Buckeyes Split on Saturday vs. Georgia and UMBC

Saturday, March 1

Athens, Ga.

3:00 P.M.

Ohio State

11-4-1

Georgia

18-1

Ohio State

Georgia

Buckeyes Split on Saturday vs. Georgia and UMBC

3/1/2025 7:56:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Ohio State rebounds from loss to Georgia for third run-rule win of the weekend

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State (12-4-1) split its two games on Saturday at the Bulldog Classic at the University of Georgia, dropping a hard-fought 7-6 decision to No. 10 Georgia in the first game of the day before rebounding is defeat UMBC 9-0 in five innings.

Ohio State's offense was once again powered by the long ball, as the Buckeyes hit four home runs in the two games. Taylor Cruse hit two home runs against Georgia and Kami Kortokrax had a two-run go-ahead home run in the seventh inning against the Bulldogs. Morgan Frye followed with a homer as part of a seven-run fourth inning versus UMBC.

The Short Story
Ohio State and Georgia (19-1) battled back and forth for seven innings in the first game on Saturday, with the lead changing hands four times. After falling behind 2-0 after two innings, a three-run fifth inning by the Buckeyes – which included home runs from Taylor Cruse and an RBI double by Morgan Frye – gave Ohio State a 4-3 lead.

Georgia would answer with solo home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but Cruse's second homer of the game plus a two-run home run by Kortokrax put the Buckeyes ahead 6-5 in the seventh inning. With the last at-bat, however, Georgia scored the tying run on a one-out RBI single and the winning run on a fielder's choice that resulted in Sarah Gordon scoring from third base.

Cruse finished the game with a career-high three RBI. Buckeye hits also came off the bat of Kortokrax, Frye, Sami Bewick, Kortokrax, Reagan Milliken, Kaitlyn Farley and Jasmyn Burns. Kennedy Kay got the start in the circle and went 6.1 innings before giving way in relief to Lorin Boutte.

In the nightcap against UMBC (2-10), Ohio State got all the separation it would need in the fourth inning with a seven-run inning that was highlighted by a Frye home run and three-run triple by Milliken. Freshman Kassandra Gewecke picked up her first career win, pitching five innings while allowing just one hit and striking out two.

Buckeye This and That

After going 5-for-6 in two games to start her weekend yesterday, Burns had two more hits on Saturday and is batting .700 this weekend with five extra base hits and five RBI.
Sami Bewick has the longest active hitting streak on the team at six games. On Saturday, she went 1-for-4 against Georgia and 1-for-3 against UMBC with a run scored.
In the 11 consecutive games that Ohio State has hit at least one home run, it has a 7-3-1 record with a total of 26 homers (2.4 home runs per game). Milliken has the most on the team in that span with five, along with a team-high 21 RBI.
Both of Milliken's hits on Saturday – a home run vs. Georgia and a triple vs. UMBC – raised her season slugging percentage to .820. Eleven of her 17 hits have gone for extra bases.
Among Big Ten teams, only Nebraska, Washington and Oregon have more home runs so far than Ohio State. And, each of those teams have played at least two more games than the Buckeyes.

What's Next
The Buckeyes close out play at the Bulldog Classic tomorrow with a rematch against Georgia beginning at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+. A link to live stats is also available on the schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com.