Bayne, Hursh Star in 1-0 Shutout of Dayton – Ohio State Buckeyes

Wednesday, April 13

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

25-8-1

Dayton

17-15-1

Dayton

Ohio State

Bayne, Hursh Star in 1-0 Shutout of Dayton – Ohio State Buckeyes

4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

April 13, 2016

Final Stats

COLUMBUS, Ohio – One run. One hit. Fortunately for No. 23 Ohio State, that one hit was a big one – a solo home run off the bat of junior Alex Bayne. And equally as fortunate, pitcher Shelby Hursh was up to the task of making that one run stand up on Wednesday night. She struck out a career-high 13 batters as Ohio State (25-8-1) defeated Dayton (17-15-1) 1-0 and ran its unbeaten streak to seven straight games.

THE SHORT STORY
Bayne’s home run in the bottom of the first was the only run of the game as Hursh and Dayton’s Manda Cash dueled for the remainder of the game. Hursh scattered just four hits, struck out 13 and walked just one while Cash gave up just the one hit while striking out nine.

STARS OF THE NIGHT
Alex Bayne: 1-1, solo home run, two walks
Shelby Hursh: 7.0 IP, 13 Ks, zero runs allowed

ANOTHER BAYNE BOOM
Bayne launched her Big Ten-leading 18th home run of the season to left center on a 1-1 pitch that was a no-doubter off the bat. The home run pulls her to within one of the single-season record of 19 set by Sam Marder in 2009. She’s also now hit a home run in a school-record seven consecutive games.

HURSH IN CONTROL
From there, Hursh was in total command, striking out the side in the top of the second and retiring the Flyers in order in the third and seventh innings. Dayton’s put together a mini rally in the top of the fifth as Kailee Budicin led off with a double to right center. With one out and runners on first and second, Hursh got Hannah DeSalvo to pop up to second and Kyle Davidson to ground into a fielder’s choice at second.

A lead-off walk in the sixth inning by Gabrielle Snyder gave Dayton its fifth base runner of the game, but she was quickly erased when catcher Becca Gavin threw her out trying to seal second. That proved to be a pivotal out, as Krista Gustafson reached on an infield single but the next two batters – Kennedy Haynes and Kayla Haberstich – struck out.

Dayton didn’t seriously threaten in the seventh inning as Hursh induced a pop up to shortstop and struck out Kathryn Hess and Kelly Fitzgerald.

MASTERFUL MIDWEEK
Over the last three midweek games played at Buckeye Field (a doubleheader last Wednesday vs. Penn State and tonight’s contest with Dayton), Hursh has a 0.40 ERA, 24 strikeouts in 17.1 innings, a .133 batting average against and 0.76 WHIP (walks/hit divided by innings pitched). She has a no-hitter and complete game shutout to her credit along with a win in relief.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Buckeyes ran their home record to 6-0 this year and are now 28-12 at Buckeye Field over the last three seasons. In its six home games this year, Ohio State is giving up just 3.1 runs/game.

THE LAST 10
Despite getting just one hit tonight, the Buckeyes are still hitting .368 as a team over the last 10 games with four starters batting over .400 – Taylor White (.533, 10 RBI), Bayne (.472, seven home runs, 17 RBI), Prantl (.444, four doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI) and Emily Clark (.429, eight RBI, three home runs). Hursh is 4-0 in that span with 44 strikeouts in 30.1 innings.

NEXT UP
Ohio State (25-8-1, 9-1-1), which moved into first place in the Big Ten standings after Minnesota dropped both games of a doubleheader yesterday, heads to Ann Arbor, Mich. to face the No. 2 Wolverines (30-4, 8-2) in a three-game series starting on Friday. The first two games can be seen on BTN Plus while the finale on Sunday will be shown live on BTN.