PREVIEW: Buckeyes Head West for Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
2/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 22, 2017
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State hits the road for the third straight weekend as it ventures west to Cathedral City, Calif. for the annual Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Friday-Sunday. The trip will also serve as a homecoming for seven California natives on the Buckeyes’ roster.
THE BASICS
Ohio State vs. No. 7 Washington | Friday, Feb. 24 | 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT
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Ohio State vs. St. John’s | Saturday, Feb. 25 | 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT
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Ohio State vs. LIU Brooklyn | Saturday, Feb. 25 | 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT
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Ohio State vs. No. 21 California | Sunday, Feb. 26 | 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT
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BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
• Winners of two straight, Ohio State is 5-3 on the season after splitting four contests last weekend at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Chapel Hill.
• The Buckeyes defeated the host Tar Heels 10-2 in six innings and then edged Louisville 4-3 on the strength of a complete game from Lena Springer and two home runs from Alex Bayne,
• As a team, Ohio State is hitting .312, the fifth best mark thus far in the Big Ten.
• Three players with at least 11 at-bats are batting over .400 – Bri Betschel (.455, three runs scored), Lilli Piper (.407, seven RBI, two doubles, one home run) and Alex Bayne (.407, 1.148 slugging percentage, six home runs, eight RBI).
• Three other starters check in with a .300 or better average – senior Anna Kirk (.389, two home runs), sophomore Emily Clark (.360, six RBI) and junior Becca Gavin (.318, five RBI).
• The duo of Shelby Hursh and Lena Springer lead a deep pitching staff, which comes in to the weekend with a 3.12 team ERA, good for the sixth best mark amongst Big Ten teams.
• Hursh’s 1.25 ERA is the third best in the conference while Springer is coming off a complete game performance against Louisville in which she retired 16 straight batters in the middle of the game.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Washington
2017 Record: 7-1
Last Weekend: Defeated UC-Riverside, San Diego State and Cal State Northridge at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
2016 Record: 39-15, 16-8 Pac 12
Postseason: Lost to Alabama in the NCAA Super Regionals
Top Hitter: Sis Bates is the team leader in RBI (nine) with a .520 batting average. She has also hit two triples and two homeruns. Stangel has a team leading 3 homeruns and a .826 slugging percentage.
Top Pitcher: Taryn Alvelo has pitched the majority of the innings for Huskies without earning a loss. She has 35 strikeouts and a 1.95 ERA with 37 innings pitched.
St. John’s
2017 Record: 4-5
Last Weekend: Went 3-2 at the FAU Invitational with wins over Savannah State, Toledo and Tulsa.
2016 Record: 29-20, 12-7 Big East
Top Hitter:Â Gretchen Bowie is leading the team in RBI (seven), slugging percentage (.750) and triples (three).Â
Top Pitcher: All four pitchers have seen over 10 innings of action with Madison Morris leading the way with 17.1 innings pitched and a 0.40 ERA. McKenzie Murray has pitched 16 innings with a 3.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts.
LIU Brooklyn
2017 Record: 3-6
Last Weekend: Went 3-2 at the Orange Blossom Tournament with wins over George Washington, Providence and Marshall.
2016 Record: 30-27, 14-2 NEC
Postseason: Baton Rouge Regional
Top Hitter: Schae Dickson leads the Blackbirds with a .435 batting average, .652 slugging percentage, 10 hits and six RBI.
Top Pitcher: Erynn Sobieski leads the staff in innings pitched (29.2) and checks in with a 5.66 ERA.
California
2017 Record: 7-1
Last Weekend: Defeated Illinois, Loyola Marymount and Kent State at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
2016 Record: 33-24-1, 11-11-1 Pac 12
Postseason: Tuscaloosa Regional
Top Hitter: Kobie Pettis leads the team with a .444 batting average and eight hits. Jazmyn Jackson has driven in five runs and has a .550 slugging percentage.
Top Pitcher: Zoe Conley leads the staff with 29.1 innings while no other starter has more than nine innings. Conley has a 0.72 ERA with a 3-1 record and 22 strikeouts.
ABOUT THE MARY NUTTER COLLEGIATE CLASSIC
Mary Nutter was a two-time ASA first team All-American and played for the Lansing Laurels in both amateur and professional softball until 1976. She became a successful college softball coach for Pittsburg State University and formed her own business conducting softball coaches’ clinics in 1987. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State and was a great ambassador for the sport of fastpitch softball.
Mary began this tournament years ago with the intent to bring together college coaches and athletes in a way that helped the recruiting process. A scholarship in her name is given to help young women with their college education.
WELCOME HOME
The trip to Cathedral City, Calif. will serve as a homecoming for seven California natives – Taylor White (Granada Hills), Bri Betschel (Anaheim), Alex Vargas (Chula Vista), Spencer Sansom (Clovis), Katya Duvall (Seal Beach), Carley Gaskill (West Hills) and Ashley Goodwin (Riverside). Goodwin’s hometown of Riverside and Betschel’s of Anaheim are the closest to Cathedral City.
WEEKEND REWIND
• As a team, Ohio State hit .324 in four games at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge with eight home runs, 14 extra base hits and four starters who hit over .400.
• Clark led the .400 club with a .462 average to go along with five RBI and her first home run of the season. She has hit safely in six of the last seven games.
• Bayne blasted four home runs – including the go-ahead shot in the top of the seventh in Sunday’s win over Louisville – to give her six already this season. She’s currently fourth nationally in home runs/game and third in home runs, just one behind national leaders Alyssa DiCarlo (Georgia) and Shelby Miller (Houston).
• A pair of seniors reached career milestones last weekend: Anna Kirk collected her 100th career hit on Friday vs. North Carolina while Shelby Hursh followed the next day with her 400th career strikeout.
• Hursh and Springer combined to have a 2.42 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched with 19 strikeouts and a 1.03 WHIP.
• Both teams that Ohio State defeated earned at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament last year and were top-50 RBI squads.
INDVIDUAL STANDOUTS
Lena Springer | 7.0 IP, 7 Ks vs. Louisville
After giving up a run on a two-out double against the Cardinals in the bottom of the first inning, Springer retired the next 16 batters, allowing only one ball to be hit out of the infield. Her seven strikeouts also matched her career high. She also worked around back to back hits in the bottom of the seventh, getting the final three outs on two strikeouts and a fly out.
Anna Kirk | .429, home run, double, .615 on base percentage
Hit the game-tying home run in the top of the sixth inning while also getting on base in her other at-bat (walk). She also added a double and sacrifice fly on Saturday vs. North Carolina.
Alex Bayne/Emily Clark | .444, five home runs, 10 RBI
Bayne and Clark combined to hit five of Ohio State’s eight home runs while driving in 10 runs. Bayne added two multi home run games while Clark hit her first long ball of the season, a two-run shot against UNC on Friday.
A TOUGH SLATE
The Buckeyes play their first 22 games prior to the start of conference play on the road and in that span have 13 contests against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year. Nine opponents finished with a top-50 RPI last season. Overall, Ohio State plays its first 25 games either on the road or at neutral sites.
INHERITATED RUNNERS
Over the course of four games last weekend, Ohio State pitchers inherited four runners while entering in relief – and they were able to prevent them from scoring at a 75% rate (one out of four). The Individual breakdown:
McCombs vs. Louisville – 0 inherited/0 scored
Duvall vs. North Carolina – 3 inherited/0 scored
Hursh vs. North Carolina – 1 inherited/1 scored
Springer vs. North Carolina – 0 inherited/0 scored
For the season, Buckeye pitchers are preventing inherited runners from scoring 76 percent of the time.
COMING UP CLUTCH
Buckeye batters hit .429 last weekend with two outs, getting 18 hits in 42 at-bats while delivering 12 two-out RBI. In Saturday’s 10-2 run-rule win over North Carolina, Ohio State scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game – all coming with two outs. Individually, Bayne and Clark combined to go seven-for-12 (.583) with seven RBI.
UNFORM WATCH
White jersey/white pants: 1-2
Dark gray jersey/dark gray pants: 2-1
White jersey/red pants: 2-0
STATISCALLY SPEAKING
• Over the last two seasons, Ohio State is 18-2-1 when Bayne hits a home run (16-0-1 in 2016, 2-2 in 2017).
• Bayne is tied for sixth place on the Buckeyes’ career home run list with Stacy Roth (1999-02). Her next home run will tie her for fifth all-time with Caitlin Conrad (2012-2015).
• Compared to its first eight games last year, Ohio State is hitting 85 points higher as a team with 11 more extra base hits.
• Hursh’s 32 career wins places her 11th on the all-time list, just two behind Kirnon Clark in 10th place. She is fifth all-time in strikeouts (400).
• The Buckeyes rank 18th nationally in slugging percentage (.554) and currently have four players with an OPS (on base + slugging percentage) of 1.000 or better.
