The Ohio State Softball team gives a shout-out to the crowd after defeating Indiana 2-0 on March 24, 2019. Credit: Gretchen Rudolph | Lantern File Photo
After an 11-day break, the Buckeyes will return to Leesburg, Florida, and play six games over four days.
Ohio State (3-3) will play one three-game series against each of No. 23 Northwestern (6-0) and Wisconsin (3-3) beginning Thursday. The Wildcats were the lone Big Ten team to go undefeated through their first six contests.
The Buckeyes split each of their three doubleheaders against Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska from Feb. 26-28, and sophomore second baseman Mariah Rodriguez finished with a team-leading .400 batting average, including going 3-for-3 in Game 2 Feb. 28.
“It was amazing being back out on the field,” Rodrgiuez said. “As a freshman last year I didn’t get to compete in any Big Ten games, so the fact that our first time back on the field was the Big Ten Tournament, was really cool.”
Rodriguez worked her way up the Buckeyes’ batting order over the first weekend of the season, beginning in the No. 8 hole during the season opener and rising up to No. 3 for the second game of the twin bill against the Cornhuskers. The California native drove in all four runs during Game 1 against Nebraska, and he is tied for the team lead with four RBIs alongside a team-high .533 slugging percentage.
Outfielders junior Meggie Otte and sophomore Tegan Cortelletti slotted in the No. 1 and 2 spots in the lineup, respectively, during each of the last three games. Both are tied for the team lead with two runs scored each, and Otte’s seven base hits are most among the Buckeyes.
“I thought I was seeing the ball really well, not trying to do too much with it since we have been off for a full year,” Cortelletti said. “I am a slapper so just doing what I do and putting the ball down and beating it out to first was my plan of attack and letting my big hitters behind me do the rest of the work.”
In the circle, four Ohio State pitchers held opposing hitters to a .177 batting average and threw a combined 1.54 ERA, third and fifth best in the Big Ten.
Senior righty Payton Buresch made three starts and was credited with two wins, allowing just three earned runs during 24 innings of work. Buresch tossed 10.1 innings against Minnesota and didn’t allow an earned run while the Gophers knocked five hits, and head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly described her outings as a big deal for the team’s overall performance.
Freshmen right-handed pitchers Emily Ruck and Allison Smith made their Buckeyes debuts, and the latter threw a seven-inning complete game with nine strikeouts in her first game in scarlet and gray.
“I thought she handled it really well,” Schoenly said. “I put her in some situations that she got to have success and then I put her in situations where she had done better, and I think watching her desire to do better every time for her team is the fun part. She’s got a lot of skill and I think the more she plays, the better she’s gonna get.”
Wisconsin is Ohio State’s first opponent of this weekend, and the Badgers split their final doubleheader against Maryland after first sweeping Penn State and then dropping two games to Indiana. The Badgers carry the Big Ten’s best team fielding percentage with .995, and their patience at the plate drew 21 walks, which are second most in the conference.
The Wildcats will provide an early-season challenge for the Buckeyes, having scored the most runs of any Big Ten team after six games with 41. Junior infielder Maeve Nelson’s eight RBIs and teammate junior outfielder Skyler Shellmyer’s .667 batting average are tops in the conference.
Both Buckeyes opponents are among the Big Ten’s best on the basepaths. Northwestern leads the conference with 19 stolen bases while Wisconsin has swiped 13 bags.
Conference-leader and Liberty Township, Ohio, native senior utility Rachel Lewis stole six bases and will likely give Buckeyes sophomore catcher Sam Hackenbracht a chance to add to her total of two runners caught stealing.
“They’ve got a lot of speed and they like to use it, so we focused a lot on plays that we’ll need to execute to shut that part of the game down,” Schoenly said. “If we’re gonna have success against them, we’re gonna need to throw runners out, be ready for secondary plays, things like that.”
First pitch of the doubleheader between Ohio State and Wisconsin will be thrown at 10 a.m. on Thursday and broadcast on BTN+.
