Buckeyes Split on Day Two of Aggie Classic

Saturday, February 11

College Station, Texas

Ohio State

2-1

Lamar

2-2

Lamar

Ohio State

Buckeyes Split on Day Two of Aggie Classic

2/12/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

Feb. 12, 2017

Final Stats

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Ohio State softball (2-1) team rebounded from a loss to 19th-ranked Texas A&M and secured a 4-3 walk-off victory against Lamar to earn a split on the second day of the Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas.

THE SHORT STORY
Sophomore Lilli Piper, who made her Buckeye debut yesterday with a triple and home run, continued delivering big hits on Saturday, blooping a single into right field that allowed Alex Bayne to score from second base for the winning run in the Buckeyes 4-3 triumph over Lamar in the bottom of the eighth inning. For Bayne, a Texas native, it capped her big afternoon, as she also hit a home run in both games and drove in three runs.

FROM COLUMBUS TO COLLEGE STATION … AND BACK AGAIN
In the circle, senior Shelby Hursh picked up the win versus Lamar, highlighting a whirlwind 24 hours that included a flight back to Columbus, a graduate school interview at Ohio State Saturday morning and another flight back to Texas in the afternoon. All told Hursh completed a rare student-athlete doubleheader on Saturday – interviewing for a graduate program in the morning and securing up a win of the softball diamond at night.

GAME ONE: No. 19 Texas A&M 9, Ohio State 1 (5 inn.)
Against the host Aggies, Ohio State was able to strike first as Bayne lifted a 2-0 pitch over the right centerfield fence for her first round-tripper of the year. That lead, however, would be short-lived, as A&M struck for two runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run off the bat of Tori Vidales.

In the second inning, the Buckeyes got a two-out rally going when Bailee Sturgeon singled up the middle and Taylor White followed with a walk. The runners then each moved up a base on a wild pitch, but Aggie pitcher Lexi Smith rang up one of her four strikeouts for the final out of the inning.

Texas A&M would score once more in the bottom of the second on a wild pitch and then put five on the board in the bottom of the third on just two hits while being aided by two Buckeye errors. In the game, three different Ohio State pitchers saw action and combined for three strikeouts.

Ohio State had five hits in the game, one each from Bayne, Emily Clark, Piper, Sturgeon and Becca Gavin.

GAME TWO: Ohio State 4, Lamar 3 (8 inn.)
After falling behind 2-0 after five innings, the Buckeyes put up a three spot in the sixth inning only to surrender the tying run in the bottom of the seventh before Piper’s walk-off hit that secured the Buckeyes’ first extra inning victory of the year.

HOW THE RUNS WERE SCORED
Lamar was first on the board when a Buckeye error allowed lead-off hitter Ashley McDowell to score from third. After allowing the first two base runners on the inning to reach, Ohio State’s defense turned a 4-6-3 double play prior the error.

In the top of the fifth, Lamar once against capitalized on a Ohio State error to take a 2-0 lead, but the Buckeyes would finally find their groove against Lamar pitcher Ciara Luna in the bottom of the sixth. After pinch hitter Bri Betschel legged out an infield single, Bayne crushed a home run to right center field – her second of the day – to tie the score at 2-2. Ohio State would then go ahead 3-2 when Ashley Goodwin grounded out to second base, allowing Clark to score from third. She had reached on a double off the right field wall following Bayne’s home run.

With one out in the top of the seventh, Brynn Baca tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run, but Hursh quickly shut the door on any rally as she recorded a strikeout for the second out and Lamar batter Brittany Rodriguez was called out for stepping outside of the batters box.

After failing to push a run across in the bottom of the seventh, Ohio State and Hursh sat Lamar down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth. Using the international tiebreaker rules, each team began its inning with a runner at second. For the Buckeyes, Piper placed a 0-2 pitch right in front of the right fielder, which allowed Bayne to come all the way around from second base to slide in for the winning run.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Lamar threatened to break the game open with the bases loaded and just one out in the top of the third inning, but Morgan Ray came in to relieve starter Shelby McCombs and promptly struck out the next two batters, ending the rally. Ray pitched a total of two innings, had three strikeouts and gave up two hits.

With the just one away in the top of the fifth, Hursh was summoned from the bullpen and, like Ray earlier in the contest, delivered when the stakes were high. She and Becca Gavin combined to get a base runner caught in a rundown while attempting to come home on a fielder’s choice and the final out was recorded when a runner at first base left early.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
With her two home runs on the day, Bayne passed 2016 All-American Cammi Prantl in to sole possession of seventh place on Ohio State’s all-time list (25).

WHAT’S NEXT
Ohio State wraps up play at the season-opening Aggie Classic tomorrow with a game against Central Michigan at 9 a.m. CT (10 a.m. ET).