Ohio State
17-13, 0
Rutgers
6-25, 0
Ohio State, Rutgers Conclude Weekend Series
4/25/2021 2:38:18 PM | Softball
Final Stats: Ohio State 13, Rutgers 5 // Final Stats: Rutgers 6, Ohio State 5
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team wrapped up its four-game series versus Rutgers on Sunday by finishing Saturday’s suspended game, which turned out to a 13-5 six-inning Buckeye victory, before falling in the series finale, 6-5. Ohio State is 17-14 overall on the season and won three of four games this weekend against the Scarlet Knights (7-25).
The Short Story
Sunday’s action picked up in the bottom of the fifth inning on yesterday’s game that was suspended due to rain. When play resumed, the Buckeye bats struck for nine runs – including a back-breaking grand slam off the bat of Niki Carver – to register a 13-5 series-clinching win. In the second game, Rutgers scored once in the top of the seventh to take a 6-5 and held on for the victory.
Game One: Ohio State 13, Rutgers 5 (6)
Twenty hours after the game was originally suspended, the first pitch to Meggie Otte with the bases loaded and one out of the fifth inning was a harbinger of things to come. Otte singled the left center, bringing home two runs, and put Ohio State ahead for good. An RBI single by Ashley Prange made the score 7-5 and set the stage for Carver’s grand slam on a 3-2 pitch over the left centerfield wall.
Rutgers went down in order in the top of the sixth and Ohio State ended the game in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a RBI ground out by Otte and the exclamation point: a solo home run – the first of her career – by Mariah Rodriguez.
Ohio State’s 10-hit attack in the game was highlighted by Rodriguez, who finished 3-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored, and Carver, who drove in a career-high five runs. Otte added three RBI and Taylor Pack was 2-for-2 with two singles and a run scored.
Freshman Allison Smith worked six innings and registered nine strikeouts with just two walks. The win was her ninth of the year, which is the most on the team and the most of any Big Ten freshman.
Game Two: Rutgers 6, Ohio State 5
In a back-and-forth affair, Rutgers got the run it needed in the top of the seventh inning on a Kiana Workman RBI single and then got a groundout to shortstop for the final out of the afternoon in the bottom of the seventh to strand the tying run, Megan McMenemy, at third base.
For the fourth straight game in the series, Rutgers scored in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly and RBI single from Workman. And just as Ohio State did all weekend, it responded. It came in the form of a Mariah Rodriguez home run in the bottom of the first, her second in as many at-bats.
The Scarlet Knights tacked on a run in the top of the second via an RBI double from Kiersten Withstandley to take a 3-1 lead. That changed in the bottom of the third, however, as three Buckeyes crossed the plate thanks to a two-run double off the bat of Taylor Pack and an RBI single from Megan McMenemy.
The Buckeyes had a chance to increase their lead in the fourth but left two runners on and Rutgers pulled ahead again in the top of the fifth via an error and RBI ground out from Withstandley. Two pitches into the next half inning, however, Ashley Prange tied the game at 5-all with her third home run of the season.
Pack and McMenemy each had two hits as part of the Buckeyes’ offense attack but Ohio State was done in by leaving 10 runners on base. In the sixth inning, Ohio State got a two-out rally going and loaded the bases after back-to-back singles and a walk. Izzy Berouty was able to get out of the jam, however, with a line out to third base.
The Weekend That Was
In four games this weekend, Ohio State hit .364 as a team. The hottest bat was Sam Hackenbracht, who hit .778 with three home runs, five RBI and nine runs scored. She was intentionally walked four times and successfully reached base in 13 of her 15 at-bats.
Taylor Pack had a six-hit weekend with three doubles and five runs batted in. Seven players who played in two or more games batted over .300: Hackenbracht (.778), Pack (.667), Niki Carver (.400), Mariah Rodriguez (.375), Megan McMenemy (.375), Carley Gaskill (.364) and Ashley Prange (.333).
The Buckeye bats produced eight home runs and seven doubles with a .677 slugging percentage. They also drew 22 walks over the four games.
Defensively, the Buckeyes turned their Big Ten-leading 15th double play of the year on Sunday afternoon.
What’s Next
The Buckeyes will be on the road for the next eight games, starting next weekend (April 30-May 2) with four games at Purdue. The series begins with a single game on Friday, April 30 at 4 p.m. It will be streamed live on BTN Plus.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Allison (9-9)
L: Izzy Berouty (2-11)
Batting:
2B: Gabrielle Callaway 1 ; Anyssa Iliopoulos 1 ; Kiana Workman 1
RBI: Anyssa Iliopoulos 2 ; Kiana Workman 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Gabrielle Callaway 1 ; K. Withstandley 1 ; Mya Mancini 1 ; Payton Lincavage 1 ; Anyssa Iliopoulos 1
HBP: Gabrielle Callaway 1 ; Payton Lincavage 1 ; Anyssa Iliopoulos 1
Batting:
2B: Gaskill, Carley 1
HR: Rodriguez, Mariah 1 ; Hackenbracht, Sam 1 ; Carver, Niki 1
RBI: Otte, Meggie 3 ; Rodriguez, Mariah 1 ; Hackenbracht, Sam 1 ; Prange, Ashley 1 ; Carver, Niki 5 ; Pack, Taylor 1 ; Gaskill, Carley 1
SH: McMenemy, Megan 1
SF: Carver, Niki 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Otte, Meggie 1 ; Rodriguez, Mariah 2 ; Hackenbracht, Sam 3 ; Prange, Ashley 1 ; Carver, Niki 1 ; Pack, Taylor 1 ; McMenemy, Megan 1 ; Cortelletti, Tegan 2 ; Gaskill, Carley 1
SB: Cortelletti, Tegan 1
HBP: Carver, Niki 2 ; Pack, Taylor 1 ; Clark, Avery 1 ; Cortelletti, Tegan 1
