2023 Season In Review

2023 Roster // 2023 Schedule // Follow on Twitter // Follow on Facebook // Season Stats

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State's 2023 softball season featured many of the things fans have come to expect from the Buckeyes over the last several years: big wins, big crowds and big moments. All of those things added up to another thing Ohio State fans have become use to – a memorable season that included a lot of big wins, too.

The 2023 Buckeyes finished 33-20 overall and 12-11 in the Big Ten, which marked their ninth consecutive winning conference season and 11th straight with 30 or more overall wins. There was much to celebrate along the way, too, including walk-off wins, record-breaking crowds and individual milestones.

Briefly on the Buckeyes

This spring was the 52nd season in Ohio State history and the 11th in a row in which the Buckeyes finished with a record above .500.
Ohio State had a .600 or better overall winning percentage for the sixth time in the last season seasons.
The Buckeyes were especially good away from home in 2023 – they won 25 road/neutral site games and were 6-5 against Big Ten opponents on the road.
Ohio State possessed one of the Big Ten's best offenses. The Buckeyes finished in the top five in batting average (third – .304), runs scored (third – 306), slugging percentage (third – .494), on-base percentage (third – .384) and home runs (fifth – 50).
The pitching staff also had a top-five ranking in strikeouts (fourth – 323). Individually, only two other pitchers in the conference struck out more batters than Allison Smith, who finished with 203 in 181.2 innings.
Ohio State's defense turned 21 double plays on the year, which was third-most in the Big Ten.

The Big Wins

The Buckeyes hit their stride of their annual spring break trip, going 11-1 over nine days with 11 consecutive wins.
During that span, Ohio State hit .351 as a team and averaged nearly seven runs per game.
Melina Wilkson was the hottest hitter on the team, batting .488 with 13 RBI and 14 runs scored. She was the Big Ten co-Player of the Week on March 20.
After the spring break trip, the Buckeyes played at home for the first time and following a series win over Michigan, Ohio State had won 14 of its last 15 games.
The series win over the Wolverines was Ohio State's first against Michigan since 1990.
Allison Smith was 7-1 with a 1.40 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 60.0 innings during that 15-game stretch.
Ohio State also earned Big Ten series wins over Rutgers, Penn State (doubleheader sweep), Illinois, Purdue and Nebraska.

The Big Moments

Three of Ohio State's eight wins at home this year came in walk-off fashion.
The home-opener was decided on Sam Hackenbracht's walk-off single and error that scored two runs in a 4-3 victory over Kent State.
In the rubber game of a weekend series vs. Rutgers, Kami Kortokrax hit a walk-off RBI single to secure a 4-3 win in nine innings.
In the final non-conference game of the season, Melina Wilkison hit a two-run walk off home run to secure a 10-2 five-inning win over Youngstown State.
That wasn't the only walk-off home run of the season: On May 10, Hackenbracht's three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning secured a 7-4 win over Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
In total, Ohio State played 20 games this season that were decided by one or two runs. It was 12-8 in those contests.

Buckeye This and That

.304: Ohio State's .304 team batting average was its highest since 2015, when the Buckeyes hit .348 (a single-season school record).
306: The Buckeyes scored 306 runs in 2023 (5.77 per game), the most by an Ohio State team in six full seasons.
89: Ohio State's 89 double were the most by a Buckeye team in 11 years and second-most in the Big Ten.
196: Buckeye batters struck out just 196 times this season (3.6 times per game), which was the second-fewest in the Big Ten.
1,102: Ohio State finished in the top 25 nationally (No. 21) in average attendance. The Buckeyes played in front of 12 crowds of 1,000 or more and cumulatively saw 16,531 fans enter Buckeye Field this spring.
500: Head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly won her 500th career game during the Buckeyes' 11-game winning streak during spring break. She completed her 17th season as a head coach in 2023 and has a 524-358-2 career mark at Miami University (2007-12) and Ohio State (2013-present).

Awards and Honors

All-Big Ten: Kami Kortokrax and Melina Wilkison were first team All-Big Ten honorees while Sam Hackenbracht was a second-team choice.
Kortokrax was also a member of the conference's All-Defensive Team.
Wilkison was among the Big Ten leaders (conference games only) in slugging percentage (.784), on-base percentage (.430), RBI (17), runs scored (27) and home runs (seven).
Korokrax batted .338 in 23 conference games with a .575 slugging percentage and .411 on-base percentage.
Hackenbracht lead the team with a .421 batting average in conference. She also knocked in a team-best 24 runs and had a .737 slugging percentage, which was sixth-best in the conference.
It was the first all-conference nod of Kortokrax's career, the second for Wilkison and third for Hackenbracht.
All-Region: Wilkison and Hackenbracht were second team All-Midwest Region selections while Mariah Rodriguez and Kortokrax made the third team.
It marked the second consecutive season that Ohio State had four all-region choices.

Senior Salute

Four seniors played their final seasons with the scarlet and gray in 2023: Mariah Rodriguez, Taylor Pack, Jaycee Ruberti and Meggie Otte.
Otte, a fifth-year senior, was the most experienced of the group. She played in 206 career games and collected 155 hits, 109 RBI, 89 runs scored and 56 extra base hits.
She had her best statistical year in 2023, batting a career-high .272 with 11 doubles, five home runs and 34 RBI while also roaming center field.
Otte graduated in May with her bachelor's degree in human development and family science.
Pack was slowed by injury in 2023 but over her four year career played in 118 games at two different positions: catcher and first base.
Pack graduated in May with her degree in human development and family science.
Rodriguez was a two-time All-Region selection and finished out her career this spring by batting .335 with 33 runs scored and 27 RBI as the team's leadoff hitter.
She is on schedule to graduate later this year with a degree in hospitality management.
Ruberti, who started her career at Hofstra, was a 39-game starter in left field and had career highs this year in batting average (.322), home runs (three) and walks (23).
She is on schedule to graduate with her master's degree in sports coaching.

Departments

Media

More

University

Information

Athletic Facilities

Athletics

The Team Shop

Get In The Game

Purchase Tickets

Purchase Tickets

Ticket Office

Resources

Schedules