Ohio State 2024 Season Preview: By the Numbers
1/16/2024 1:26:00 PM | Softball
The Buckeyes return 18 letterwinners from a team that won 33 games last season
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team is nearly two weeks into its preparations for the 2024 season, which begins in 24 days at the Felsburg Invitational on the campus of Florida International University Feb. 9-11.
This season will mark the 53rd in program history and the 12th under head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly, who has the highest winning percentage of any coach in program history. And, that's not all – here's just a few more numbers on the 2024 Buckeyes:
23: Ohio State's 2024 roster includes 23 total student-athletes. There are nine seniors/graduates, four juniors, five sophomores and five freshmen. The two graduate students Tegan Cortelletti and Sam Hackenbracht, who both enter their fifth year in the program.
7: Seven different states are represented on the 2024 roster. The largest contingent hails from Ohio (13), followed by California (five), Pennsylvania (one), Florida (one), Indiana (one), Georgia (one) and Kansas (one).
18: Ohio State boasts 18 returning letterwinners from last season including all five pitchers, three infielders and two first team All-Big Ten honorees.
385.0: Senior Allison Smith has logged 385.0 career innings pitched and led the team with 17 wins last spring. She has 406 career strikeouts and 38 wins.
38: Hackenbracht's 38 career home runs rank sixth in program history and is just two away from No. 5, which is currently held by Emily Clark. She's averaged 12 home runs per season over the last three full seasons.
.722: Melina Wilkison's .722 slugging percentage last season is the best of any returning Big Ten player. She hit a team-best .373 while driving in 44 runs and scoring 50 times.
39: Last season, Wilkison reached base in 39 consecutive games – the second-longest such streak since 2013. Only Catlin Conrad, who reached safely in in 41 straight games during the 2015 season, has a longer streak during that time.
159: The Buckeyes had 159 extra base hits in 2023, including a Big Ten-leading 20 triples. Only Indiana (.545) and Nebraska (.498) had better slugging percentages last season.
9,300: While playing their first 30 games of the season either on the road or at neutral sites, Ohio State will log over 9,300 miles of round-trip travel.
14: Fourteen home games are on Ohio State's 2024 schedule, beginning March 27 vs. in-state foe Dayton (4 p.m.). This season, the Department of Athletics will implement a new ticketing process at Buckeye Field. Seating will be general admission and tickets can be purchased online HERE.
