four-for-six with five RBI and two runs scored. Ohio State pitchers combined to give up just four earned runs over 13 innings while walking four and striking out 10.
The Buckeyes conclude their fall schedule next Sunday when they take on Kentucky (11 a.m.) and Kent State (3:30 p.m.) at Buckeye Field. Admission, as always, is free.
