Softball Season Preview By the Numbers
2/1/2022 3:19:07 PM | Softball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The start of the 51st season of Ohio State softball is 10 days away. As a primer, below are some numbers and notes on the Buckeyes as they prepare for their 2022 opener, which is on Friday, Feb. 11 vs. Northern Illinois in Boca Raton, Fla. on the campus of Florida Atlantic.
30+ Wins: Ohio State has won 30 or more games in each of the last seven full seasons (2020 and 2021 excluded due to COVID and a Big Ten-only schedule). That’s tied for the longest stretch of seasons with 30+ wins in program history. The only other time it was done was 2004-10.
267: Head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly has a 267-169-1 record in nine seasons with the Buckeyes, giving her the second-most wins in program history.
.612: Kovach Schoenly’s .612 winning percentage is the best of any coach in program history (three or more years) as is her .583 winning percentage against Big Ten competition. In her tenure (2013-present), Ohio State has the Big Ten’s third-best overall winning percentage.
32.2: The Buckeyes are averaging 32.2 wins per season over the last eight full seasons (2020 excluded). That’s the best eight-year run since averaging nearly 35 wins per year from 2003-09.
4: Ohio State made four consecutive NCAA Regional appearances from 2016-19, the longest postseason stretch in program history. Only Minnesota and Michigan from the Big Ten also made four consecutive NCAA Tournament’s during that time period.
.711: Ohio State has an 86-35 record at Buckeye Field since 2013, the second-best home winning percentage of any Big Ten school. The Buckeyes have won 10 or more games at home every season since 2013 (2020 excluded).
25: Ohio State plays its first 25 games away from home to begin the 2022 season.
7,475: Over those first 25 games, the Buckeyes will rack up 7,475 miles in travel roundtrip.
113: Niki Carver’s 113 career hits are the most of any active player on the 2022 roster. A fifth-year senior, she also has 76 career RBI and a .272 batting average.
12: Pitcher Allison Smith’s 12 wins last year were the most of any freshman in the Big Ten and the seventh-most amongst all pitchers.
.727: Sam Hackenbracht, a junior, was second in the Big Ten last year in slugging percentage (.727) and home runs (12).
9-1: Perhaps even more impressive was that when Hackenbracht hit a home run, the Buckeyes usually won. Ohio State was 9-1 in games in which she hit one out of the park.
6-2: The Buckeyes finished the 2022 season as one of the hottest teams in the conference, winning six of their final eight games with series wins over Michigan State and Illinois. Michigan was the only Big Ten team with a better record over the final two weekends.
26: Ohio State turned 26 double plays last year, three more than any other Big Ten team and the fourth-most in the nation.
14: Fourteen of Ohio State’s 24 players hail from the state of Ohio. Six are from California and one each is from Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Indiana.
