The winning streak for Ohio State’s softball team stands at six after the Buckeyes swept Big Ten opponent Indiana on Wednesday.
The No. 16 Buckeyes traveled to Bloomington Ind. for a doubleheader against the Hoosiers. Game one had all the makings of a pitchers’ duel, with the aces for both teams stepping inside the circle. For the Buckeyes, senior captain Kim Reeder (14-3) faced off against sophomore Sara Olson (4-7).
In the first inning, OSU sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs, highlighted by Alicia Herron’s grand slam that made the score 6-0. The freshman shortstop’s grand slam was her fourth homerun of the season. Coach Linda Kalafatis said Herron had a great at bat with the bases loaded.
“She just battled. She was 0-2 in the count and hit the curve ball, went with it and hit it out,” Kalafatis said.
Olson only made it through two-thirds of an inning, gave up seven runs on seven hits and the loss dropped her record to 4-8.
“We came out very focused, we swung the bats very well in practice, I could not be more proud the way we came out and attacked in that first inning,” Kalafatis said.
In the fifth inning the Buckeyes continued their offensive onslaught, adding four more runs, all coming with two outs. Alicia Herron’s three-run homerun, her second of the day, broke things open in the fifth.
“Good teams have clutch hitting,” Kalafatis said. “Part of clutch hitting is hitting with runners on and hitting with two outs and we did that pretty well today.”
OSU improved its overall record to 29-6 and came away with a 14-4 mercy rule victory through five innings.
In game two junior pitcher Lindsay Bodeker got the start and the Buckeye offense faced a familiar opponent. Sara Olson, who was knocked out of game one after pitching just two-thirds of the first inning, made her second start of the day.
Olson went the distance pitching seven innings and no-hitting Ohio State. Olson became the 10th pitcher in Indiana softball history to pitch a no-hitter, but the first ever to lose the game.
In the third inning the OSU offense had the bases loaded when Olson was called for an illegal pitch. On the call, all of the runners advanced and the first and only run of the day was scored. The illegal pitch was the second one called on Olson during the game. Kalafatis said that she was working the umpire all game on the call.
“[The Umpire] called it at a time that meant a lot, the illegal pitch advances all the runners, and it was the difference,” she said.
The Buckeyes took both ends of the doubleheader with the 1-0 victory in game two. Bodeker gave up three hits and struck out nine over seven innings. She now has 30 strikeouts over her last three games.
OSU (30-6, 7-1 Big Ten) returns home this weekend for the dedication of the new Buckeye Field and a two-game series with the Illinois Fighting Illini (21-10, 5-2).
Evan Winkofsky can be reached at [email protected].
