The No. 11 Ohio State softball team returns home for the final series of the year to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in a doubleheader Saturday at Buckeye Field.
OSU (42-9, 14-4 Big Ten) has not lost a conference series at home this season, and the Nittany Lions (19-25, 7-11) are just 5-10 on the road.
Senior captain Kim Reeder (22-5) and sophomore Lindsay Bodeker (15-4) suffered losses in their last outings but look to rebound against Penn State. They will both get a start this weekend from the circle.
The Nittany Lions are led by sophomore pitcher Jackie Hill (13-10), who holds the Big Ten’s second-best ERA at 1.10.
Penn State is sixth in the conference in pitching but just eighth in batting. The lack of run support has hurt Hill’s record.
The Buckeyes tout the conference’s third-best pitching staff and are second in the Big Ten with 59 home runs.
OSU was first in the Big Ten until Wednesday, when the Buckeyes were swept by the Michigan Wolverines. The Bucks were initially tied with Michigan, but the sweep ended their chances of a Big Ten automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
OSU could win a share of the conference title with a sweep of the Nittany Lions, coupled with two Michigan losses.
The Buckeyes will await bid announcements for the 2009 NCAA Softball Championship. With a No. 11 ranking and a second-place finish in the Big Ten, OSU should make their sixth appearance in program history.
Record watch
In her previous performance, junior catcher Sam Marder hit her 41st career home run and tied OSU’s all-time home run record. Marder will have two games Saturday to set a new mark in OSU history.
Freshman shortstop Alicia Herron hit her 12th home run of the season, a new freshman record. Herron broke Marder’s freshman record and will look to extend it this weekend.
Evan Winkofsky can be reached at [email protected].
