The Ohio State softball team will host conference opponent Penn State tomorrow and Sunday in its last home series before the Big Ten Tournament.
After splitting two road series with Wisconsin and Minnesota last weekend, OSU is holding strong with a third place standing in the conference with a record of 12-6.
Pitcher Katie Chain has recently been leading her teammates with a slew of record performances.
Recording 10 shutouts this season, Chain is now tied with former OSU softball player Genice Turley for the most shutouts thrown in a season. Turley set the record in 1994. With a personal record of 22-5, Chain is only two wins away from tying the school record for wins in a season.
“It’s really nice. The wins are wins for the team,” Chain said. “The more wins I have, the more the team wins. It’s nice to have the record and have your name remembered, but the most important thing is having wins for the team.”
“Katie has turned it on in the second half of the season and in Big Ten play,” said coach Linda Kalafatis. “She’s had a combination of throwing good games and not so good games, but she has competed well.”
The team is enjoying the most successful season in the history of OSU softball. The Buckeyes have recorded more than 40 wins this season, a feat that has never before been accomplished.
OSU is coming off an Akron road trip on Wednesday where the team defeated the Zips 4-1. The victory over Akron raised the Buckeyes record to 44-16 on the season.
The team didn’t come into the season with the goal of breaking the season win record, however, the ride has been a lot of fun.
“Looking back it will be really neat. When the season’s all said and done we can take pride in it,” Kalafatis said.
The team’s goal was to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament but with their success this season, the team has gotten greedy and now hopes to gain a regional berth.
Penn State comes into Buckeye territory after a week off with an overall record of 30-22 and a conference record of 9-9. The Nittany Lions must sweep the Buckeyes this weekend to hold steady in next week’s Big Ten Tournament.
Game one of the season’s final conference series starts at 2 p.m. tomorrow and is followed by game two at 1 p.m. Sunday at Buckeye Field.
