Church’s Grand Slam Highlights 8-0 Five-Inning Win vs. Ohio

Wednesday, April 10

Columbus, Ohio

6:00 PM

Ohio State

20-15

Ohio

20-19

Ohio

Ohio State

Church’s Grand Slam Highlights 8-0 Five-Inning Win vs. Ohio

4/10/2024 8:35:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Buckeyes get back to Big Ten play this weekend at Wisconsin

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sophomore Hannah Church made her first home run at Buckeye Field one to remember.

She blasted a grand slam in the fifth inning to put the exclamation point on an 8-0 run-rule win over Ohio on Wednesday night, as the Buckeyes improved to 20-15 on the season and also won at home for the third time this season. Ohio is 20-19 this season.

The Short Story
The Buckeyes scored twice in the first inning – aided by two Ohio errors – and added a run in the third inning before the fifth-run fifth ended the game. In the circle, Allison Smith struck out seven over five innings to win her 50th career game, becoming just the fifth pitcher in Ohio State history to do so.

Church's homer was her fourth of the season and also increased her RBI total to 17. Ohio State finished the game with five hits from five different players, including a RBI double off the bat of Taylor Heckman in the fifth inning.

How The Runs Were Scored
First Inning: Burns singled to center field, Tegan Cortelletti scored
First Inning: Hackenbracht grounded out to shortstop, Taylor Heckman scored
Third Inning: Kortokrax singled to left field, Cortelletti scored
Fifth Inning: Heckman doubled to right field, Cortelletti scored
Fifth Inning: Church homered to left field, McKenzie Bump, Sam Hackenbracht and Kami Kortokrax scored

Buckeye That and That

Church's home run was Ohio State's 43 long-ball this season, which is second-most in the Big Ten.
It was also the fifth grand slam that Ohio State has hit this season. Others were by Jasmyn Burns (vs. SEMO), Kirsten Eppele (vs. Columbia), Kami Kortokrax (vs. Kentucky and Northwestern).
Smith's seven strikeouts gives her 85 for the season and 491 in her career. She's four strikeouts away from fourth place on Ohio State's all-time list, which currently belong to Shelby Hursh (2014-17).
Tegan Cortelletti scored a season-high three runs and also reached base for the 28th time in the last 31 games. Earlier this season, she had a 24-game reached base streak.
Ohio State's win snapped Ohio's season-long seven-game winning streak. It was also the 74th all-time meeting between the teams (Ohio State owns a 54-20 advantage).

What's Next
Ohio State returns to conference play this weekend as it travels to Madison, Wisc. for a three-game series against Wisconsin Friday-Sunday. All three games will be streamed live on BTN+ with live stats available on the schedule page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com.