PREVIEW: ACC/Big Ten Challenge Up Next for Buckeyes
2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 15, 2017
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Coming off a 3-1 weekend in its season-opening tournament at the Aggie Classic, Ohio State will be back on the field this weekend to take part in the second ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Buckeyes are slated to face both Louisville and North Carolina twice.
THE BASICS
Ohio State vs. Louisville | Friday, Feb. 17 | 11 a.m.
Live Stats | Twitter Updates
Ohio State vs. North Carolina | Friday, Feb. 17 | 4 p.m.
Live Stats | Twitter Updates
Ohio State vs. North Carolina | Saturday, Feb. 18 | 1:30 p.m.
Live Stats | Twitter Updates
Ohio State vs. Louisville | Sunday, Feb. 19 | 10 a.m.
Live Stats | Twitter Updates
BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
• Ohio State defeated Central Michigan twice and Lamar to begin its 2017 season 3-1 at last weekend’s Aggie Classic on the campus of Texas A&M.
• In the circle, senior Shelby Hursh won three games and allowed just one earned run over 12 innings to go along with 12 strikeouts.
• At the plate, Lilli Piper was impressive in her debut weekend with the Scarlet and Gray, hitting .462 with a home run, triple and five RBI. Piper hit safely in all four games and also had two multi-hit games. Her single in the bottom of the eighth inning against Lamar drove in the winning run.
• Senior Alex Bayne, a preseason All-American by College Sports Madness and a Top 50 Player of the Year Watch List selection by USA Softball, hit two home runs and had a .923 slugging percentage over four games.
• The Buckeyes improved to 10-2 over the last three season on opening weekend. Two years ago they swept the Charleston Southern Tournament while the last two years they’ve won three of four at LSU and Texas A&M, respectively.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Louisville
2017 Record: 4-1
Last Weekend: Played their opening weekend in Las Vegas and recorded wins against Indiana State (twice), Cal-State Bakerfield and Southern Utah. Lost to UNLV, 1-0.
2016 Record: 35-17-1, 15-8 ACC
Postseason: Columbia Regional
Top Hitter: Six players are batting over a .350, led by Sidney Melton (.526). Maryssa Becker is batting a .368 clip with two home runs and a team-leading 13 RBI.
Top Pitcher: Maryssa Becker has the lowest ERA at 1.58 and has the most innings pitched out of the three-person staff. She has started three games and holds a 3-1 record.
North Carolina
2017 Record: 2-3
Last Weekend:Â Were in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and played Illinois, California, and Georgia Tech. Won two games (Georgia Tech and California) and lost three (California and Illinois twice)
2016 Record: 32-25, 13-11 ACC
Postseason: Harrisonburg Regional
Top Hitter: Taylor Wike has a .400 average and is tied for the most RBI on the team with four. Kendray Lynch is batting a .308 with four RBI and two home runs.
Top Pitcher: Three pitchers have innings evenly split between them. Kendra Lynch has the team-best ERA at 2.62 and has the most starts.Â
ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE HISTORY
The Big Ten is looking to build off of last year’s strong showing in the inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge. B1G schools (Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Northwestern and Illinois) won 20 of 32 match-ups on four different ACC campus sites last year. The Buckeyes were 2-2 at Georgia Tech, defeating the host Yellow Jackets twice and falling twice to Syracuse.
2017 Matchups:
at Tallahassee, Fla. (Florida State):
Nebraska vs. Pittsburgh and Florida State
Northwestern vs. Pittsburgh and Florida State
at Raleigh, N.C. (North Carolina State)
Minnesota vs. Notre Dame and North Carolina State
Michigan vs. Notre Dame and North Carolina State
at Chapel Hill, N.C. (North Carolina)
Ohio State vs. Louisville and North Carolina
Purdue vs. Louisville and North Carolina
at Atlanta, Ga. (Georgia Tech)
Iowa vs. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech
Penn State vs. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech
WEEKEND STANDOUTS – AT TEXAS A&M
Shelby Hursh | 3-0, 0.58 ERA, .108 BA again, 12 Ks, 12.0 IP
While Hursh started once, she was the winning pitcher in each of the Buckeyes’ three victories. Against Central Michigan, she went five innings and allowed just two singles in a 10-0 shutout. Hursh then came on and went the final 3.2 innings against Lamar in a 4-3 extra-innings win and shutout CMU again on Sunday over 3.1 innings while not allowing a hit. Hursh successfully retired the lead-off batter in all 12 innings that she pitched.
Additionally, she pulled off a rare doubleheader on Saturday: Hursh interviewed for a graduate school program in Columbus during the morning hours, flew back to College Station and was the winning pitcher in the Buckeyes’ night game against Lamar.
Lilli Piper | .462, five RBI, home run, triple
Playing her first games in a Scarlet and Gray uniform, Piper had team-highs over the weekend in batting average, hits and at-bats. In addition to her triple and home run in the opener against CMU, Piper also provided the game-winning hit – a single in the eighth inning – against Lamar. Piper hit safely in all four games.
Bri Betschel | 1.000, double, one RBI, 1.000 OB%
A pinch hitter, Betschel reached base safely in all four of her at-bats and provided a key RBI double in the top of the eighth inning of Sunday’s 5-1 win against Central Michigan. She also saw time defensively in left field.
A TOTAL TEAM EFFORT
The four pitchers that saw playing time last weekend combined to toss 25 innings with 23 strikeouts and a 2.52 ERA. All four started a game and saw action as a reliever.
INHERITATED RUNNERS
Over the course of four games last weekend, Ohio State pitchers inherited 13 runners while entering in relief – and they were able to prevent them from scoring at a 77% rate (three out of 13). The Individual breakdown:
McCombs: vs. Texas A&M – 4 inherited/3 scored
Hursh: vs. Lamar – 2 inherited/0 scored; vs. Central Michigan – 2 inherited/0 scored
Ray: vs. Lamar – 3 inherited/0 scored
Springer: vs. Texas A&M – 2 inherited/0 scored
WHIP IT GOOD
The 16 teams that advanced to last year’s NCAA Super Regionals all possessed a pitcher with a WHIP (walks+hits/innings pitched) no higher than 1.84 and as low as 0.72 amongst the top two of their staff. Four games into the 2017 campaign, Hursh and Springer are in that company, checking in with a 1.23 combined WHIP (Hursh: 0.50; Springer: 1.80).
UNFORM WATCH
White jersey/white pants: 1-0
Dark gray jersey/dark gray pants: 1-1
White jersey/red pants: 1-0
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
• Ten of the 19 RBI recorded last weekend came with two outs. Overall, Ohio State hitters batted .382 with two outs – led by Megan Choinacky, who had two hits (each of which scored a run).
• Lead off batters reached base safely in seven of 23 innings. In the opener against CMU, the Buckeyes worked six walks and ended up scoring four times.
• With 25 career home runs, Bayne now has sole possession of seventh place on Ohio State’s all-time list.
• The 10-run margin in last Friday’s season-opener against Central Michigan was the largest since 2007 and the most runs scored in an opening game since 2009.
FOR COMPARISONS SAKE
Over the first weekend of games from 2016 to 2017, the Buckeyes:
• Hit 25 points higher (.274 in 2016, .299 in 2017) with seven more runs scored (13 in 2016, 20 in 2017).
• Had an on-base percentage 12 points higher than in 2016 (.361 vs. .373).
• Recorded four more extra base hits (10 in 2017, six in 2016).
• Had the exact same team ERA (2.52).
• Had a .301 batting average against in 2016 and .195 in 2017, an improvement of 106 points.
