Softball Travels to Minnesota and Wisconsin – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 24, 2003
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team (23-18; 4-6 Big Ten) travels to face the Gophers of Minnesota (32-15-1; 8-6 Big Ten) April 25 and 26 at 6 p.m. and noon, respectively, in Minneapolis. The Buckeyes will then go to Madison, Wis., to take on the Badgers (14-23; 3-11 Big Ten) in a doubleheader beginning at noon April 27.
ABOUT MINNESOTA
Minnesota is 32-15-1 overall, 8-6 in Big Ten play and ranked fifth in the league. The Golden Gophers are led by Jordanne Nygren, who holds a .386 average, and Hailee Nanchy, who hits .347. Nygren is the team leader with 28 runs and 36 RBI’s. Angie Recknor and Piper Marten lead the way from the mound for Minnesota. Recknor is 13-6 and has a 1.37 ERA and Marten is 17-9 overall with a 1.47 ERA.
MINNESOTA’S LISA BERNSTEIN AND JULIE STANDERING
Minnesota is led by the co-head coaching team of Lisa Bernstein and Julie Standering. Both women are in their 12th year with the Golden Gopher program. Over the last 11 years, Bernstein and Standering have averaged over 35 wins per season and have had nine winning seasons, including the last seven in a row. In those seven years, the team has averaged 40 wins per season.
Bernstein and Standering came to Minnesota in the fall of 1991 from the University of Arizona after winning a national championship. Bernstein, an assistant coach at Arizona, was named the head coach and Standering, the starting Wildcat shortstop, was named the assistant coach. After five seasons, Standering was elevated to the position of associate head coach. Before the 1999 season, Bernstein pushed for Standering’s coaching advancement and a co-head coach title at Minnesota. ABOUT WISCONSIN
Wisconsin is a combined 14-23 and 3-11 in Big Ten Play. Leading the way for the Badgers is senior pitcher Andrea Kirchberg. who is 12-15 with a 1.51 ERA. Boo Gillette holds the highest average on the team with a .267 average, followed by Kris Zacher and Erin Barnharst, who bat .235 and .232, respectively.
WISCONSIN’S KAREN GALLAGHER
Karen Gallagher, a former assistant coach at the University of California, was named as the UW’s first varsity softball coach on Aug. 29, 1994. Entering this season, Gallagher had compiled a 161-168-2 record. Gallagher came to Wisconsin following a six-year stint at California where she served as the Golden Bears’ primary recruiter and helped Cal to three College World Series appearances. In her final season at Cal, the Bears competed in their ninth consecutive NCAA tournament and finished the season ranked seventh in the country.
Prior to her position at Cal, Gallagher coached and taught at Argo Community High School in Summit, Ill. From 1983-88, Gallagher compiled an 83-41 mark winning two conference and four regional titles. She also taught physical education and sociology.
KALAFATIS ON THE WEEKEND
“We have nine games remaining in the regular season and six of those are conference games. We need to treat theses last two weeks like it’s a season in itself. As far as this weekend goes, it can be a turning point for our team. We are in a battle to make the Big Ten tournament and facing two of the best pitchers in the conference, I’m anxious to see if my team will rise to the occasion.”
IN GOOD HANDS
Ohio State is in good hands with pitchers Katie Chain and Kristi DeVries, who hold the top two spots for Buckeye career wins. Chain, a senior who is also the Buckeyes’ strikeout leader, has 66 career wins to her name and DeVries, a junior, has 42 career victories.
SENIORS TOP THE HISTORY BOOKS WITH 152
With two wins at Ohio April 16, the 2003 senior class, which consists of Kristine Himes, Jennifer Link, Elizabeth Kacsanek, Rogeanna Hottinger and Katie Chain, became the all-time winningest class in school history with 150 wins, breaking the mark of 149 set by the class of 2002 last season. The class currently has 152 career victories.
TWO MORE W’S TO 500
Ohio State head coach Linda Kalafatis needs just two more wins to reach 500 career victories. Currently, Kalafatis is 498-277-2 (14 years) overall and 224-162-0 (seven years) with the Buckeyes.
DEVRIES REACHES 100 K’S
Junior Kristi DeVries was credited with the win in game one vs. Ohio April 16 and the eight strikeouts she tallied brought her then-season total to 100 K’s. This is the second consecutive season DeVries has earned at least 100 strikeouts. Last season, the Corona, Calif., native totaled 102 strikeouts. Currently, DeVries owns 106 K’s on the year.
CHAIN KEEPS RACKING ‘EM UP
Katie Chain, Ohio State’s career strikeout leader with 672, is the first Buckeye to reach 600 strikeouts.
Chain reached her latest pitching milestone as she recorded her 600th career strikeout in a 4-2 win over Oakland March 15. She recorded nine strikeouts in the complete game and gave up only three hits over the seven innings.
HOME RUN DERBY
The Buckeyes have been a tear recently, having hit 15 home runs in 29 games, including two vs. Michigan State April 20 by Ashley Cutcliff and Rogeanna Hottinger in the Buckeyes’ 2-0 victory. Cutcliff and Hottinger also hit two vs. Ohio April 16 in game two. Leading the way in the homer category is senior Kristine Himes with eight. Cutcliff is next with five followed by Rogeanna Hottinger with four. Amy Ellis, Karisa Evans, Jennifer Johnson and Beth McAbier each have one.
HIMES HONORED
Kristine Himes was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week April 1 for her performance against Indiana. The weekly honor is the third this season for Himes and the fourth overall for the Buckeyes.
Himes, Ohio State’s career home run leader (40), batted .667 in two conference victories against Indiana (8-1, 9-0) March 28-29. Himes went 4-for-6 with a double, one home run (a two-run shot) and six RBI’s in the two games. She recorded eight total bases for a 1.333 slugging percentage and also stole a base in the Saturday win. The Buckeyes outscored the Hoosiers 17-1 in the two games.
Himes is batting .297 with a team-leading eight home runs and 29 RBI’s to compliment her .610 slugging percentage.
EARLY OFFENSE
The Buckeyes have done a majority of their damage offensively early in games. They have scored 98 of their 155 runs this year in the first three innings, 76 of which have been in the second and third innings. The Buckeyes are outscoring the opposition 155-97 and are averaging 3.78 runs per contest.
CLOSE CALLS
The Buckeyes are no strangers to close contests as 16 games this season have been decided by one run. Ohio State is 5-9 in one-run games, 3-2 in two-run games and 5-7 against ranked opponents.
CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY
Karisa Evans and Kristine Himes are the only two Buckeyes to have started all 41 games this season. Kristi DeVries and Rogeanna Hottinger have each started all of the 39 games in which they have played.
MICHIGAN STATE RECAP
Ohio State split with Michigan State April 20. Sophomore Ashley Cutcliff and senior Rogeanna Hottinger each knocked one out of the park in the second and fifth inning, respectively. Junior pitcher Kristi DeVries was credited with the win and senior Katie Chain earned the save when she entered at the top of the seventh with the bases loaded and caught Michigan State’s Elizabeth Peterson looking. The Buckeyes dropped the next game vs. the Spartans, 8-0, in five innings.
MICHIGAN RECAP
After losing game one to Michigan, 4-0, April 18, the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines, 4-0, for the first time since April 22, 2001, and snapped Michigan’s 14-game win streak behind a solid defense and the consistency of Ohio State pitcher Katie Chain. The Buckeyes scored all four runs in the top of the sixth inning to notch a Big Ten victory.
NEXT UP
Ohio State wraps up the regular-season portion of its schedule with a doubleheader against Marshall at home beginning at 3 p.m. April 30. The Buckeyes then travel to Akron for a single game in Firestone Stadium at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 1. The final two games will be against Penn State at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 3 and 4, at Buckeye Field.
