Ohio State
21-17, 0
Wisconsin
15-23, 0
Buckeyes Rally for a 9-5 Victory in Series Finale at Wisconsin
4/14/2024 5:10:00 PM | Softball
McKenzie Bump goes 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBI
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State's offense erupted for six runs in the fifth inning and earned a 9-5 come-from-behind win over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon in the third and final game of this weekend's series at the Goodman Softball Complex.
The Buckeyes (21-17, 3-9) now return home to begin a nine-game homestand on Tuesday when they host Penn State for a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. The loss drops Wisconsin's record to 15-23 and 4-8 in the Big Ten.
The Short Story
Trailing 4-3 after four innings, Ohio State scored six times in the top of the fifth inning and was keyed by hits from McKenzie Bump, Jasmyn Burns, Kirsten Eppele, Taylor Heckman and Kaitlyn Farley. When it was all said and done, the inning consisted of five hits and was aided by two Wisconsin errors.
Allison Smith, who worked 5.2 innings in relief to earn her 13th win of the season, allowed just one hit the rest of the game and retired six of the game's final seven batters to quell any hopes Wisconsin had for a late-game rally. Smith also recorded her 500th career strikeout, becoming just the fifth pitcher in program history to reach that mark.
How The Runs Were Scored
- Wisconsin took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a run-scoring double and single, respectively, but Ohio State countered in the top of the second with Jasmyn Burns' RBI double in the left center field gap that scored Destinee Noury, who had reached on an error.
- Ava Kuszak's solo home run in the bottom of the third inning gave Wisconsin a 3-1 lead, only until Bump and Burns hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning to tie the game at 4-all.
- Wisconsin executed a squeeze play to push across a run to go ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth, but that was before the Buckeyes' six-run fifth inning gave Ohio State the lead for good at 9-4.
- With the bases loaded and one out, Bump singled to center field to tie the game and one batter leader Sam Hackenbracht scored on a fielder's choice to give Ohio State its first lead of the day at 5-4.
- Kirsten Eppele then narrowly missed hitting a three-run home run and instead settled for a RBI double off the left field wall. Kaitlyn Farley then followed by driving in two runs with a single over a drawn-in infield and Taylor Heckman drove in the ninth run of the game with a single up the middle.
- Wisconsin's Payton Bannon hit a one-out RBI single down the left field line to make the score 9-5, but that was the Badgers' last night of the afternoon off Smith.
Statistically Speaking
- Bump finished the game 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Her hit and RBI totals were both season-highs. For the weekend, she batted a team-best .600 with a .900 slugging percentage.
- The Bump-Burns back-to-back home runs marked the first time this season that Ohio State has hit homers in back-to-back at-bats. The last time it happened was exactly one year ago today: April 14, 2023 by Melina Wilkison and Kami Kortokrax at Illinois.
- Smith averaged just over one strikeout per inning this weekend, fanning 11 over 10.2 innings.
- Ohio State improved to 19-1 this season when it out-hits its opponent.
- In addition to Bump's 3-for-3 day, Burns also finished 2-for-4 with three RBI while the top two hitters in the lineup – Tegan Cortelletti and Taylor Heckman – combined to go 4-for-7 with a run scored and two walks.
What's Next
After playing 33 of its first 38 games away from home, Ohio State begins a nine-game homestand on Tuesday when it hosts Penn State at 4 p.m. The games will be streamed live on BTN+ and live stats can be found on the schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
Single game tickets are available with prices ranging from $4-$8 before fees. Seating at Buckeye Field is general admission. A limited number of student tickets will be available for free at each game with a BuckID on a first come, first served basis. Children under two years old and younger will be admitted free but must sit on an adult's lap.
Tickets can be purchased HERE and the full schedule is available at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Allison (13-9)
L: Tessa Magnanimo (8-11)
Batting:
2B: Burns, Jasmyn 1 ; Eppele, Kirsten 1
HR: Bump, McKenzie 1 ; Burns, Jasmyn 1
RBI: Heckman, Taylor 1 ; Bump, McKenzie 2 ; Burns, Jasmyn 3 ; Eppele, Kirsten 1 ; Farley, Kaitlyn 2
SH: Bump, McKenzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Heckman, Taylor 1 ; Hackenbracht, Sam 1 ; Noury, Destinee 1 ; Church, Hannah 1 ; Bump, McKenzie 1 ; Burns, Jasmyn 2 ; Eppele, Kirsten 1 ; Farley, Kaitlyn 1
CS: Cortelletti, Tegan 1
Batting:
2B: Ava Kuszak 1 ; Peyton Bannon 1
HR: Ava Kuszak 1
RBI: Ava Kuszak 2 ; Brooke Kuffel 1 ; Peyton Bannon 1 ; Alivia Bark 1
SH: Ellie Hubbard 1 ; Alivia Bark 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Fiona Girardot 1 ; Ava Kuszak 2 ; Hilary Blomberg 1 ; Peyton Bannon 1
CS: Marytherese Nevin 1 ; Skylar Sirdashney 1
