Ohio State, Michigan State Meet for Three This Weekend
3/31/2022 12:18:41 PM | Softball
Season Stats / Schedule & Results / 2022 Roster
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After successfully getting a series win in its Big Ten home-opening set of games, the Ohio State softball team will look to do the same this weekend on the road, traveling to East Lansing, Mich. for a three-game set against the Spartans.
Friday’s series-opener is set for 6 p.m. The Saturday game will start at 2 p.m. and the Sunday series finale is slated for 1 p.m. All three game will be streamed on B1G+ and live stats will be available on the schedule page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
The Basics
Ohio State at Michigan State // Friday, April 1 // 6 p.m. // Secchia Stadium; East Lansing, Mich.
Watch Live (B1G+) // Live Stats // Twitter Updates
Ohio State at Michigan State // Saturday, April 2 // 2 p.m. // Secchia Stadium; East Lansing, Mich.
Watch Live (B1G+) // Live Stats // Twitter Updates
Ohio State at Michigan State // Sunday, April 3 // 1 p.m. // Secchia Stadium; East Lansing, Mich.
Watch Live (B1G+) // Live Stats // Twitter Updates
The Weather This Weekend
Friday: Overcast during the day; clear to partly cloudy at night. High 41, low 26. Winds WSW 10 mph
Saturday: Partly cloudy, chance of showers in the late afternoon. High 48, low 34. Winds WSW 5-10 mph
Sunday: Mostly cloudy. High 49, low 34. Winds WNW 10 mph.
Briefly on the Buckeyes
- Coming off a 3-0 win over No. 8 Kentucky on Tuesday evening, Ohio State is 21-6 on the season and has won seven of its last eight games.
- The Buckeyes possess the Big Ten’s fourth-highest team batting average (.299) and the fourth-lowest team ERA (2.36). They are the only team in the conference to rank in the top four in both of those categories.
- Five players who have started 13 or more games are batting .320 or better: McKenzie Bump (.400, four doubles), Sam Hackenbracht (.377, nine home runs, 27 RBI), Melina Wilkison (.356, .441 on-base percentage), Kami Kortokrax (.348, 24 hits) and Jaycee Ruberti (.325, 18 runs scored).
- The Buckeye bats have been especially hot over the last 10 games. In that span, they’ve hit .322 as a team with 31 extra base hits (14 home runs, 13 doubles and four triples).
- Pitcher Lexie Handley, a graduate transfer from Auburn, is among the Big Ten leaders in strikeouts (131), wins (11), complete games (11), complete game shutouts (three) and total innings (101.1).
- After Handley, a pair of sophomores have split 76.0 innings: Allison Smith (44.0 IP, 3.66 ERA, 45 Ks) and Emily Ruck (32.0 IP, 2.62 ERA, 45 Ks).
The Ohio State/Michigan State Series
- The last time the Buckeyes and Spartans met in East Lansing was April 19-21, 2019.
- That weekend, Ohio State swept Michigan State with wins of 15-6, 3-2 and 11-1, respectively.
- Overall, the Buckeyes have won 11 of 12 against the Spartans dating back to the 2017 season.
- Since 2013, Ohio State is 19-5 against Michigan State.
Buckeye This and That
- Ohio State has the Big Ten’s third-highest RPI in this week’s rankings. Only Northwestern at No. 9 and Wisconsin at No. 24 are higher.
- Sam Hackenbracht ranks in the top five in the Big Ten in slugging percentage (4th, .831), RBI (4th, 27), OPS (5th, 1.247) and home runs (4th, nine).
- Three Buckeyes have played in 100 or more career games: Niki Carver (179), Kaitlyn Coffman (115) and Meggie Otte (127).
- Carver needs 10 RBI to reach 200 in her career.
- Four of Ohio State’s leaders in batting average are first-year starters: freshmen Kami Kortokrax and Melina Wilkison along with sophomore McKenzie Bump and transfer Jaycee Ruberti.
More on Lexie Handley’s Season
- Handley has struck out 10 or more batters in seven of her 12 starts.
- She has a WHIP (walks+hits divided by innings pitched) of just over 1.00 at 1.03.
- In her last five appearances, Handley has a 4-0 record, 1.18 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 29.2 innings.
Playing Power Ball
- Over the first 13 games of the season – when the Buckeyes were 10-3 – they had a team slugging percentage of .380 with four home runs, 17 doubles and five triples.
- As a team, Ohio State hit .271 over that span.
- In the last 14 games – 11 wins and three losses – Ohio State has noticeably picked up the power.
- The Buckeyes have 21 home runs, 18 doubles, four triples in those games.
- Ohio State’s team slugging percentage has gone up by nearly 200 points (.380 to .577) and team batting average has increased by over 60 points (.271 to .328).
