Ohio State
15-7
South Dakota State
15-18
Buckeyes Downed on Saturday by South Dakota St. & Kentucky
3/16/2024 9:51:00 PM | Softball
Ohio State will get another shot at the Wildcats tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After winning seven of their first nine games on its annual spring break trip, the Ohio State softball team suffered a pair of setbacks on Saturday as it dropped games to South Dakota State and No. 23 Kentucky by scores of 7-3 and 9-4, respectively.
Despite the losses, there were highlights on Saturday for the scarlet and gray. In the day's second game versus Kentucky, the Buckeyes got home runs from Kirsten Eppele and Jasmyn Burns while also seeing the pitching trio of Allison Smith, Kennedy Kay and Lexi Paulsen strike out five Wildcats.
Ohio State is now 15-8 on the season and has a 7-4 mark on their trip. The finale of the nine-day, 12-game trip comes tomorrow with a rematch against Kentucky at 3:30 p.m.
Game One: South Dakota State 7, Ohio State 3
In the first game of the day, the Jackrabbits held Ohio State to just one hit over the first five innings while getting home runs from Lindsey Culver and Mia Jarecki to build a 3-0 lead after three innings.
Relief pitchers Julia Miller and Kennedy Kay combined to give up no earned runs over 4.2 innings, but South Dakota State would put four runs on the board in the top of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 7-0.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the first four Buckeye hitters reached base on a walk, single and two hit by pitches. Destinee Noury, Kami Kortokrax and McKenzie Bump all drove in runs, but the rally stalled with a strikeout and groundout as the final two outs.
The Buckeyes were unable to put together a seventh-inning rally despite a one-out walk from Tegan Cortelletti, who extended her reached base streak to 21 consecutive games.
Game Two: Kentucky 9, Ohio State 4
Kentucky scored four times in the first inning and fifth inning to win a back-and-forth contest that lasted just over three hours on Saturday evening.
A perfectly-executed double steal that resulted in Skylar Limon taking second base and Tegan Cortelletti swiping home gave Ohio State a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Kentucky, however, would get a pair of two-run home runs in the bottom half of the frame to go ahead 4-1.
Kirsten Eppele brought the Buckeyes to within a run at 4-3 with a two-run home run to straightaway centerfield in the top half of the second inning. It was her second homer in as many days and her fifth and six RBI this weekend. Jasmyn Burns then followed by leading off the third inning with a home run of her own to tie the game at 4-4.
Kentucky took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the third via a sacrifice fly, but relief pitcher Kennedy Kay came on to record the final two outs of the inning. The Wildcats were able to generate some breating room in the fifth inning when they scored four times on four hits and were aided by one Ohio State error.
What's Next
Ohio State concludes its nine-day, 12-game spring break trip tomorrow with another game against Kentucky beginning at 3:30 p.m. Live stats will be available on the softball schedule page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com and Twitter updates at @OhioStateSB.
For the most up to date information on the Buckeyes, follow Ohio State on social media: @OhioStateSB on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook by searching Ohio State softball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sydney Langdon (4-2)
L: Smith, Allison (9-5)
Batting:
HR: Burns, Jasmyn 1 ; Eppele, Kirsten 1
RBI: Burns, Jasmyn 1 ; Eppele, Kirsten 2
SH: Heckman, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cortelletti, Tegan 1 ; Burns, Jasmyn 1 ; Bump, McKenzie 1 ; Eppele, Kirsten 1
SB: Cortelletti, Tegan 1 ; Heckman, Taylor 1 ; Limon, Skylar 1
HBP: Cortelletti, Tegan 1 ; Bump, McKenzie 1 ; Eppele, Kirsten 1
Batting:
2B: Jenna Blanton 1 ; Peyton Plotts 1 ; Lauryn Borzilleri 1
3B: Taylor Ebbs 1
HR: Erin Coffel 1 ; Karissa Hamilton 1
RBI: Erin Coffel 2 ; Karissa Hamilton 2 ; Peyton Plotts 2 ; Margaret Tobias 1 ; Lauryn Borzilleri 1
SF: Peyton Plotts 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ally Hutchins 1 ; Erin Coffel 1 ; Taylor Ebbs 1 ; Emory Donaldson 1 ; Vanessa Nesby 1 ; Karissa Hamilton 1 ; Peyton Plotts 1 ; Margaret Tobias 1 ; Lauryn Borzilleri 1
SB: Erin Coffel 1
