WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Ohio State (18-14) started off its four-game series at Purdue (10-23) on Friday night in the best way possible: with a total team effort on offense, defense and in the circle that added up to a 5-1 victory at Bittinger Stadium in West Lafayette.
The Short Story
Senior Payton Buresch pitched a complete-game three-hitter to secure her eighth win of the season. All the run support she would need could come in one swing of the bat, in the form of a three-run bases-clearing double by Ashley Prange in the second inning. The rest of the way, Buresch was backed up by her defense as she allowed just two hits over her final six innings of work.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Ohio State belted four home runs and got a strikeout with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to split a Saturday doubleheader against Indiana. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers wrap up their series tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in a contest that will air live on BTN.
After dropping the first game of the day, Ohio State (14-12) rebounded in game two, building an 8-2 lead in the fifth inning before Indiana (13-14) stormed back to score seven times in the fifth and sixth innings. The Buckeyes eventually went ahead 10-9 on an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning and thwarted a bases-loaded rally by the Hoosiers in the bottom half of the inning.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State softball team wrapped up its four-game series versus Rutgers on Sunday by finishing Saturday’s suspended game, which turned out to a 13-5 six-inning Buckeye victory, before falling in the series finale, 6-5. Ohio State is 17-14 overall on the season and won three of four games this weekend against the Scarlet Knights (7-25).
The Short Story
Sunday’s action picked up in the bottom of the fifth inning on yesterday’s game that was suspended due to rain. When play resumed, the Buckeye bats struck for nine runs – including a back-breaking grand slam off the bat of Niki Carver – to register a 13-5 series-clinching win. In the second game, Rutgers scored once in the top of the seventh to take a 6-5 and held on for the victory.
How to Follow Along
The first three games of this weekend’s series will be carried on BTN Plus (subscription required). The series finale, set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m., will air live on BTN. Lisa Byington and Elise Menaker will be on the call.
Briefly on the Buckeyes
Ohio State enters the weekend series with a 13-10 overall record.
Since campus-series began the weekend of March 26-28, the Buckeyes are 7-4 with series wins over Maryland (three of four) and Penn State (all three games).
The Buckeyes are hitting .261 as a team and have three starters who all currently check with a batting average of .300 or better: Tegan Cortelletti (.367), Mariah Rodriguez (.311) and Sam Hackenbracht (.309).