Ohio State, Northwestern Meet for Three This Weekend
4/6/2022 4:32:26 PM | Softball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A busy weekend of softball at Buckeye Field kicks off on Friday as Ohio State welcomes No. 9-ranked Northwestern to Columbus for a three-game weekend series. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 6 p.m. with single games to follow on Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
All the action this weekend will be streamed on B1G+. Live stats for each game are also available on the schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
The Basics
Northwestern at Ohio State // Friday, April 8 // 6 p.m. // Buckeye Field; Columbus, Ohio
Watch Live (B1G+) // Live Stats // Twitter Updates // Game Notes
Northwestern at Ohio State // Saturday, April 9 // 2 p.m. // Buckeye Field; Columbus, Ohio
Watch Live (B1G+) // Live Stats // Twitter Updates // Game Notes
Northwestern at Ohio State // Sunday, April 10 // 1 p.m. // Buckeye Field; Columbus, Ohio
Watch Live (B1G+) // Live Stats // Twitter Updates // Game Notes
National Championship Recognition
- Ohio State will honor two of its newest national champions – women’s ice hockey and synchronized swimming – during Friday’s game.
- Women’s hockey is schedule to throw out the first pitch while both squads will be recognized between innings.
- The women’s ice hockey team won its first-ever national championship on March 20 while synchronized swimming captured its 33rd overall title on March 27.
Briefly on the Buckeyes
- After earning a series win at Michigan State on Sunday, Ohio State is 23-7 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten play.
- The Buckeyes have won eight of their last 10 games and are 2-1 this season at home, having won their conference-opening series March 25-26 vs. Indiana.
- In the national rankings, Ohio State is No. 21 in the latest RPI, No. 21 in the D1Softball.com poll and is receiving votes in both the NFCA Coaches Poll and the USA Softball/ESPN.com poll.
- Ohio State checks in with the Big Ten’s fifth-best team batting average (.290) and fourth-best ERA (2.22).
- Only Michigan, Michigan State and Northwestern have given up less earned runs than Ohio State’s 63.
- Ohio State is the only team in the Big Ten to rank in the top five in both team batting average and team ERA.
- Graduate student Lexie Handley is coming off a weekend in which she allowed just one run over 22.1 innings, went 3-0 with two complete game shutouts and totaled 27 strikeouts.
- In a series-clinching win over Michigan State on Sunday, McKenzie Bump and Kami Kortokrax each had key sixth-inning RBI as the Buckeyes won 2-1.
- Bump added a two-run home run in the opening game of the series Friday night. She hit .444 on the weekend and added three RBI.
- Head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly is in her 10th season at Ohio State and is the program’s all-time leader in overall winning percentage (.619) and Big Ten winning percentage (.586). She’s 290-178-1 with four NCAA Regional appearances.
Scouting Northwestern
- Northwestern is No. 9 in this week’s USA Today/NFCA poll and is the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten.
- The Wildcats began Big Ten play with a sweep of Michigan State and then won two of three games last weekend vs. Michigan.
- Danielle Williams in a three-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Week who currently has a 1.28 ERA with 184 strikeouts in 120.0 innings.
- At the plate, the tandem of Nikki Cuchran and Rachel Lewis have driven in 56 runs. Both are batting .330 or better.
- Lewis leads the team with 12 home runs and a 1.245 OPS. She’s also stolen 13 bases.
History vs. Northwestern
- Ohio State and Northwestern played three times last season in Leesburg, Fla. Two of the three contests were decided by two runs or fewer, with the Buckeyes taking game one, 4-2, but dropping the series finale, 3-2.
- In 2018, the two teams met in Evanston and Northwestern won both games. The third and final game of the series was canceled due to weather.
- The last time the two teams played at Buckeye Field, Ohio State swept No. 25 Northwestern in the final home series of the 2014 season.
- The Buckeyes and Wildcats have played 12 times since 2014 with NU holding a 7-5 edge in the series.
Schedule Adjustments
- Ohio State’s midweek doubleheader vs. Penn State, originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 5, was postponed to be inclement weather.
- The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions will now play a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 19 beginning at 3 p.m. in Columbus.
The Last 10 Games
- Ohio State has won eight of its last 10 games, including three of four last week.
- In that span, Sam Hackenbracht, Melina Wilkison and McKenzie Bump are all hitting over .400.
- Hackenbracht has a .900 slugging percentage with four home runs, 10 RBI and two doubles.
- She’s not the only Buckeye hitting for power. As a team, Ohio State has 14 home runs and 11 doubles over the last 10 games for an overall slugging percentage of .519.
- Lexie Handley has made six starts in the last 10 games and all six have been complete games. She has a 0.89 ERA in 47.0 innings, 61 strikeouts and .157 batting average against.
Noting Last Sunday’s Win
- Kami Kortokrax hit .400 last week with four hits in 10 at-bats and an RBI on Sunday, which turned out to be the game-winning run.
- Ohio State has won five of its last six games at Michigan State’s Secchia Stadium. It swept a three-game series there in 2019 and took two of three this season.
- The Buckeyes are 7-3 in true road games this season.
- Sunday was the sixth one-run game of Ohio State’s season. It is 3-3 in those contests.
- Two of Ohio State’s five hits on the day came from Melina Wilkison, who was 2-for-4 on the afternoon and is hitting .414 over the last 10 games.
Home Sweet Home
- Friday’s weekend series kicks off a four-game homestand for Ohio State.
- Next Tuesday, April 12, the Buckeyes host Toledo for a midweek contest.
- Ohio State has an 88-36 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).
- Admission to all games at Buckeye Field is free. Parking is available in the lots surrounding Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Bill Davis Stadium and the Schumaker Complex.
Buckeye This and That
- Sunday’s 2-1 win over Michigan State was Ohio State’s 400th all-time Big Ten victory.
- Fifth-year senior Niki Carver is 10 RBI away from 100 in her career.
- Jaycee Ruberti hit home runs in back-to-back games last weekend at Michigan State, the first two homers of her Ohio State career. She hit three during her career at Hofstra.
- In the last 10 games, Ohio State pitchers have walked just 16 batters in 65.0 innings.
- Sam Hackenbracht’s nine home runs have all come in the last 16 games.
- The Buckeyes’ 23-7 start matches their best record after 30 games since 2018, when they were also 23-7. That year, Ohio State went on to finish 36-16 and earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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