Ohio State Holds Off Illinois in Series Opener, 3-1

Friday, April 26

Columbus, Ohio

6:00 PM

Ohio State

28-17, 0

Illinois

19-27, 0

Illinois

Ohio State

Ohio State Holds Off Illinois in Series Opener, 3-1

4/26/2024 9:14:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Allison Smith strikes out five over six innings; Kaitlyn Farley and Kirsten Eppele provide big hits

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State's senior weekend started with a couple of veterans coming up big in the circle, as Allison Smith scattered four hits over six innings and Emily Ruck recorded the final three outs of a 3-1 series-opening victory versus Illinois on Friday night.

With the win – which was the Buckeyes' eighth in a row – Ohio State improved to 28-17 overall and 9-9 in conference play. Illinois is 19-27 and 5-12 in the Big Ten.

The Short Story
Ohio State used a two-run single by Kirsten Eppele in the second inning and a solo home run off the bat of Kaitlyn Farley in the fifth to back up Smith, who finished with five strikeouts and won her 17th game of the season. Illinois loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning by Ruck got Adisyn Caryl to pop up to first base for the final out of the game.

How The Runs Were Scored

Illinois' Kelly Ryono, who went 2-for-4 on the night, drove in the first run of the game on a single that scored Megan Ward, who had singled to lead off the inning.
Ohio State would answer with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, with the biggest blow coming when Eppele singled with the bases loaded, scoring McKenzie Bump and Sam Hackenbracht, who had singled and walked earlier in the inning, respectively.
The score stayed 2-1 in Ohio State's favor until the home half of the fifth inning when Farley blasted a solo home run – her second round-tripper of the season, to left field.
Illinois would load the bases in the seventh inning as a lead off double started the Illini rally. Ruck entered after the double, however, and got Ryono to strikeout and after a one-out walk, Kami Kortokrax's diving stop at shortstop got an out at second base and also saved a run from scoring.
After a walk loaded the bases, Ruck completed her second save of the season by getting Caryl to pop up to Destinee Noury at first base.

Buckeye This and That

Friday nights crowd of 934 ups the Buckeyes' season attendance average to 826.
Ohio State improved to 10-2 at home and has won nine consecutive games at Buckeye Field.
In the current eight-game winning streak, Ohio State has won three one-run games and one two-run games.
With two hits tonight, Bump raised her batting average to .478 in the last eight games. That includes 11 hits in 23 at-bats, one double, two home runs and four RBI.
Smith is 4-0 in her last four starts with a 1.09 earned run average, .232 batting average against and has logged 25.2 innings with 22 strikeouts.

What's Next
This weekend's series continues tomorrow as the Buckeyes and Illini meet at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on B1G+ and live stats are available 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.