Ohio State
16-8
Kentucky
19-8
Ohio State Uses Home Runs to Down No. 23 Kentucky, 12-6
3/17/2024 6:47:00 PM | Softball
Kami Kortokrax’s grand slam keys come-from-behind win
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A seven-run sixth inning, highlighted by a go-ahead grand slam off the bat of Kami Kortokrax, lifted Ohio State to a 12-6 victory over No. 23 Kentucky on Sunday afternoon in the finale of the John Cropp Classic in Lexington.
Kortokrax finished the game 2-for-2 with two home runs and five RBI. She also hit a home run in the fifth inning and now leads the team with seven round-trippers this season. Hannah Church added a two-run home run in the six inning.
The Buckeyes and Wildcats traded runs early in the game as a pair of two-out hits from UK – including a triple off the centerfield wall – gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead at the end of the first inning. Ohio State, however, quickly responded with a solo home run off the bat of Destinee Noury that hit the scoreboard in left field. It was her second home run of the season.
After two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases, Tegan Cortelletti's infield single scored Kami Kortokrax and Ohio State took its first lead of the day at 2-1. Kentucky would tie the score in the next half inning on a sac fly.
McKenzie Bump's single in the top of the third inning down the left field line scored pinch runner Skylar Limon and the Buckeyes grabbed the lead again at 3-2, but Kentucky would answer back with a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning to go ahead 5-3.
Some timely two-out hitting by Ohio State in the fifth inning helped tie the game at 5-all as Kami Kortokrax hit a solo home run and McKenzie Bump singled through the left side to score Kirsten Eppele, who had tripled prior to Bump's at-bat. The Wildcats re-took the lead of a sac fly in the bottom of the fifth.
Ohio State's big sixth inning started with back-to-back singles by Cortelletti and Heckman and continued when Burns was hit by a pitch. After a passed ball, Destine Noury walked to set the stage for Kortokrax's grand slam. Church's two-run home run scored Bump, who reached on a bunt single. Bump finished the game 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
Spring Break at a Glance
- Sunday's game finished a 12-game, nine-day trip to the Buckeyes that saw them play games of four different cities: Knoxville, Tenn., Nashville, Clarksville, Tenn. and Lexington.
- Tegan Cortelletti has collected 20 hits in 36 at-bats through Saturday and had a .556 batting average. She was also 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts.
- Cortelletti notched her 100th career hit on Sunday with an infield single in the second inning. In seven games this past week, she hit .538 and scored nine runs.
- Bump also had a productive week, collecting nine hits in 20 at-bats and collected six RBI. She raised her batting average on the season to .339.
- All five pitchers tossed at least nine innings during the trip with Allison Smith leading the way (23.2 innings through Saturday), followed by Julia Miller (15.2 innings).
- Kortokrax hit six home runs on the spring break trip and drove in 15 runs.
- Allison Smith picked up the win after allowing just one hit over five innings and striking out five. She has 10 wins on the season and was 6-2 on the 12-game spring break trip with a 2.44 ERA and 29 strikeouts over 28.2 innings.
What's Next
Ohio State opens the Big Ten portion of its schedule next weekend when it makes a trip east for a three-game series at Rutgers. The opener with the Scarlet Knights is slated for Friday, March 22 at 3 p.m. from the RU Softball Complex.
All three games of the series at Rutgers – which will be held Friday-Sunday – can be seen on BTN+ (subscription required). Live stats will be available on the schedule page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com and in-game updates can be found on Twitter at @OhioStateSB.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Allison (9-5)
L: Stephanie Schoonover (5-2)
Batting:
3B: Eppele, Kirsten 1
HR: Noury, Destinee 1 ; Kortokrax, Kami 2 ; Church, Hannah 1
RBI: Cortelletti, Tegan 1 ; Noury, Destinee 1 ; Kortokrax, Kami 5 ; Bump, McKenzie 2 ; Church, Hannah 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Cortelletti, Tegan 1 ; Heckman, Taylor 1 ; Burns, Jasmyn 1 ; Limon, Skylar 1 ; Noury, Destinee 2 ; Kortokrax, Kami 3 ; Eppele, Kirsten 1 ; Bump, McKenzie 1 ; Church, Hannah 1
HBP: Burns, Jasmyn 1 ; Bump, McKenzie 1
Batting:
3B: Rylea Smith 1
RBI: Grace Lorsung 1 ; Peyton Plotts 2 ; Karissa Hamilton 1 ; Lauryn Borzilleri 1
SF: Karissa Hamilton 1 ; Lauryn Borzilleri 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Erin Coffel 1 ; Rylea Smith 2 ; Grace Lorsung 1 ; Hallie Mitchell 1 ; Delani Sullivan 1
SB: Hallie Mitchell 1 ; Emory Donaldson 1
HBP: Erin Coffel 1 ; Grace Lorsung 1
