Purdue Takes Series Finale in West Lafayette, 4-2

Sunday, May 2

West Lafayette, Ind.

Ohio State

18-17, 18-16

Purdue

13-23, 13-23

Ohio State

Purdue

Purdue Takes Series Finale in West Lafayette, 4-2

5/2/2021 3:41:28 PM | Softball

Box Score

Final Stats: Purdue 4, Ohio State 2 // Season Stats

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Ohio State nearly came back from an early 3-0 deficit in the series finale on Sunday at Purdue but couldn’t quite complete the comeback, falling to the Boilermakers 4-2. The Buckeyes are 18-17 on the season while Purdue improves to 13-23.

The Short Story
Ohio State trailed 3-0 after three innings but made a push in the fifth, scoring a run on Ashley Prange’s RBI double and another on a single off the bat of Meggie Otte. The Buckeyes couldn’t push across the tying run, however, and Purdue tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.

The top of Ohio State’s order – the 1-2-3-4 hitters in Mariah Rodriguez, Prange, Niki Carver and Otte – combined for seven of the Buckeyes’ nine hits. Pitcher Payton Buresch went six innings and allowed four earned runs and four walks.

How the Runs Were Scored

Kaitlyn Brannstrom hit a two-out single to right field in the top of the first to score Rachel Becker and give the Boilermakers a 1-0 lead. Becker had reached to start to the bottom of the first after being hit by a pitch.
The first three Purdue batters singled in the bottom of the third, resulting in an RBI for Kiley Goff to make it 2-0 in favor of the Boilermakers. A bases loaded walk increased the lead to 3-0, but after a key 1-2-3 double play and 5-3 groundout, the damage was minimized for Buresch and the Buckeye defense.
Ohio State’s bat finally strung together a rally in the top of the fifth. It started with back to back one-out singles from Tegan Cortelletti and Mariah Rodriguez, followed by a double down the left field line by Prange, scoring Cortelletti. After a strikeout, Otte singled to third base to score Prange, making the score 3-2 in favor of Purdue.
Purdue loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and an insurance run was walked home. Ohio State was able to get out of it, however, with a ground out to shortstop.
Rodriguez led off the top of the seventh with a single, but Sydney Bates retired the next three batters to end the game.

The Weekend That Was

Buckeye batters produced 11 extra-base hits on the weekend (eight doubles and three home runs).
Niki Carver and Meggie Otte both had five hits on the weekend. Carver had the top average amongst the starters, hitting .357 with a double and two RBI.
Prange drove in a team-high four runs, three of which came in Friday’s 5-1 series-opening win.
The Buckeyes defense turned three double plays on the weekend and now have a Big Ten-leading 18 on the season.
Freshman Hannah Bryan earned her second career start behind the plate at catcher. The Columbus native and Bishop Ready graduate also started the second game on yesterday’s doubleheader. She’s played in four games so far this season.

What’s Next
Ohio State plays its final regular season road series of the year next weekend when it travels to Champaign, Ill. to face the Illini for four games Friday-Sunday. The action gets underway with a single game Friday, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday. All four contests will be streamed on BTN Plus.