Buckeyes Sweep Ohio in Doubleheader

Ohio State posts 22 runs in two games vs. Bobcats 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team swept a doubleheader against Ohio Wednesday at Buckeye Field. The Buckeyes (26-16, 5-6 Big Ten) won game one, 9-5, before claiming a 13-3 run-rule victory in five innings in game two. With the two wins, the squad improves to 7-0 at home vs. non-conference opponents this season.

 

Offensively, sophomore Evelyn Carrillo notched two doubles and five RBI, junior Megan Coletta posted a double, triple and four RBI and Taylor Watkins went 4-for-5 with four runs scored. Senior captain Alicia Herron went 2-for-3 with five walks and extended her reached base streak to 37-consecutive games in 2012.

 

Game One: Ohio 5, Ohio State 9

In the bottom of the first, Herron posted her 44th RBI of the season when she sent a double to right center to score senior Vanessa Spears from first base to make it 1-0.


Ohio State then claimed a commanding 7-0 lead in the bottom of the third following six runs on two hits and three OU errors. Katie Simonton led off the inning and got on following a Bobcat throwing error just in front of the circle. Simonton then scored when Watkins blasted a double off the right center wall to make it 2-0.

 

Following walks to Spears and Herron, Carrillo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded vs. relief pitcher Kaylin Clarke for the Buckeyes’ third run. After freshman Maddy McIntyre reached on a second OU error, junior Danielle LeBeau notched a fielder’s choice to score Herron from third base to make it 4-0. Coletta continued the rally with an RBI single up the middle on the first pitch she saw vs. Clarke, allowing McIntyre to cross the plate. With runners on second and third, freshman Shelby Pickett then sent a ground ball to the OU second baseman, who couldn’t come up with the final out of the inning, allowing both Coletta and LeBeau to score for the sixth and seventh runs, respectively.

 

But the Bobcats battled back in the following stanza with three runs – all unearned-  on three hits in one OSU fielding error against Endicott, who retired eight of the first 10 batters she faced heading into the fourth. Alexandria Basquez came up with the big hit for Ohio with a two-run home run to left center.

 

However, the Buckeyes followed with two additional runs in the bottom half when Watkins scored on a wild pitch by OU pitcher Caitlin Colvin to make it 8-3. After Herron walked, the OSU shortstop stole second during a first-and-third situation and an off-target throw by the OU catcher allowed Spears to score to give the Scarlet and Gray a 9-3 advantage.

 

Ohio cut the team’s lead to 9-5 in the top of the sixth following a two-run home run by Lauren Gellerman. The long ball ended Endicott’s game in the circle, throwing 5.1 innings, allowing eight hits with five earned runs and three strikeouts. Endicott received the win to improve to 16-10 overall.

 

Sophomore pitcher Melanie Nichols claimed the final five outs of the game, allowing no hits or runs with three strikeouts.


Game Two: Ohio 3, Ohio State 13 (Five Innings)

Extra bases and runs were the highlight of game two as the Buckeyes claimed the sweep with a 13-3 run-rule victory in five innings. The Scarlet and Gray posted seven runs in the first and three runs in both the second and third innings, respectively. Out of the team’s 10 hits, six went for extra bases.

 

After the Bobcats scored two runs in the top half, the Buckeye bats launched seven runs on the scoreboard on four extra base hits. OU starting pitcher Caitlin Colvin walked three-consecutive batters to begin the game and was replaced by Kaylin Clarke in the circle.

 

Clean-up hitter Evelyn Carrillo cleared the bases on a 2-1 pitch to up her RBI total to 37 on the season, while giving her team a 3-2 lead. The rally continued when Coletta posted her first triple of the season to score Carrillo from second base. After freshman Caitlin Conrad was hit by a pitch and then stole second, sophomore Melaina Saalfeld rocketed a double to right center to score Conrad and Coletta for a 6-2 lead. Watkins then doubled down the left field line to score Conrad to give the team a five-run cushion after one inning of play.

 

Carrillo continued her hot bat in the second when she scored Herron from first base on an RBI double. After OU made a pitching change, Coletta claimed her second extra-base hit of the evening on a one-out double to right center to plate McIntyre and pinch runner Alyson Mott to open the score, 10-2.

 

Ohio State tallied its final three runs on a two-run single by McIntyre and an RBI double off the left field wall by Conrad.

Sophomore pitcher Melanie Nichols improved to 9-6 overall, throwing four innings, allowing five hits on three runs with a strikeout. Freshman pitcher Alex DiDomenico pitched the final inning in her fourth appearance of the season, allowing no  runs on one hit.