The No. 11 Ohio State softball team takes on the No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. today in game 2 of their best-of-three series in the NCAA Super Regional at Athens, Ga.
It is the Buckeyes’ first trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament in the program’s 36-year history. Georgia is making its eighth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament.
ZACH TUGGLE/THE LANTERNOhio State junior Courtney Pruner slides into home plate during the May 15 game against BYU. OSU won the game 5-4 in eight innings. Pruner and the rest of the OSU softball team are playing Georgia in a best-of-three series in the NCAA Super Regionals.Senior captain Kim Reeder will start game one. Reeder (26-5) has a 1.30 ERA and recorded two of the Buckeyes’ wins in the Regional last weekend.
She set the all-time OSU career wins record, notching her 77th win and a new OSU single season mark with 26.
Reeder will face the second best offense in the SEC. Georgia (42-10, 18-10 SEC) has hit an impressive .327 this season and has smashed 74 home runs.
The Georgia offense is led by sophomore third baseman Alisa Goler, who has hit .452 and has driven in 77 runs. She also accounted for an impressive 21 home runs.
Comparatively, the Buckeyes are hitting .288 as a team and have hit a team record 66 home runs, but those numbers fall short of Georgia’s.
OSU is led offensively by junior catcher Sam Marder and freshman short stop Alicia Herron.
Marder is first on the team in batting with a .367 average, and she has broken both the career (43) and single season (19) home run records this season.
Herron has 14 home runs this season, surpassing Marder’s freshman home run record by four.
They will both face off against Georgia’s senior pitcher, Christie Hamilton. Hamilton is 23-8 and has a 1.59 ERA.
Georgia has a productive offense, a dominant starting pitcher and an efficient defense; the Bulldogs have committed just 28 errors. The Buckeyes are third in the Big Ten in fielding percentage but have committed 53 errors.
The Buckeyes have three pitchers with an ERA lower then 2.07, compared to Georgia with just one. That pitching depth will play a significant role in the Super Regional.
The Super Regional is a best-of-three series and the Buckeyes can use three pitchers if needed. Game two and game three will be played on Saturday, if necessary.
All games from the Super Regional in Athens will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
If a deciding game three is necessary it will be played immediately following today’s 4:30 p.m. game.
Evan Winkofsky can be reached at [email protected].
