Ohio State Heads West This Weekend – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 19, 2015
RELATED INFO
- Game Notes
- 2015 Statistics
- Live Stats vs. UNLV | vs. Fresno State | vs. UCLA | vs. Utah
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Winners of seven of its first eight games, the Ohio State softball team continues its non-conference this weekend when it travels west to the prestigious Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. The Buckeyes play twice on Friday – vs. UNLV at 10:00 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST) and Fresno State at 3:00 PST (6:00 EST) – once on Saturday – vs. No. 5 UCLA at 3:30 PST (12:30 EST) – and once on Sunday – vs. Utah at 9 a.m. PST (noon EST).
BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
- Ohio State is 7-1 on the season after winning three of its four games last weekend at the Maverick Invitational on the campus of UT-Arlington. The Buckeyes defeated Sam Houston State, Incarnate Word and Buffalo while falling to host UT-Arlington.
- For the second straight week, Ohio State is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll.
- The Buckeyes are off to their best start since going 8-1 over the first nine games in 2008 and 2009.
- Offensively, five players are batting .400 or better – Maddy McIntyre (.471), Cammi Prantl (.467), Keelia Nester (.429), Taylor White (.423) and Taylor Watkins (.419). Overall, Ohio State has a .361 team batting average, the second best in the Big Ten.
- Ohio State has hit 11 home runs in eight games, 10 of which have come with runners on base.
- In the circle, four pitchers have split up a total of 56 innings over eight games. Olivia O’Reilly has a team-high three wins while sophomore Shelby Hursh already has two wins and two saves to go with a 3.27 ERA. She also has 21 strikeouts in 15 innings and has given up just seven hits.
- The Buckeyes are outscoring opponents 13-1 in the first inning and have scored first in six of eight games.
- Two players – senior Taylor Watkins and freshman Taylor White – have hit safely in all eight games thus far.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
UNLV
2015 Record: 5-4
Last Weekend: Went 2-2 at the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. Defeated Northwestern and UTEP while falling to Utah and BYU.
Top Hitter: Fahren Glackin, .417, four doubles, five RBI, two runs scored.
Top Pitcher: Kwyn Cooper, 2-2, 4.71 ERA, 12 Ks, 11 earned runs.
Fresno State
2015 Record: 7-3
Last Weekend: Hosted the Fresno State Kick-Off and went 3-2, defeating Santa Clara (twice) and UC Davis while falling to UC Riverside and California.
Top Hitter: Brenna Moss, .484, two doubles, one triple, .579 on base percentage.
Top Pitcher: Jill Compton, 4-2, 41.1 IP, 2.37 ERA, 50 Ks.
UCLA
2015 Record: 9-2
Last Weekend: Won five games at the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic, topping Northwestern, New Mexico, Utah State, Hawaii and Boise State.
Top Hitter: Allexis Bennett, .594, seven RBI, 12 runs scored, two doubles, one triple, five stolen bases.
Top Pitcher: Ally Carda, 5-1, 30.2 IP, 1.60 ERA, 48 Ks.
Utah
2015 Record: 7-4
Last Weekend: Went 5-1 at the Wilson DeMarini Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. with victories over Long Beach State, Seattle, Cal State Northridge, Nevada and UNLV. Lost to Cal State Fullerton.
Top Hitter: Kate Dickman, .471, five RBI, three doubles, one home runs, one triple
Top Pitcher: Katie Donovan, 2-1, 35.2 IP, 1.57 ERA, 20 Ks.
WATKINS HITS THE CENTURY MARK
With a seventh-inning two-run single, Taylor Watkins recorded her 99th and 100th career RBI. The senior from Tucson, Ariz. is the eighth player in program history to record 100 or more RBI. She is also just five hits shy of 200 for her career, and when he reaches that milestone she will rank 11th in school history. Overall, Watkins is:
- Sixth in career batting average (.351)
- Eighth in career RBI (100)
- Seventh in runs scored (134)
- 11th in career hits (195)
- Eighth in home runs (17)
ON BASE + SLUGGING
Last year, the 16 teams that advanced to Super Regionals had an average OPS (on base percentage + slugging percentage) of .943 and at least one player with an OPS of .980 or higher. Through eight games this year, the Buckeyes’ OPS is 1.009 and six players have an OPS of 1.000 or higher – Caitlin Conrad (1.238), Anna Kirk (1.073), Maddy McIntyre (1.384), Cammi Prantl (1.184), Taylor Watkins (1.102) and Taylor White (1.157). McIntyre leads the team with a .679 on base percentage while Conrad is slugging a team-best .844.
UNIFORM WATCH
Ohio State’s 2015 record when it wears…
White jersey/red pants…………. 1-0
White jersey/white pants………. 2-0
Gray jersey/gray pants………….. 2-1
Red jersey/red pants……………. 2-0
CAREER RECORDS WATCH
- Caitlin Conrad is seventh in home runs (19).
- Cammi Prantl ranks seventh in career batting average (.348), 14th in doubles (32) and 19th in runs scored (82).
IN THE BIG TEN STATS
Where Ohio State stands amongst its Big Ten counterparts thus far:
- Second is batting average (.361)
- Second in slugging percentage (.577)
- Second in runs scored (67)
- Third in on-base percentage (.433)
- Sixth in earned run average (3.50)
- Seventh in opposing batting average (.233)
- First in saves (four)
- Fourth in fielding percentage (.968)
Additionally, several individuals are amongst the conference leaders:
- Maddy McIntyre is fifth in batting average (.471) and first in on-base percentage (.679).
- Caitlin Conrad is fourth in slugging percentage (.844), second in RBI (14), fifth in home runs (three) and first in triples (two).
- Cammi Prantl is eighth in batting average (.467) and first in doubles (four).
- Taylor Watkins is first in runs scored (12) and fourth in RBI (11).
- Taylor White is sixth in stolen bases (five).
- Shelby Hursh is first in saves (two).
NOTES FROM MAVERICK INVITATIONAL
- Caitlin Conrad scored her 100th career run during Ohio State’s 15-6 victory over Buffalo
- Keelia Nester collected five hits in seven at bats, good for a .714 average.
- Ohio State outscored its four opponents 37-18 and hit .370 over the four games
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. They have picked up right where they left off last season:
Conrad – .375, 14 RBI, 11 R, 3 HR, 2 2B, 2 3B
Prantl – .467, 7 RBI, 8 R, 1 HR, 1 2B
Watkins – .419, 11 RBI, 12 R, 2 HR
UT-ARLINGTON REWIND
Ohio State 4, Sam Houston State 3 (9 inn.)
Caitlin Conrad hit a walk-off single in the ninth inning as Ohio State outlasted Sam Houston State, 4-3, in its first game at the Maverick Invitational.
Ohio State secured the walk-off win on a RBI single to center field from Caitlin Conrad, who scored Bailee Sturegon from third. Sturgeon moved to third on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Alex Bayne.
DiDomenico, the winning pitcher, went 2.2 innings in relief and gave up one hit. Watkins, Prantl, McIntyre, Kirk and White all had multiple hits.
Ohio State 13, Incarnate Word 1
The Buckeyes scored eight times on six hits in the bottom of the first, keyed by bases-loaded RBI singles from White and Erika Leonard and a three-run home run from Conrad. The first seven batters of the inning reached base, as Conrad-Watkins-Prantl recorded hits, McIntyre walked, Kirk was hit by a pitch and then White and Leonard singled.
At the plate, the Buckeyes pounded out a season-high 15 hits, including two each from Conrad, Watkins, Prantl and Leonard. Conrad drove in three runs while Watkins and Leonard each had two RBI. In the circle, pitcher Olivia O’Reilly went five innings and gave up just two hits for her second win of the year.
UT-Arlington 8, Ohio State 5
A four-run sixth inning by host UT-Arlington lifted the Mavs to an 8-5 victory over Ohio State.
The Ohio State offense erupted for four runs in the top of the sixth, started off on a single from Keelia Nester. Caitlin Conrad then followed with a single, scoring pinch runner Kirstie Fehrenbach. Conrad stole second and Nester scored on a passed ball, making the score 4-3. Watkins then got the Buckeyes’ biggest hit of the game, a two-run home run to right field to give Ohio State a 5-4 lead.
Ohio State 15, Buffalo 6
Taylor Watkins tied her career high with five RBI as Ohio State scored nine times in the final two innings to pull away for a 15-6 victory over Buffalo on the final day of the Maverick Invitational. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 7-1 on the season.
In addition to Watkins’ big day, freshman Taylor White also went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and Anna Kirk also added a two-run blast in the first inning. In all, Ohio State hit three home runs on the day and has 11 though eight games. Olivia O’Reilly was the winning pitcher, going four innings and allowing four runs while Shelby Hursh picked up a save in relief.
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.
MARY NUTTER COLLEGIATE CLASSIC HISTORY
Ohio State did not compete in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic last year, but in 2013 the Buckeyes defeated No. 14 Arizona, 6-0, on the first day of the tournament. Ohio State also picked up a 12-1 win over Cal Poly.
CALIFORNIA BUCKEYES
Five members of the team will be making a trip to their home state this weekend, including four members of the freshman class. The California Buckeyes include:
- Redshirt junior Maddy McIntyre, a native of San Diego, Calif. and graduate of Rancho Bernardo High School
- Freshman Cassidy Clough, a native of San Diego, Calif. and graduate of Mission Bay High School
- Freshman Alex Vargas, a native of Chula Vista, Calif. and graduate of Bonita Vista High School
- Freshman Taylor White, a native of Granada Hills, Calif. and graduate of Chaminade Prep
- Freshman Ashley Goodwin, a native of Riverside, Calif. and graduate of Norco High School
