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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Some late-inning magic returned to Buckeye Field on Saturday, and when the dust settled on a Saturday doubleheader involving Ohio State and Michigan, the Buckeyes had secured a 3-2 win in the second game thanks to some timely hitting and heads-up base running.
Ohio State battled back for a 2-0 deficit late in the second game to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth. The key hit was a two-run single from Meggie Otte and aggressive base running that allowed Otte to steal home as Niki Carver was caught in a run down after singling to right field. Payton Buresch and the Ohio State defense then shut the door in the sixth and seventh innings, allowing just one base runners over the final two innings.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 23 Michigan won the series finale on Saturday over Ohio State at Buckeye Field, 11-0, on the strength of an eight-run seventh inning. The Buckeyes are now 13-10 on the year while Michigan improves to 16-4.
Starting pitcher Allison Smith allowed a first-inning run but then kept Michigan off the scoreboard for the next three innings. The Buckeyes’ offense, however, couldn’t get much going against Wolverine starting pitcher Alex Storako, who struck out 10 in seven innings. In the top of the fifth, Michigan added two runs on a pair of solo home runs to go ahead 3-0 and then put eight on the board in the top of the seventh, all of which came with two outs.
Eight-Run Seventh Puts Exclamation Point on Series Win at Ohio State - University of Michigan Athletics mgoblue.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mgoblue.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Buckeyes won three games against Penn State last weekend, outscoring the Nittany Lions 20-4.
Ohio State is fourth in the Big Ten with a .276 team batting average.
Tegan Cortelletti leads the way with a .394 average and 26 hits in 66 at-bats. She’s also a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen bases.
Sam Hackenbracht, this week’s Big Ten Player of the Week, is hitting .333 with four home runs, 12 RBI and a team-best .711 slugging percentage.
In the circle, the Buckeyes possess a 2.12 team ERA, good for sixth-best in the conference, led by the duo of Payton Buresch and Allison Smith.
Buresch’s 1.51 ERA is the eighth-best in the conference. Last weekend at Penn State, she tossed 11.0 innings and allowed just four hits and one run.
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LEESBURG, Fla. – Freshman pitcher Allison Smith scattered just four hits over seven innings and Niki Carver hit her second home run of the year, but Ohio State (6-6) fell on Sunday to Northwestern (11-1) as the Wildcats scored three times in the top of the seventh inning to complete a 3-2 comeback.
Smith, who was making her second start in less than 24 hours against the 23-ranked Wildcats, was up to the task. She fanned six Northwestern batters over seven innings and gave up no earned runs. Trailing 2-0 however, Northwestern scored three times with two outs in the top of the seventh. The first came in on a Jordyn Rudd RBI single and two more came around to score on a triple by Morgan Newport.