Ohio State Stymied by No. 7 Washington

Friday, February 24

Palm Springs, Calif.

Ohio State

5-4

Washington

8-1

Washington

Ohio State

Ohio State Stymied by No. 7 Washington

2/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

Feb. 24, 2017

Final Stats

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — Ohio State (5-4) battled No. 7 Washington (8-1) pitch for pitch for the better part of six innings but eventually dropped a 11-4 decision to the Huskies on Friday morning in the opening game of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif.

THE SHORT STORY
Tied at 3-3 headed into the seventh inning, Washington was able to put eight runs on the board in the top of the inning on the strength of four hits and one Buckeye error. Prior to that, Ohio State led the game for two innings thanks to Emily Clark’s three-run home run in the bottom of the third. Senior Anna Kirk added a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to close out the scoring.

HOW THE RUNS WERE SCORED
Washington plated the game’s first run in the top of the third on Taylor Van Zee’s sacrifice fly, which scored Kaija Gibson, who had reached on a lead off error. Starting pitcher Shelby Hursh was able to get out of any further damage when she got Sis Bates to pop up to shortstop with two outs and two runners on.

The lead for Washington was short lived, as Clark gave Ohio State a 3-1 lead with one swing of the bat. Ahead of her, Alex Bayne worked a two-out walk and Lilli Piper kept the inning alive with a single to left field. Clark then took a 1-1 pitch from starter Madi Schreyer and deposited it over the left field fence. It was Clark’s second home run of the season and gives her a team-leading nine RBI.

Washington went quietly in the fourth inning and then scored twice in the fifth inning on the help of two hits and two Ohio State errors that knotted the score at 3-3. The biggest blows were a sacrifice fly off the bat of Van Zee and a one-out throwing error that allowed a run to score from second.

With the Huskies threatening in the top of the sixth, the Buckeye defense came up clutch with a double play ball. Ali Aguilar lined a ball right to Piper at shortstop, who snagged it and immediately threw to second to double off Gibson.

Washington’s eight-run seventh inning started with a three singles and a fielder’s choice, loading the Morganne Flores, who walked home the go-ahead run. A passed ball made the score 5-3 and another bases loaded walk made the score 6-3. The Huskies scored five more times, including a two-run single by Bates.

Kirk’s two-out home run in the seventh was her third round-tripper of the season and second in as many games. She finished 2-for-4 on the game while Piper, Clark and Bailee Sturgeon also picked up hits.

IN THE CIRCLE
Hursh started the game and went 5.1 innings, striking out five while allowing four hits. Sophomores Morgan Ray and Katya Duvall each saw action in relief, combining to five out four hits with two strikeouts over 1.2 innings.

WHAT’S NEXT
Ohio State plays two games tomorrow at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, taking on St. John’s at 12:30 p.m. ET and LIU Brooklyn at 3 p.m. Live stats for both games can be found on the schedule tab at the softball homepage of OhioStateBuckeyes.com.