Buckeyes, Bobcats Meet for Midweek Doubleheader – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 18, 2016
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team makes a short trip to Athens, Ohio on Tuesday for a midweek doubleheader with the Ohio Bobcats. First pitch of game one is slated for 4:00 p.m.
THE BASICS
Tuesday, April 19
Ohio State at Ohio (Game One) | 4 p.m.
Live Stats | Twitter Updates
Ohio State at Ohio (Game Two) | Approx. 6:30 p.m.
Live Stats | Twitter Updates
FOLLOWING ALONG
Fans can follow all the action tomorrow via Twitter (@OhioState_SB) and Gametracker. A link for live stats in available on the schedule page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
• Ohio State is 25-11-1 overall after three games this past weekend in Ann Arbor against No. 2 Michigan. The Buckeyes stand at 9-4-1 in Big Ten play and are fourth in the conference standings.
• Five everyday starters are batting over .300, led by slugger Alex Bayne, who is among the nation’s leaders with 18 home runs. She also checks in with a .388 average to go along with 44 RBI and 43 runs scored.
• Cammi Prantl is batting a career-best .382 and has a team-high 11 doubles, including one that scored two runs to give Ohio State a 3-2 fifth-inning lead against the Wolverines on Sunday.
• Jess Machovina (.350, 14 RBI), Emily Clark (.346, four home runs, 16 RBI) and Taylor White (.317, 22 RBI, nine stolen bases) solidify a lineup that has scored 237 runs (6.4/game) and boasts an on-base percentage of over .400 (.408).
• In the circle, Shelby Hursh has tossed a team-high 108.1 innings with more than one strikeout per inning (108.1 IP, 128 Ks) and a sub 3.00 ERA (2.39). She’s complemented by junior Lena Springer (2.89 ERA, 46.0 IP), freshman Katya Duvall (11.1 IP, three wins), freshman Morgan Ray (45.2 IP, 39 Ks) and sophomore Shelby McCombs (6-3, 31.1 IP, 28 Ks).
• Despite three setbacks in Ann Arbor last weekend, Ohio State is unbeaten in 16 of its last 21 games.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Ohio lost two of three games to Akron this past weekend and stands at 25-16 overall, 7-7 in the MAC. The Bobcats feature on the best pitchers in the nation, Savannah Jo Dorsey, who is among the nation’s leaders in strikeouts with 251 (1.45 per inning). Dorsey sports a 1.82 ERA while Ohio’s other pitcher, Danielle Stiene, checks in with a 2.52 ERA in 105.2 innings. Taylor Saxton leads the charge at the plate with a .406 average, .469 on-base percentage and 29 stolen bases.
OHIO STATE VS. OHIO – THE SERIES
The Buckeyes and Bobcats are familiar foes, having met 68 times previously (Ohio State holds a 47-21 advantage in the series). The team’s played once last year with the Buckeyes coming away with a 10-2 win in Columbus. In 2014, OU and Ohio State played three times – the Bobcats won 7-3 in Louisville at a preseason tournament but the Buckeyes came back to sweep a doubleheader in early April, winning the first game 6-0 and then getting a dramatic 10-9 victory in the nightcap that was highlighted by a game-tying grand slam from Evelyn Carrillo.
MASTERFUL MIDWEEK
Over the last three midweek games, 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.
STARS OF THE WEEKEND – AT MICHIGAN
Taylor White | 1-2 on Sunday, inside the park home run
Hit a fourth-inning inside the park home run off Megan Betsa, ending her scoreless streak at 21 innings … made a diving catch in shallow center field in the bottom of the fifth inning that was No. 6 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays of the Day.
Cammi Prantl | Two-run double on Sunday
Hit a two-run double, one of two hits on the day, to give the Buckeyes a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth … also had a single in Saturday’s game … her 11 doubles in tops of the team and brings her within three of the career record.
Shelby Hursh | 11.0 IP, 10 Ks
Started in the Friday and Sunday contests … went six innings on Sunday, striking out seven and walking just three.
Emily Clark | .500, one runs scored
Had multiple hits in the Friday and Saturday contests … scored the Buckeyes’ only run on Saturday … had hits in five of the last seven games.
CLUTCH HITTING
For the season, Ohio State is hitting .311 with runners in scoring position while only allowing its opponents to hit .238 in that same situation. Prantl and Bayne have been extra clutch, both hitting just shy of .400 with runners in scoring position, going a combined 31-for-79 (.392).
In addition, Ohio State has a team batting average of .407 in the seventh inning with 39 runs scored and six home runs. Four of five players who have had 10 or more at-bats in the seventh inning are hitting .400 or better.
Ohio State’s record when it wears…
White jersey/white pants: 8-3
White jersey/red pants: 3-1-1
Gray jersey/gray pants: 7-3
Red jersey/red pants: 7-3
EXTRA BASES
• The five players who have 100 or more at bats this year – Bayne, Prantl, White, McIntyre, Leonard – all have an on-base percentage of .385 or better.
• Following Tuesday’s doubleheader, Ohio State will play eight of its final 11 games at home. It is 19-11-1 this year in neutral site or road games thus far.
• The fast-starting Ohio State offense has scored first in 21 games and the Buckeyes are 17-3-1 in those contests.
• In Sunday’s game at Michigan, Hursh passed Melanie Nichols into sixth place on the all-time strikeouts list (309).
• Lead-off batters are reaching base nearly 44 percent of the time for Ohio State, most notably McIntyre, who has reached in 28 of 59 opportunities (.475).
• Ohio State’s .528 slugging percentage is second best in the Big Ten and its .970 fielding percentage is also the second highest.
• Alex Bayne leads the Big Ten in home runs (18) and is third in RBI (44). In Big Ten games-only, she leads the conference with 25 RBI, just 12 short of the record teammate Erika Leonard set last year.
