Ohio State
14-6
South Dakota State
13-17
Ohio State Outlasts South Dakota State, 10-8
3/14/2024 6:39:00 PM | Softball
Buckeyes run their winning streak to four consecutive games
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ohio State's offense generated 13 hits and 10 runs – including home runs from San Hackenbracht, Destinee Noury and Tegan Cortelletti – and held off a late South Dakota State rally to register a 10-8 win over the Jackrabbits in the first game of the John Cropp Classic on the campus of the University of Kentucky.
Cortelletti, who went 4-for-5 on the day, hit her first career home run and the Buckeyes (14-6) scored four runs in the third inning and five in the fifth on a day when the two teams combined for 18 runs and 23 hits. Pitcher Allison Smith worked a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh and picked up her ninth win of the season.
How The Runs Were Scored
- McKenzie Bump brought in the game's first run in the second inning via a double off the left field wall that scored Kami Kortokrax, who had singled to lead off the frame.
- After South Dakota State tied the game in the bottom of the second inning, Tegan Cortelletti's first career home run – a shot to left field – gave the Buckeyes a 2-1 advantage to lead off the third.
- Three batters later – after Taylor Heckman was hit by a pitch and Jasmyn Burns singled – Destinee Noury's three-run blast extended Ohio State's lead to 5-1.
- The Jackrabbits cut the Ohio State lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the third thanks to a solo home run.
- Ohio State's key inning with the bats came in the fifth, as four Buckeye hits led to five runs as Ohio State built a 10-3 advantage. The biggest hits were two-RBI singles off the bats of Noury and a solo home run from Sam Hackenbracht.
- Those runs would prove to be important, as South Dakota State chipped away at the lead. It scored four times in the bottom of the fifth – all coming with two outs – and once in the sixth to make the score 10-8 in Ohio State's favor.
- That's as close as SDSU would get, however. Allison Smith closed the door in the bottom of the seventh inning as she worked a 1-2-3 frame that included strikeouts of the final two batters.
This and That
- Cortelletti finished the game 4-for-5, which marked her third four-hit game of spring break. Since the trip started last Friday, Cortelletti is batting .621 with 18 hits in 29 at-bats. She also has a .633 on-base percentage in that span.
- Noury's five RBI marked her career high. Over the last three games, she's batting .500 and has two extra base hits.
- Hackenbracht's home run was the 41st of her career and puts her into sole possession of fourth place on Ohio State's all-time list. Third on the list is Lilli Piper, who hit 48 home runs from 2017-19.
- Four different pitchers saw time in the circle on Friday. Kennedy Kay started the game and went 3.2 innings while relievers Lexi Paulsen (1.0 IP), Julia Miller (1.1 IP) and Allison Smith (1.0 IP) finished up the game from there.
- McKenzie Bump has multiple hits in three of the last four games and has driven in three runs in those contests.
What's Next
The remainder of Ohio State's schedule at the John Cropp Classic was finalized this morning. The Buckeyes will play one game tomorrow – at 4 p.m. vs. Columbia – and then face South Dakota State and Kentucky on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively. The finale will be on Sunday at 3:30 versus Kentucky.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Allison (9-4)
L: Barnard (3-2)
Batting:
2B: Bump, McKenzie 1
HR: Cortelletti, Tegan 1 ; Noury, Destinee 1 ; Hackenbracht, Sam 1
RBI: Cortelletti, Tegan 1 ; Burns, Jasmyn 1 ; Noury, Destinee 5 ; Hackenbracht, Sam 1 ; Bump, McKenzie 1 ; Farley, Kaitlyn 1
SF: Burns, Jasmyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cortelletti, Tegan 2 ; Heckman, Taylor 2 ; Burns, Jasmyn 1 ; Noury, Destinee 1 ; Kortokrax, Kami 1 ; Hackenbracht, Sam 1 ; Eppele, Kirsten 1 ; Farley, Kaitlyn 1
HBP: Heckman, Taylor 1 ; Noury, Destinee 1 ; Church, Hannah 1
Batting:
2B: Jarecki 1 ; Boyle 1 ; J. Carrillo 1
HR: Culver 2
RBI: Jarecki 1 ; Culver 2 ; Boyle 1 ; J. Carrillo 3 ; Masterson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vike 1 ; Culver 3 ; R. Carrillo 2 ; J. Carrillo 2
HBP: Osmundson 1
