A Trip To The Pacific Northwest Awaits Ohio State – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 5, 2015
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COLUMBUS, Ohio-For the fifth time in five weeks, the Ohio State softball teams hits the road to continue non-conference play, this time heading to the Pacific Northwest to participate in the Husky Classic. The Buckeyes taken on Miami (Friday, 3:30 p.m. EST, 12:30 PST), Cal State Northridge (Saturday, 5:45 p.m. EST, 2:45 PST) and No. 19 Washington (twice, Saturday, 10:15 EST, 7:15 PST; Sunday, 2:15 p.m. EST, 11:15 PST). All games will be played on the campus of the University of Washington.
FOLLOWING ALONG
Fans can follow all four of Ohio State’s game in Seattle via Gametracker. Links are found on the schedule page of the softball homepage or on the calendar tab from the main page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com
BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
- At 11-5, Ohio State is off to its best 16-game start since the 2010 season.
- At the Wilson/DeMarini Classic last weekend in Auburn, Ala., the Buckeyes defeated Connecticut and Samford before falling to No. 16 Auburn and SIU-Edwardsville.
- Offensively, senior Keelia Nester leads the team in batting with a .429 average, good for ninth best in the Big Ten. Taylor White, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Feb. 23, checks in with a 383 average to go with three home runs and eight RBI. Five other starters are all batting over .300 – Anna Kirk (.366), Caitlin Conrad (.356), Taylor Watkins (.302), Cammi Prantl (.346) and Maddy McIntyre (.364).
- In the circle, a total of 106.2 innings have been split almost Olivia O’Reilly, Alex DiDomenico, Lena Springer and Shelby Hursh. O’Reilly leads the group with a 2.75 ERA in 40.2 innings and last weekend pitched a pair of three-hitters to pick up two wins in Auburn. She ranks ninth in the Big Ten in ERA and 11th in opponents’ batting average (.230).
- For the fourth straight week, Ohio State is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll.
- The Buckeyes have hit 18 home runs in 16 games, and had at least one in each of the first 10 games this season.
- With six saves through the first 16 games, Ohio State is on pace for 21 this season, which would more than double the previous record set in 2014 of 10.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Miami (Ohio)
2015 Record: 7-4
Last Weekend: Went 2-2 at the Citrus Classic in Orlando, Fla. Defeated Indiana and Western Illinois while losing to Towson and Mississippi State.
Top Hitter: Tiyona Marshall, .425, 11 runs scored, two RBI, .465 OB%
Top Pitcher: Amber Logemann, 5-2, 2.27 ERA, 37.0 IP, 44 Ks
Cal State Northridge
2015 Record: 17-4
Last Weekend: Went 2-1 at the CSUN/LMU Tournament. Defeated Sacramento State and College of Charleston while losing to Cal State Bakersfield.
Top Hitter: Taylor Glover, .358, 21 runs scored, 10 RBI, 17 stolen bases
Top Pitcher: Zoe Conley, 8-2, 1.08 ERA, 52.0 IP, 63 Ks
Washington
2015 Record: 19-4
Last Weekend: Won four games at the Santa Clara Invitational, defeating Pacific and Howard twice each.
Top Hitter: Kylee Lahners, .483, five home runs, 22 runs scored, 20 RBI
Top Pitcher: Casey Stangel, 5-1, 40.0 IP, 1.92 ERA, 19 Ks
A HOMECOMING FOR WATKINS
The Buckeyes’ trip to the Pacific Northwest will serve as an official homecoming for Taylor Watkins, a graduate of Bonney Lake High School in Bonney Lake, Wash. Watkins grew up in Tucson, Ariz. before spending her final two years of high school in Washington. She twice earned MVP honors for Bonney Lake while leading her squad to a league championship.
WATKINS LOOKING FOR HIT #200
Taylor Watkins, a senior from Tucson, Ariz., is just two hits shy of 200 for her career, and when he reaches that milestone she will rank 11th in school history. Overall, Watkins is:
- Seventh in career batting average (.343)
- Eighth in career RBI (101)
- Seventh in runs scored (137)
- 11th in career hits (198)
- Eighth in career home runs (17)
CONRAD SCORES #100
Earlier this season at the Maverick Invitational in Arlington, Texas, senior Caitlin Conrad scored her 100th career run, making her the 16th player in program history to reach the 100-run mark. Last season, Conrad became the Buckeyes’ leadoff hitter and never looked back, leading the team in runs (44) and RBI (39).
OHIO STATE-MIAMI CONNECTIONS
Head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly spent six years as the head coach at Miami, leading the RedHawks to MAC titles in 2009 and 2012. The all-time winningst coach in program history, she was 188-152-1 during her time in Oxford with four consecutive 30+ win seasons (2009-2012) and a record-breaking 41-win campaign in 2012.
Additionally, assistant coach Amanda Buchholz was on Kovach Schoenly’s staff at Miami beginning in 2010. In charge of the team’s defense, Buchholz guided the 2010 team to a program-best .975 fielding percentage, breaking the previous record set in 1987.
Redshirt junior outfielder Kirstie Fehrenbach played for Kovach Schoenly at Miami in 2011 and 2012. Her career batting average of .329 ranks fourth all-time in the school’s record book and she was a member of the 2011 MAC All-Freshman team.
FOR COMPARISONS SAKE
After 16 games last year, the Buckeyes were 6-10 and batting .242 as a team with three hitters at .300 or better. This year, Ohio State is 11-5 with a .320 batting average and eight players over .300. Additionally,
- The 2015 team already has more stolen bases (25) then last year’s team did the entire season (24).
- The 2015 team has scored 104 runs and is on pace to challenge the school record of 368 runs scored in 2002. The 2009 team that advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals scored 93 runs through 16 games.
- The school record for batting average in a season is .333 (2002), which this year’s team could challenge at the current pace.
INDIVIDUAL IMPROVEMENTS
In addition to making improvements at the plate as a team, several individuals are enjoying better starts to the 2015 season than they did in 2014, including:
- Taylor Watkins – batting 58 points higher than at this time last year with 11 more RBI
- Keelia Nester – batting 198 points higher than at this time last year
- Cammi Prantl – batting 84 points higher than at this time last year
- Anna Kirk – batting 176 points higher than at this time last year with five more RBI and three more runs scored
- Jayla Saibene – batting 107 points higher with eight more RBI and a 203-point improvement in slugging percentage
IN THE BIG TEN STATS
Where Ohio State stands amongst its Big Ten counterparts thus far:
- Fourth in batting average (.320)
- Third in slugging percentage (.506)
- Fourth in on-base percentage (.397)
- Third in runs scored (104)
- Sixth in earned run average (4.07)
- First in saves (six)
Additionally, several individuals rank amongst the conference leaders, including:
- Caitlin Conrad – 13th in slugging percentage, ninth in RBI, seventh in runs scored and second in triples
- Taylor Watkins – 12th in runs scored
- Maddy McIntyre – third in on-base percentage (.580)
O’REILLY ANCHORS PITCHING STAFF
For the second straight year, senior Olivia O’Reilly is emerging as the Buckeyes’ ace in the circle. A Sylvania, Ohio native, she is 6-1 this year with a team-best 2.75 ERA in 40.2 innings. Perhaps most impressively, she has won 14 of her 16 decision dating back to the final month of the 2014 season. Last weekend at Auburn, O’Reilly:
- Went 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA in 16 innings pitched
- Scattered three hits over seven innings of a 5-1 victory over Connecticut.
- Did not give up a hit until the fourth inning during a 10-0 five-inning shutout against Samford.
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.
UNIFORM WATCH
Ohio State’s 2015 record when it wears…
White jersey/red pants: 1-0
White jersey/white pants: 4-1
Gray jersey/gray pants: 3-3
Red jersey/red pants: 3-1
WILSON/DEMARINI CLASSIC REWIND
Ohio State 5, Connecticut 1
Maddy McIntyre went 3-for-3 with two RBI and pitcher Olivia O’Reilly stymied the Connecticut offense, allowing just three hits over seven innings to earn her team-leading fifth win of the year.
After a scoreless first two innings, the Buckeyes’ offense broke through with a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the third. Maddy McIntyre was the first to get into the act, sending a 3-2 pitch to deep left center, a shot that hit the upper right corner of the scoreboard. Two batters later, Caitlin Conrad connected on her team-leading fourth home run of the season, a blast to right centerfield.
The Buckeyes were able to push across two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, all coming with two outs. Erika Leonard started the rally by reaching on an error, and McIntyre followed with an RBI single to score Cammi Prantl, who had walked earlier in the inning. Keelia Nester then followed with a single through the right side, scoring Leonard.
Auburn 14, Ohio State 2 ( 5 inn.)
Auburn threatened in the bottom of the first after two singles and a walk loaded the bases. Starting pitcher Shelby Hursh, however, struck out Branndi Melero on a 3-2 pitch and then Conrad doubled up the Tigers to end the inning, catching a fly ball in right field and throwing out Tiffany Howard as she attempted to tag up from third.
In the bottom of the second, a three-run home run by Jade Rhodes gave the Tigers a 3-0 advantage. Auburn got baserunners on via back-to-back walks. Ohio State was able to get an out, but another three-run shot, this one coming from Kasey Cooper, made the score 6-0.
Ohio State 10, Samford 0 (5 inn.)
Anna Kirk and Maddy McIntyre both hit three-run home runs and Olivia O’Reilly gave up just three hits in a five-inning shutout for Ohio State in a 10-0 win over Samford.
Ohio State wasted little time jumping on the scoreboard first, as a pair of walks to Keelia Nester and Caitlin Conrad set the stage for Anna Kirk, who belted a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left center field. For Kirk, it was her third long ball of the season and RBI number 11, 12 and 13. The Buckeyes’ fourth run came on a wild pitch by Samford pitcher Rebecca Leonard and the fifth via a throwing error by catcher Hannah Taylor on a stolen base from Alex Bayne, allowing Cammi Prantl to score from third.
SIU-Edwardsville 6, Ohio State 0
SIU-Edwardsville pitcher Haley Chambers limited Ohio State to just two hits as the Buckeyes dropped their final game at the Wilson/Demarini Classic, 6-0, on the campus of Auburn University.
SIU-Edwardsville put pressure on the Buckeyes from the start, as the first batter of the game, Haley Chambers, singled to left field, stole second and then advanced to third in a wild pitch. She eventually came scored by stealing home while Rachel Keller was thrown out at first base. Alex McDavid had the biggest hit of the inning, a two-run home run to left field that just cleared the fence.
