2024 Season in Review
5/24/2024 9:38:00 AM | Softball
Ohio State won 11 of its final 14 games to finish 31-20 overall
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes hit their stride in the latter portion of the season, winning 11 of its last 14 contests to finish with a 31-20 overall record and 12-11 mark in Big Ten play, marking the ninth consecutive season that the Buckeyes were over .500 in conference play. Along the way, records were broken, big games were won and moments were made.
2024: Buckeyes in a Nutshell
- Ohio State was 31-20 overall and 12-11 in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes finished in a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten and earned the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament in a tiebreaker with Penn State and Indiana.
- It was the 10th consecutive season of 30 or more wins in a full season (2020 and 2021 excluded due to COVID-19) and the ninth straight campaign with a .500 or better record in Big Ten play.
- The Buckeyes were 11-3 at home with Big Ten series sweeps over Penn State and Maryland. Ohio State was unbeaten at Buckeye Field between March 31 and April 28.
- Included in the Buckeyes' hot finish were 10 wins in their final 12 Big Ten games. That included series wins against Penn State, Maryland, Illinois and Michigan.
- Ohio State had one of the Big Ten's best overall offenses. The Buckeyes were tied for second in overall team batting average (.299), tied for third in on-base percentage (.389), second in slugging percentage (.498) and second in home runs (65).
- In the circle, Allison Smith's 18 wins ranked fourth in the conference while her total number of innings pitched (160.1) was eighth and strikeout total (137) was ninth.
Postseason Awards
All-Big Ten: Kami Kortokrax (first team), Taylor Heckman (second team), Allison Smith (second team), Jasmyn Burns (All-Freshman Team) and Kirsten Eppele (Sportsmanship Honoree)
NFCA All-Region: Tegan Cortelletti (second team), Jasmyn Burns (third team), Allison Smith (third team), Kami Kortokrax (third team)
Home Sweet Home
- Ohio State transitioned to selling tickets for home games in 2024 and Buckeyes fans responded by doing what they've done for years: filling the seats.
- The Buckeyes averaged just short of 1,000 fans per game for their 14 home contests. They had the third-highest average attendance in the Big Ten, only behind Nebraska (1,853) and Michigan (1,404).
- There were three weekend sellouts as well: April 21 vs. Maryland, April 27 vs. Illinois and April 28 vs. Illinois.
- Ohio State averaged 1,200 fans per game for weekend Big Ten games, which is over 80 percent of capacity.
- Nationally, Ohio State's average attendance ranked No. 26.
Finishing Strong
- Over the final 13 games of the regular season, Ohio State went 11-2 with a nine-game winning streak.
- During that stretch, the Buckeyes hit 21 home runs. Five of those came off the bat of senior Kirsten Eppele, who drove in 16 runs.
- Five players – Kami Kortokrax, Jasmyn Burns, Kirsten Eppele, McKenzie Bump and Kaitlyn Farley) all batted .320 or better.
- Allison Smith had a 6-0 record with a 1.74 ERA and two saves in 48.1 innings pitched.
The Big Wins
May 5: Ohio State 2, Michigan 1 – The Buckeyes clinched their first-ever series win at Michigan thanks to the hitting of Kirsten Eppele (2-for-2, two home runs) and pitching of Allison Smith, who tossed a two-hitter with five strikeouts. Smith struck out Michigan's Ava Costales with two runners in scoring position for the final out of the game.
April 16: Ohio State 16, Penn State 8 / Ohio State 2, Penn State 1 – The Buckeyes kickstarted their late-season run with a doubleheader sweep of Penn State on April 16. Ohio State chased PSU starting pitcher Bridget Nemeth, the eventual Big Ten Freshman of the Year, early in the first game thanks to a pair of three-run home runs. In the second game, Kirsten Eppele's sixth-inning single tied the game and Kami Kortokrax's walk-off double won it in the seventh.
March 17: Ohio State 12, Kentucky 6: Kami Korokrax's grand slam in the sixth inning broke a 6-all tie and Hannah Church added a two-home homer as part of a seven-run rally for a win over the nationally-ranked Wildcats in Lexington.
March 31: Ohio State 6, Northwestern 0: The Buckeyes handed eventual Big Ten regular season champion Northwestern its first conference loss thanks to three late-game home runs: a grand slam by Kami Kortokrax and solo shots by Sam Hackenbracht and Destinee Noury. Emily Ruck pitched a complete game and struck out eight Wildcats.
Buckeye This and That
- Ohio State went 8-6 against teams that earned bids in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Included were wins over Penn State (twice), Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan (twice), Big Ten regular season champion Northwestern, Kentucky, Southeast Missouri State and Dayton.
- Three players recorded their 100th career hits in 2024: Kami Kortokrax, Tegan Cortelletti and Kaitlyn Farley.
- Allison Smith's 18 wins moved her into fifth place on Ohio State's all-time list with 56 in her career. She'll also leave Ohio State with top-10 rankings in innings pitched (seventh – 545.1) and strikeouts (fifth – 543).
- Prior to the season, seniors Kirsten Eppele and Taylor Heckman had just 17 career hits between the two of them. This spring, they combined for 77 hits, 16 home runs and 64 RBI. A second team All-Big Ten pick, Heckman hit .328 in 48 games while Eppele was second on the team in home runs (11), RBI (37) and slugging percentage (.608).
- Over her final four appearances of the season, sophomore Lexi Paulsen had a 2.69 ERA in 13.0 innings. The marquee performance during that stretch came on May 4 when she pitched a complete game shutout against Michigan with four strikeouts while allowing just three hits.
- Freshman Jasmyn Burns' 37 RBI were the most of any freshman in the Big Ten and her nine home runs were the most by a Buckeye freshman since Alicia Herron hit 14 in 2009.
