Ohio State Travels to Illinois This Weekend
4/13/2023 9:12:37 AM | Softball
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State’s five-game roadtrip concludes this weekend as it heads to Champaign, Ill. for a three-game series at Illinois. Action gets underway on Friday evening with a 6 p.m. (ET) game, and continues on Saturday (2 p.m. ET) before concluding on Sunday (1 p.m. ET).
All of the action this weekend can be seen on BTN+. Fans can also follow live stats, which are available on the schedule page of OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Twitter updates can be found at @OhioStateSB.
The Basics
Ohio State at Illinois // Friday, April 14 // 6 p.m. ET // Eichelberger Field; Champaign, Ill.
Watch Live: BTN+ // Live Stats // Twitter Updates
Ohio State at Illinois // Saturday, April 15 // 2 p.m. ET // Eichelberger Field; Champaign, Ill.
Watch Live: BTN+ // Live Stats // Twitter Updates
Ohio State at Illinois // Sunday, April 16 // 1 p.m. ET // Eichelberger Field; Champaign, Ill.
Watch Live: BTN+ // Live Stats // Twitter Updates
Briefly on the Buckeyes
- Winners of four consecutive games, Ohio State is 25-13 overall and 6-5 in the Big Ten entering action this weekend.
- The Buckeyes have the Big Ten’s third-best overall batting average, checking in at .305 with six starters who are at .300 or higher.
- That group is led by sophomore Melina Wilkison, who ranks in the top 10 in the conference in average (.398), RBI (33), slugging percentage (.758), doubles (10) and home runs (eight).
- Kaitlyn Farley, a sophomore who last weekend moved into the leadoff spot, hits .236 and has driven in 23 runs.
- Another sophomore, Kami Kortokrax, has started all 38 games this season at shortstop and is batting .325 with good power numbers – she has 17 extra base hits, including a team-high 12 doubles.
- In the circle, junior Allison Smith is 12-8 on the season with a 2.82 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 131.1 innings.
- Classmate Emily Ruck has been victorious in her last three starts to improve her record to 8-5. She has a 3.46 ERA with eight complete games.
Scouting Illinois
- The Illini are 23-18 on the season and 2-9 in Big Ten play following a 6-1 loss at No. 22 Northwestern on Wednesday afternoon.
- Illinois started out Big Ten play with three losses to Rutgers before losing two of three at Wisconsin and Michigan.
- Its midweek series vs. Northwestern was split into single games over the course of two weeks, both of which were wins for the Wildcats.
- Kelly Ryono is Illinois’ leading in nearly every major offensive category, including average (.352), home runs (eight), RBI (39), and on-base percentage (.413).
- Three pitchers have seen the majority of the innings to Illinois: Sydney Sickels (2.72 ERA), Tori McQueen (3.05 ERA) and Lauren Wiles (3.91 ERA).
History vs. Illinois
- While Ohio State and Illinois did not play during the regular season last year, they did meet in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.
- The Buckeyes won that game, 5-0, and overall have won four of the last five meetings between the two teams.
- Since 2013, Ohio State has a 9-5 record against Illinois. The last time the two teams met in Champaign, the Buckeyes won three of four games during the 2021 Big Ten-only season.
Buckeye This and That
- Senior Sam Hackenbracht remains one of the Big Ten’s hottest hitters. In 11 conference games, she’s batting .417 with an OPS of 1.245.
- That includes 12 RBI, three home runs and five doubles.
- In Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep of Illinois, senior Meggie Otte had a bases-clearing three-RBI double to spark a 9-5 win in the first game. It was the 15th time in 30 bases-loaded at-bats that the Buckeyes have come away with a hit.
- Otte is two RBI away from 100 in her career. The fifth-year senior, who has played in 191 career games, has already surpassed 100 career hits.
- Only one team in the Big Ten – Penn State – has stuck out fewer times than Ohio State (140).
- Four players have improved their respective batting averages by 40 or more points from last season: Mariah Rodriguez (.091 to .301 – +210), Kaitlyn Farley (.265 to .326 – +61), Melina Wilkison (.342 to .398 – +56) and Kami Kortokrax (.283 to .325 – +42).
