11-Game, Eight-Day Spring Break Road Trip Starts Friday
3/9/2022 11:24:35 AM | Softball
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – An eight-day, 11-game spring break road trip begins for the Ohio State softball team on Friday as the Buckeyes will face Stony Brook at 4 p.m. in the first of four contests this weekend at the University of South Florida.
Ohio State faces Army (9 a.m.) and Stony Brook (11:30 a.m.) on Saturday followed by games versus UMass (4 p.m.) and No. 22 South Florida (6:30 p.m.) on Sunday. The Buckeyes then have Monday off before heading north to Orlando for a single game on Tuesday, March 15 vs. Central Florida. The trip finishes up March 17-19 back in Tampa at USF with games vs. Lehigh (3/17, 11 a.m.), USF (3/17 and 3/19) Canisius (3/18, 9 a.m.) and St. Thomas (3/18).
Sunday’s game vs. South Florida will be aired live on ESPN+ with Ryan Urquhart and Allison Kime on the call.
The Weekend Ahead
Ohio State vs. Stony Brook / Friday, March 11 / 2 p.m. / Tampa, Fla.
Live Stats / Twitter Updates
Ohio State vs. Army / Saturday, March 12 / 9 a.m. / Tampa, Fla.
Live Stats / Twitter Updates
Ohio State vs. Stony Brook / Saturday, March 12 / 11:30 a.m. / Tampa, Fla.
Live Stats / Twitter Updates
Ohio State vs. UMass / Sunday, March 13 / 4 p.m. / Tampa, Fla.
Live Stats / Twitter Updates
Ohio State vs. South Florida / Sunday, March 13 / 6:30 p.m. / Tampa, Fla.
Live Stats / Twitter Updates / Watch: ESPN+
Briefly on the Buckeyes
- Ohio State is 9-3 on the season and had it only off weekend of the 2022 campaign last weekend. It played most recently Feb. 25-27 in Columbia, S.C., going 2-2 at the Carolina Classic with wins over South Carolina and Miami (Ohio).
- Three different pitchers have won games this year for the scarlet and gray, led by graduate student Lexie Handley, who is 4-2 with a 1.64 earned run average and 57 strikeouts in 47.0 innings.
- Handley ranks in the top 10 in the Big Ten in both ERA and strikeouts.
- Allison Smith, a sophomore, is 3-1 and also averaging better than a strikeout per inning (30 Ks, 25.0 innings pitched).
- Sophomore Emily Ruck checks in with a 1.80 ERA in 11.2 innings pitched and a pair of wins.
- Freshman Melina Wilkison is tops on the team with 12 hits in 36 at-bats (.333 average) and has also scored a team-high 11 runs.
- The Buckeyes’ RBI leader is senior centerfielder Meggie Otte, who has driven in 11 so far in 2022.
- Sam Hackenbracht, who finished second last season in the Big Ten in home runs, is slugging a team-best .429. She has five doubles in the first 12 games.
Numbers to Know
- 16: Niki Carver is 16 RBI away from 100 in her career. A veteran of 164 career games with 157 starts, she’s batting .270 with 84 RBI, 79 runs scored and 18 home runs – all the most among active players.
- 36: Allison Smith is 36 strikeouts away from 200 for her career. A sophomore, she’s pitched 158.0 innings in 33 appearances.
- 7: Senior Jaycee Ruberti, a transfer from Hofstra, is seven hits shy of 100 for her career. She had 84 in three seasons at Hofstra and nine already in 12 games for the Buckeyes.
- 21: Twenty-one more strikeouts from Lexie Handley will give her 400 for her career. Handley spent her first season at Akron before moving on to Auburn, where she spent the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons.
- 24: Ohio State’s first 24 games this season will be played away from home. Following their spring break trip, the Buckeyes have a single-game at Ohio on March 23 before opening Big Ten play at home vs. Indiana March 25-27.
Sizing Up the Competition
- Stony Brook has started its season with a 7-3 record and won three of five games last weekend at the San Diego Classic.
- The Seawolves have two pitchers with sub-2.00 ERAs: Shelbi Denman (1.70) and Dawn Bodrug (1.93).
- Army has already played three games against ranked teams so far during the first four weeks of the season: No. 13 Duke (twice) and No. 24 South Florida.
- UMass is coached by former Ohio State assistant Danielle Henderson, who was a Buckeye from 2011-12. Henderson won a gold medal as a member of the United States team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
- South Florida is 17-3 so far this season and ranked No. 22 in this week’s USA Softball/ESPN poll.
