Ohio State
Northwestern
Ohio State Opens Big Ten Home Schedule vs. Northwestern
3/28/2024 12:12:00 PM | Softball
Buckeyes and Wildcats set for meet Friday-Sunday at Buckeye Field
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Fresh off of a home-opening win over Dayton, the Ohio State softball team will look to keep the good Buckeye Field vibes going this weekend when it hosts Northwestern for a three-game series beginning on Friday.
All three games of the series will be streamed on BTN+. Live stats will be available on the softball schedule page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com and in-game Twitter updates can be found at @OhioStateSB.
The Basics
Northwestern at Ohio State // Friday, March 29 // 6 p.m. // Buckeye Field; Columbus, Ohio
Watch Live: BTN+ // Live Stats // Buy Tickets // Ohio State Schedule/Results // Northwestern Schedule/Results
Northwestern at Ohio State // Saturday, March 30 // 2 p.m. // Buckeye Field; Columbus, Ohio
Watch Live: BTN+ // Live Stats // Buy Tickets // Ohio State Schedule/Results // Northwestern Schedule/Results
Northwestern at Ohio State // Sunday, March 31 // 1 p.m. // Buckeye Field; Columbus, Ohio
Watch Live: BTN+ // Live Stats // Buy Tickets // Ohio State Schedule/Results // Northwestern Schedule/Results
Promotions This Weekend
Friday is Country Night with a free cowboy hat giveaway to the first 100 students in attendance while Sunday will include a pregame Easter egg hunt.
Buckeyes in a Nutshell
- Ohio State's 6-2 win over Dayton on Wednesday upped the Buckeyes' record to 18-10 on the season. They are 1-2 in Big Ten play.
- The Buckeyes' 12 hits on Wednesday increased their season batting average to .309, which is fourth-best in the Big Ten. Ohio State has registered 10 or more hits in 14 of their 28 games.
- Leading the way individually in the batting average category of senior Tegan Cortelletti, whose .459 average through the first half of the season is second-best in the Big Ten among players with 50 or more at-bats.
- Seven other everyday starters are hitting .300 or better so far. That includes Hannah Church (.339), Jasmyn Burns (.333), McKenzie Bump (.324), Kaitlyn Farley (.317), Taylor Heckman (.303) and Destinee Noury (.300).
- Ohio State's offense has proven it was hit for power, too. In Wednesday's win, it collected a season-high five doubles and is currently third in the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.500) and second in home runs (34).
- Ohio State's pitching staff consists of five players who have seen 15.0 or more innings of work.
- Statistically, senior Allison Smith leads the group with a 2.05 earned-run average, 72 strikeouts in 78.2 innings and a .228 batting average against.
- Emily Ruck, a senior from Westerville, has four wins on the season and has also pitched the second-most innings (45.1).
Scouting Northwestern
- Northwestern, the Big Ten regular season champions the last two seasons, brings a nine-game winning streak into this weekend's games.
- The Wildcats, 17-7 on the season, swept Michigan State last weekend to open conference play and topped Loyola Chicago, 7-3, in their last outing on Tuesday.
- Kansas Robinson's .486 batting average leads both the team and the Big Ten. She also has seven home runs, seven doubles and 21 RBI.
- In the circle, Ashley Miller, a transfer from Michigan State, boasts a 0.85 earned-run average and 92 strikeouts in 74.0 innings.
Streaks and Such
- Tegan Cortelletti has hit safely in 17 of the last 18 games that she's played in. From Feb. 23 through March 16, she had a 14-game hitting streak that is the longest by a Big Ten player this season.
- Both Cortelletti and McKenzie Bump are in the midst of double-digit on-base streaks. Cortelletti's reached in 24 consecutive games while Bump reached 12 consecutive games in Wednesday's win.
- Three of the six runs that were driven in on Wednesday came with two outs. For the season, Ohio State is hitting .299 with two outs and has driven in 74 runs, which is 45 percent of its RBI production.
- Wednesday's game was just the 10th time this season that Ohio State didn't hit a home run; however, its five doubles were a season-high and the 12 hits it registered marked the 14th time it had 10 or more hits (Ohio State is 13-1 in those games).
