Ohio State Wins Twice To Open The Spring Games

Friday, February 16

Leesburg, Fla.

12:30 PM

Ohio State

5-1

Coastal Carolina

4-3

Coastal Carolina

Ohio State

Ohio State Wins Twice To Open The Spring Games

2/16/2024 7:42:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Buckeyes top Coastal Carolina, 6-0, and UC Riverside, 7-2

LEESBURG, Fla. – Day one of The Spring Games at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex was a day won for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Aided by the pitching of Allison Smith and Emily Ruck, and home runs off the bat of Kirsten Eppele and Taylor Heckman, the Buckeyes defeated Coastal Carolina, 6-0, and UC Riverside, 7-2.

The wins pushed Ohio State's winning streak to six games. The Buckeyes are now 6-1 on the young season and have two more games scheduled tomorrow. Due to anticipated rain, the Buckeyes will now take on Liberty at 9 a.m. and Kansas at approximately 11:30 a.m.

Game One: Ohio State 6, Coastal Carolina 0
Pitcher Allison Smith improved to 4-0 in circle as she went six innings and allowed just two hits while walking only one. Ohio State scored once in the first and second innings, respectively, to jump out to a 2-0 lead and then put up a two-spot in the third inning to push the lead to 4-0. The biggest hit in that rally with a double by Kami Kortokrax which scored Hannah Church, who walked earlier in the inning.

In the home half of the fifth inning, Church tripled to right field and scored on the play after a Coastal Carolina error. The hit also scored Jasmyn Burns, who went 1-for-3 in the game with a single.

Other offensive stars in the game were Taylor Heckman, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI. After pitching the first six innings, Smith gave way to Kennedy Kay, who worked a perfect seventh inning of action with two strikeouts.

Game Two: Ohio State 7, UC Riverside 2
For the first time this season, Ohio State won a game in which it didn't score first. UC Riverside jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two innings, but a four-run third inning gave the Buckeyes a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

The biggest hit of the game – and perhaps of the day – was in that four-run third and it came in the form a Kirsten Eppele three-run home run to left centerfield. The blast put Ohio State up 4-2, and the Buckeyes would tack on a run in the fifth inning via a Sam Hackenbracht RBI single and then solo home runs from Eppele (sixth inning) and Heckman (seventh inning).

Eppele finished the game 2-for-4 with two home runs and a career-high four RBI. Tegan Cortelletti also had a multi-hit outing, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Emily Ruck worked 5.1 innings and got her second win of the season. She allowed just two hits and struck out five.

The Day That Was

Three players who had four or more at-bats – Heckman, Eppele and Church – batted .500 on Friday. Eppele was the team leader with four RBI.
Ohio State pitchers combined to allow just one extra base hit, which came late in the second contest against UC Riverside.
Ruck lowered her season ERA to 1.34 in 15.2 innings. Smith, meanwhile, is the team leader in innings (23.1) with a 0.60 ERA and 25 strikeouts. Opponents are batting under .200 against both Ruck and Smith.