Four Buckeyes Earn All-Big Ten Honors – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 11, 2016
RELATED INFO: Big Ten Release | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Roster | Big Ten Softball | Follow the Buckeyes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Four members of the Ohio State softball team – seniors Cammi Prantl and Maddy McIntyre along with junior Alex Bayne and sophomore Taylor White – have earned All-Big Ten honors, the conference announced today.
Prantl and Bayne are first team selections while McIntyre and White made the second team. Additionally, McIntyre and Bayne were named to the conferences All-Defensive Team. Senior Jayla Saibene is the Buckeyes’ Sportsmanship Award honoree. The four award winners are the most for Ohio State since 2010.
Prantl has had a record-breaking senior campaign. She’s currently tops of the team with a .405 average to go along with 28 extra base hits (19 doubles, eight home runs, one triple). Last Wednesday against Kent State, she became the program’s all-time doubles leader with 59 and then four days later set the career record for hits with 244.
The Big Ten leader in hits, Prantl went eight-for-eight over the final two games of last weekend’s series with Michigan State with four doubles and a home run. Earlier this season, she hit .786) with nine RBI, eight runs scored, three doubles and two home runs in games vs. Virginia Tech (twice), Furman, Morehead State and USC Upstate. For her efforts, she was named the Big Ten and Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week.
In 23 Big Ten games this year, Prantl hit .438 with 11 doubles, four home runs, 19 RBI and had a .976 fielding percentage playing both left field and catching. A four-year starter and veteran of over 200 games, Prantl is a three-time All-Big Ten honoree, earning second team honors in 2013 and first team accolades in 2014.
Bayne emerged as one of the best power hitters not only in the conference but also nationally. Her 18 home runs ranks ninth in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten. She also leads the Buckeyes in RBI (48), runs scored (51) and slugging percentage (.753). On defense, Bayne has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in Big Ten games from her spot in right field and has added a league-leading nine outfield assists. This is the first year she has played in the outfield after previously playing her entire career at second base and shortstop.
Over a seven-game stretch from April 3 through April 13, Bayne hit a home run in a school-record seven straight games and earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors on April 11 after hitting .579 with five home runs and 11 RBI in wins over Penn State (twice) and Rutgers (three times). A .370 hitter overall, Bayne batted .429 during conference play with a team-best 28 RBI, which ranked second in the league. This is the first all-Big Ten honor of her career.
White, a sophomore from Granada Hills, Calif., followed up her strong freshman campaign last spring with another stellar season in 2016. A center fielder, she hit .342 in 23 Big Ten games with three home runs, two triples, 14 RBI and eight stolen bases.
In the series finale on BTN at Michigan on April 17, White sparked Ohio State’s offense with an inside the park home run before making a highlight reel catch in shallow center field that was the No. 6 play on SportsCenter’s Top Plays. Over the last 10 games of the regular season, White had at least one hit in six games, including a four-for-four performance in a 5-4 win over Purdue that clinched a series win. This is the first all-conference honor of her career.
McIntyre, a fifth-year senior and team captain, hit .333 in conference play this spring and was exceptionally clutch, hitting two walk-off home runs (vs. Maryland and Michigan State) while also providing the walk-off single in a 5-4 win over Purdue.
Along the league leaders in walks (32) and on-base percentage (.459), McIntyre hit .314 this year with 13 doubles, 29 RBI and 33 runs scored. She’ll graduate among Ohio State’s all-time leaders in hits, runs scored, on-base percentage, walks and doubles. Defensively, she made just four errors while playing all 50 games at shortstop to finish with a .978 fielding percentage – the highest amongst league shortstops. McIntyre is now a two-time All-Big Ten honoree after earning second team honors last season.
Saibene is part of a senior class that has won 126 games over the last four years, making it one of the top 10 winningest classes in program history. She is a physical education major who is a OSU Scholar Athlete and Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Ohio State (32-17-1, 13-9-1) is the sixth seed in this weekend’s Big Ten Tournament and opens play on Thursday, May 12 against 11th-seeded Rutgers at noon on BTN. This year’s tournament is being hosted at Beard Field on the campus of Penn State University.
