No. 2 Wolverines Outlast No. 23 Buckeyes, 5-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes

Saturday, April 16

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Ohio State

25-10-1, 0

Michigan

32-4, 0

Ohio State

Michigan

No. 2 Wolverines Outlast No. 23 Buckeyes, 5-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes

4/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

April 16, 2016

Final Stats

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Home runs by Michigan’s Faith Canfied and Kelly Christner powered the second-ranked Wolverines (32-4, 10-2) to a hard-fought 5-1 victory over No. 23 Ohio State (25-10, 9-3-1) on Saturday in front of another sold out crowd at the Wilpon Complex in Ann Arbor.

THE STORT STORY
Christner’s solo shot in the second inning and a two-run blast by Canfield in the fourth inning proved to be enough offense for Michigan pitcher Sara Driesenga, who gave up six hit to the Buckeyes but allowed just one run. Ohio State, meanwhile, had runners on base in the first, second, third and fourth innings but could only push across the one run.

HOW THE RUNS SCORED
Christner homered on a 1-0 pitch in the bottom of the second to right field, and Michigan added another run in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI single to right field off the bat of Kelsey Susalla, which scored Sierra Romero from second.

The Buckeyes continued to push, though, finally plating a run in the top of the fourth on Becca Gavin’s infield single and scored Emily Clark, who had reached of a lead-off single to right center. Clark finished the game with two more hit, giving her four on the weekend.

Michigan responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth on three hits, the biggest of which was Canfield’s two-run home run. Abby Ramirez scored the third run of the inning of a wild play in which Sierra Lawrence made the final out of the frame at third base.

Ohio State had just one more base runner on the afternoon as Cammi Prantl singled in the fifth but a double play ended the threat.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In the top of the first, the Buckeyes looked to seize the early momentum when the second batter of the game – Alex Bayne – legged out an infield single. She eventually stole second, but two consecutive groundouts stranded her at third.

In the second, Clark singled through the right side with one out and eventually advanced to second but got no further thanks to a groundout and lineout. The next inning, Bayne picked up her second hit of the afternoon and Ohio State had two runners on with two outs, but a groundout to the pitcher ended the rally.

Clark’s second hit of the game, a single to right center, eventually led to the first run of the afternoon for the Scarlet and Gray, and Ohio State was looking for more after Gavin stole second with two outs. However, a groundout to third got Michigan off the field.

In the all, the Buckeyes left six runners on base in the afternoon.

IN THE CIRCLE
The pitching combination of starter Lena Springer and Shelby McCombs gave up just seven hits to one of the nation’s most explosive offenses. On defense, a key double play killed a Michigan rally in the third inning. The top three hitters in UM’s lineup – Lawrence, Romero and Susalla – combined to go 2-for-7 with one runs scored and one RBI.

NEXT UP
Ohio State and Michigan conclude their three-game series tomorrow with a 1:00 contest that will be shown live on BTN. Lisa Byington and Jennie Ritter will have the call.