Ohio State Falls Twice on Saturday at Duke Invitational

Saturday, February 28

Durham, N.C.

3 p.m.

Ohio State

6-9

Boston University

8-10

Boston University

Ohio State

Ohio State Falls Twice on Saturday at Duke Invitational

2/28/2026 9:34:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Buckeyes will look to end the weekend on a winning note tomorrow vs. Duke

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The second day of the Duke Invitational saw Ohio State drop a pair of contests to Boston University, 10-5, and No. 23 Duke, 6-3, at the Smith Family Stadium in Durham, N.C. The Buckeyes are now 6-10 on the season and have the opportunity to close the weekend on a positive note tomorrow when it faces Duke (11-9) at 12:30 p.m.

Despite the setbacks, the Buckeyes swung a hot bat on Saturday. Ohio State hit six home runs in the two games, led by two a piece from Abbie Wilhelm and Taylor Cruse. Coupled with three doubles, nine of Ohio State's 14 hits Saturday went for extra bases.

Game One: Boston University 10, Ohio State 5
The Terriers (8-10) struck for five runs on four hits in the first inning before Ohio State came to bat, building an early lead on the strength of two RBI singles, a bases loaded walk and a run-scoring ground out.

From there, though, pitcher Kennedy Kay settled in and allowed just one hit over the next three innings.

In the meantime, Abbie Wilhelm provided a spark on offense. She blasted a solo home run in the bottom half of the first and then delivered an RBI double that scored Taylor Curse in the third.

In the fourth inning, freshman Reese Cullen further cut into the BU lead with a double to left center that scored Limon, who singled and advanced to second on an error in the previous at-bat. And in the bottom of the fifth, Taylor Cruse hit a solo home run to make the score 5-4 in favor of BU.

The Terriers scored five times in the top of the sixth inning and rebuilt their lead to six, 10-4, before an Emma Tolley home run closed out the scoring.

The top of Ohio State's lineup – Curse at leadoff and Wilhelm at the No. 2 spot – combined to go 4-for-8 with three extra base hits and three RBI. The two pitchers in the game – Kay and Jenna Molk – had four strikeouts.

Game Two: No. 23 Duke 6, Ohio State 3
After hitting three home runs in the game before, Ohio State kept its power mojo going early against Duke. Cruse's lead off home run staked the scarlet and gray to an early 1-0 lead, and Kiki Estrada followed three batters later with another homer to extend the first-inning lead to 2-0.

The score would stay 2-0 in Ohio State's favor until the third inning, when Duke finally broke through with its first hit of the night. Jess Oakland's two-run home run tied the game, but a critical inning-ending strikeout with the bases loaded full of Blue Devils kept the score tied at two-all.

Duke took its first lead of the night in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a Aminah Vega two-run home run and then upped it to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Wilhelm, however, cut into the deficit with her third home run in as many games, making the score 5-3 in the sixth inning. Duke would tack on a two-out RBI double in the sixth for extra insurance.

Buckeye Bits

Saturday marked just the third all-time meeting for Ohio State against both Duke and Boston University, respectively. Prior to today, the last matchup against Duke came in 2019 and BU was in 2018.
The six home runs hit by Ohio State on Saturday brings it season total of 32. Entering the weekend, the Buckeyes ranked eighth nationally in home runs per game (1.89).
Wilhelm, who went 3-for-7 at the plate on Saturday, upped her season numbers to a .431 batting average with eight home runs, 17 RBI and 15 runs scored.

What's Next
The Buckeyes close out their weekend at Duke University with a 12:30 contest tomorrow against the Blue Devils. The game will be streamed live on ACCN+ through the ESPN app and live stats will be available on the schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Live in-game updates can be found the team's official X account: @OhioStateSB.