Springer, Hursh Key Two Wins on Saturday in California

Saturday, February 25

Palm Springs, Calif.

Ohio State

6-4

St. John's

5-7

Ohio State

St. John's

Springer, Hursh Key Two Wins on Saturday in California

2/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

Feb. 25, 2017

Final Stats

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Behind the ace pitching performances of Lena Springer and Shelby Hursh and backed up by timely hitting, Ohio State recorded two wins on Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, topping St. John’s 3-1 before shutting out LIU Brooklyn 5-0 to improve to 7-4 on the season.

THE SHORT STORY
Springer tossed a complete game with a career high eight strikeouts in the morning contest against St. John’s, scattering just three hits against the Johnnies. Meanwhile, Taylor White, playing in her home state of California, backed up Springer gem in the circle with two solo home runs to provide all the offense Ohio State would need. Sophomore Lilli Piper added an insurance run in the sixth inning of the 3-1 victory. In the afternoon contest against LIU Brooklyn, Hursh stymied the Blackbirds and limited them to just four hits. On offense, the top four hitters in the lineup – Anna Kirk, Emily Clark, Piper and Alex Bayne – combined to go 10-for-15 with four RBI.

GAME ONE: Ohio State 3, St. John’s 1
Springer, coming off a win over Louisville in which she retired 16 straight batters between the first and sixth innings, was just as sharp Saturday against the Johnnies. She gave up just two extra base hits, one of which scored St. John’s only run in the bottom of the third inning – a triple in the second inning. She worked her way out of trouble in the first, as SJU stranded a runner at first when Springer struck out Gretchen Bowie and got Kaitlin Mattera to ground out to shortstop.

St. John’s held the lead until White tied the game up at 1-1 with one swing of the bat in the top of the third. She belted a 0-1 offering from the Johnnies’ Grace Kramer over the left centerfield fence, her second home run of the season.

In the fourth, St. John’s was able to get a lead off runner on via an infield single, but the threat was quickly shut down thanks to a Springer strikeout, pop up to second and catcher Becca Gavin throwing out pinch runner Lexi Robles attempting to steal second.

White provided the decisive offense in the top of the fifth, hitting a two-out solo home run just over the right centerfield fence. After Springer successfully worked around a base runner for SJU in the bottom of the fifth, Piper blasted a solo home run to straightaway center field in the sixth inning, making the score 3-1.

In the seventh, St. John’s got a one-out double and had the winning run at the plate after a two-out walk, but Springer struck out Kaitlyn Wilkins to end the threat and also set a new career high for strikeouts in a game. Over her last two starts, she’s pitched 14.0 innings with 15 strikeouts while allowing just seven hits. Springer also has a 2.00 ERA and .152 batting average against in those two games.

In addition to White and Piper’s big hits, the Buckeye offense was also highlighted on Sunday morning by Ashley Goodwin, who was 2-for-3 with a double.

GAME TWO: Ohio State 5, LIU Brooklyn 0
Hursh was equally as dominate in the afternoon as Springer was in the morning, fanning nine Blackbirds while getting back up on offense from the top four hitters in the lineup. Kirk started it out in the top of the first with a lead off single and was eventually brought home when Clark hammed a double to right center, scoring two runs to stake the Buckeyes to a quick 2-0 lead even before Hursh had thrown a pitch.

The Buckeyes tacked on a run in the top of the third via a Goodwin single down the left field line that scored Piper, who had reached on a lead off double. All the while, Hursh was cruising, allowing just two singles in the bottom of the first while also getting a strikeout to end the second inning.

A two-out rally in the fourth inning resulted in the fourth run of the game crossing the plate for the Scarlet and Gray. Kirk started it with a single up the middle, Bayne followed with a single to center and Piper picked up an RBI on her single to center that scored Kirk.

The final run of the game for Ohio State came in the top of the sixth as Piper picked up her second RBI of the game, driving in Kirk, who had started yet another two-out rally with a single, her third hit of the game.

Hursh allowed just three base runners after the first inning and, fittingly, struck out three in the seventh to put an exclamation point on her team-leading fifth win of the year.

NOTES
• Hursh and Springer both lowered their season ERA to below 3.00 – Hursh is at 1.01 while Springer checks in at 2.82. Each are striking out an average of one batter per inning.
• With her three-hit performance, Kirk boosted her season average to .429. She also has a .528 on-base percentage and has played her first three games of the season this weekend as the team’s leadoff batter.
• Four of the Buckeyes’ eight runs on Sunday were scored with two outs.

STARS OF THE DAY
Lilli Piper: 5-7, one home run, three RBI, 1.143 slugging percentage
Anna Kirk: 3-6, .625 on-base percentage
Taylor White: 3-7, two home runs
Lena Springer/Shelby Hursh: 14.0 IP, 17 Ks, .152 batting average against, 1 run allowed

WHAT’S NEXT
Ohio State concludes play at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with a contest tomorrow against No. 21 California. The game will be streamed live on FloSoftball and a link to live stats can be found on the softball schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.