Maverick Invitational Next Up For Buckeyes – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 12, 2015
RELATED INFO
- Game Notes
- Follow the Buckeyes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
COLUMBUS, Ohio – On the heels of its Charleston Southern Tournament championship, the Ohio State softball team (4-0) heads south this weekend to compete in the Maverick Invitational, held on the campus of the University of Texas-Arlington. The Buckeyes will face Sam Houston State (11 a.m. ET) and Incarnate Word (1:30 p.m. EST) on Friday, followed by a single against host UT-Arlington on Saturday evening (6 p.m. EST) and Buffalo on Sunday (9 a.m. EST).
BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
- Ohio State is 4-0 on the season following wins over Southern Illinois (twice), UMBC and Charleston Southern last weekend in Charleston, S.C. The Buckeyes are receiving votes in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll.
- At the plate, eight players are batting over .300, led by junior Cammi Prantl, who hit .600 last weekend with four RBI, three doubles and a .800 slugging percentage. Sophomore Anna Kirk also had a big weekend, going 6-for-12 (.500) with five RBI, three doubles, two runs scored and a stolen base.
- In the circle, all four pitchers saw action last weekend, led by sophomore Shelby Hursh, who picked up two wins and a save in 9.1 innings. The native of Tipton, Ind. had 15 strikeouts, including six in both of the Buckeyes’ games against Southern Illinois. Alex DiDomenico, who redshirted last year due to injury, was also impressive in her 2015 debut, coming in to get the final out via strikeout with the bases loaded of a 10-6 win over Charleston Southern.
- Eight different players made their Ohio State debuts last week, led by freshman outfielder/catcher Taylor White, who picked up a hit in each of Ohio State’s four games and batted .385 overall.
- Ohio State is off to its best start since 2008 when it opened the season 6-0.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Sam Houston State
2015 Record: 0-5
Last Weekend: Lost five games at the Texas State Bobcat Classic, including one-run games to Northern Illinois and Pittsburgh
Top Hitter: Angelica Gonzales, .545, four doubles, two home runs, five RBI; Peyton Webb, .429, three doubles, three RBI
Top Pitcher: Haley Baros, 0-2, 13.2 IP, 3.59 ERA, two complete games
Incarnate Word
2015 Record: 1-4
Last Weekend: Defeated Tennessee State and lost to Central Arkansas (twice) and Eastern Illinois (twice) at the Louisiana Classic.
Top Hitter: Danielle Ramirez, .444, one RBI; Alex Zepeda, .385, one triple, two RBI
Top Pitcher: Kirstin Hebert, 1-1, 14.1 IP, 2.44 ERA, 4 K
UT-Arlington
2015 Record: 4-1
Last Weekend: Won four of five games at the Tangi Tourism Lion Classic in Hammon, La. Defeated Alcorn State, Tennessee-Martin, Nebraska-Omaha and Southeastern Louisiana while losing to Nicholls State.
Top Hitter: Mya Anderson, .500, three home runs, six RBI; Sandra Mendoza, .467, one double, one triple
Top Pitcher: Kayla Donaldson, 2-0, 1.50 ERA, 14.0 IP, 13 K
Buffalo
2015 Record: 2-3
Last Weekend: Defeated Alabama State and Florida A&M and lost to Western Kentucky, North Florida and Troy at the Troy Chick-Fil-A Invite.
Top Hitter: Alexis Curtiss, .563, five doubles, five RBI, .875 slugging percentage
Top Pitcher: Hayley Barrow, 1-0, 11.0 IP, 1.91 ERA, 12 K
NOTES FROM THE CHARLESTON SOUTHERN TOURNAMENT
- The Buckeyes hit .350 for the weekend, nearly 100 points higher than its opening-weekend performance in 2014.
- Ohio State’s four pitchers split up a total of 29 innings, with Shelby Hursh leading the way with 9.1 IP (2.52 ERA, 15 K, .133 opponent BA). Lena Springer made two starts and went a total of 7.1 innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs. Alex DiDomenico had a win and a save of the weekend with a 2.47 ERA in 5.2 innings pitched. Olivia O’Reilly went 6.2 innings with a 4.20 ERA and five strikeouts.
- Caitlin Conrad, Ohio State’s home run leader in 2014, picked up right where she left off, hitting a pair of three-run shots on the weekend. She led the team with seven RBI.
- 12 of the 14 runs scored against Ohio State last weekend came with two outs.
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN TOURNAMENT REWIND
Ohio State 7, Southern Illinois 4
Junior Jayla Saibene hit a walk-off three-run home in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Ohio State softball team to a season-opening 7-4 victory over Southern Illinois last Friday in Charleston, S.C. Saibene’s home run capped a 4-3 come-from-behind win highlighted by four runs in the final inning.
Saibene went 1-for-3 on the day with three RBI while Taylor Watkins collected two hits, including a two-run home run in the third inning. Trailing 4-3 entering the bottom of the eighth, Keelia Nester scored the game-tying run on a RBI single from Watkins, setting up Saibene’s heroics.
Ohio State 6, UMBC 2
Cammi Prantl, Anna Kirk and Maddy McIntyre each collected multiple hits and Alex DiDomenico scattered four hits over 5.1 innings as Ohio State picked up a 6-2 win over UMBC in the first game of the day. A three-run seventh inning, highlighted by a RBI triple from Jayla Saibene, allowed the Buckeyes to pull away.
Ohio State 7, Southern Illinois 2
Caitlin Conrad connected on a three-run home run to left center in the bottom of the second, giving the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead. The blast scored Taylor White (who reached on an infield single) and Kirstie Fehrenbach (pinch running for Erika Leonard, who walked).
Conrad just missed her second home run of the day in the top of the sixth, getting a stand-up double to left center. Watkins singled in the next at bat and Prantl hit a two-run double to left center, making the score 6-2. McIntyre then followed with a RBI single to shortstop, making the score 7-2.
Ohio State 10, Charleston Southern 6
A five-run seventh inning allowed Ohio State to pull away from Charleston Southern for a 10-6 victory in the final game of the Charleston Southern Tournament last Sunday.
At the plate, Conrad (2-for-4, three-run HR), Prantl (3-for-4, RBI) Watkins (2-for-5) and Taylor White (2-for-4) all had multiple hits, while Kirk added a critical two- run RBI double in the seventh inning. In the circle, all four Buckeye pitchers saw action, with sophomore Shelby Hursh going 2.2 innings in relief of Lena Springer to secure the win. DiDomenico struck out the last batter of the game with the bases loaded for her first save of the season.
UNIFORM WATCH
Ohio State’s 2015 record when it wears…
White jersey/red pants…………. 1-0
Gray jersey/gray pants:…………. 2-0
Red jersey/red pants:…………… 1-0
CAREER RECORDS WATCH
- Taylor Watkins currently ranks 11th in career RBI (92), eighth in batting average (.347), 12th in hits (188) and eighth in home runs (16).
- Caitlin Conrad is seventh in home runs (18).
- Cammi Prantl ranks sixth in career batting average (.349) and 15th in doubles (31).
MAKE B1G PLANS
For the first time since 2007, the Big Ten Tournament is coming to Columbus. From May 7-9, the conference championship will take place at Buckeye Field, where Ohio State was 10-2 last year. Twelve of the conference’s 14 teams will qualify for the tournament, which kicks off with four games on Thursday, four quarterfinals games on Friday and the semifinals and championship game on Saturday.
2015 HOME SLATE
Nineteen regular season games at Buckeye Field, including home conference series against NCAA Super Regional participates Nebraska and Michigan, highlight Ohio State’s impressive 2015 schedule. The full home schedule is as follows:
March 18…………………….. Louisville
March 20-22………………… Michigan
March 24…………. Wright State (DH)
March 31……………. Pittsburgh (DH)
April 3-5…………………….. Nebraska
April 17-19…………………….. Rutgers
April 21……………………… Ohio (DH)
May 1-3………………………… Indiana
May 7-9………. Big Ten Tournament
MCINTYRE 2015 CAPTAIN
Maddy McIntyre, a redshirt junior, has been named the Buckeyes’ 2015 captain, head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly announced in January.
McIntyre, a shortstop and native of San Diego, Calif., has played in 99 career games with 92 starts. Her best statistical season came in 2013 when she batted .270 with 28 RBI, three home runs, 34 runs scored and 10 doubles. Last year, she was limited with just 15 games because of injury and received a medical redshirt.
“It’s such a privilege that my teammates trusted me with this role, especially at such a prestigious university like Ohio State,” said McIntyre. “I think the coaches have given me the tools to make this on and given the team the tools to help me out along the way.”
IN THE BIG TEN STATS
After the first weekend of play (13 of 14 Big Ten schools were in action last weekend), the Buckeye rank:
- Third is batting average (.350)
- Third in slugging percentage (.561)
- Fourth in runs scored (30)
- Fifth in earned run average (2.90)
- Fifth in opposing batting average (.217)
- First in saves (three)
- Fifth in fielding percentage (.969)
Additionally, Cammi Prantl is fifth in batting average (.600), fifth in slugging percentage (.800) and tied for third in hits (nine). Prantl and Anna Kirk are tied for first in the conference with three doubles. Caitlin Conrad is tied for seventh in RBI (seven).
THE CANNON CREW
Ohio State’s outfield of Caitlin Conrad, Cammi Prantl and Taylor Watkins have been dubbed “The Cannon Crew” (TCC) partly because the first letters of their first names spell TCC and also because they combined for 16 outfield assists in 2014. The group is also lethal at the plate last year:
Caitlin Conrad – 321, 39 RBI, 9 HR, 13 2B
Cammi Prantl – 327, 34 RBI, 16 2B, 34 R
Taylor Watkins – .361, 40 R, 28 RBI, 7 HR
Collectively, the group hit .336 with 101 RBI, 118 runs scored, 39 doubles, 13 stolen bases and 22 home runs in 2014.
B1G DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS
Five Ohio State softball players are members of the Big Ten’s class of 2013-14 Distinguished Scholars, the conference announced in July. The award is presented to student-athletes who have earned a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.7 or higher for the just-completed academic year.
Representing the Buckeyes were seniors Kasie Kelly, Melissa Rennie and Audrey Plant, and juniors Caitlin Conrad and Olivia O’Reilly. The five honorees are tied for the most of any Big Ten softball program.
Kelly, a double major in communications and marketing, is a five-time OSU Scholar-Athlete.
Rennie, an insurance major, played in 157 games during her four years with the Buckeyes, earning 145 starts behind the plate. She had her best statistical year in 2013 when he hit .261 with 19 runs and 14 RBI.
Plant, from Upper Arlington, Ohio and a communications major, pitched 50.1 innings in her career. Like Rennie, she earned All-America Scholar-Athlete recognition last year from the NFCA and is a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete.
O’Reilly led Ohio State last season in innings pitched (162.1), wins (17), complete games (12), shutouts (three) and strikeouts (93). A biology major, O’Reilly is a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete, two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a 2013 NFCA Scholar-Athlete.
Conrad, a community leadership major, was fourth on the team in batting average (.321) while leading the team in runs scored (44), RBI (39), home runs (nine) and slugging percentage (.600).
