Members of the Ohio State softball team huddle during the Ohio State-Michigan game on April 9. Ohio State lost 7-0. Credit: Christian Harsa | Asst. Photo Editor
The Buckeyes and Wolverines met for the first time in almost two years at Buckeye Field over the weekend, and strong pitching battles were the focal point of the four-game series.
Ohio State (13-10) lost three of four to Michigan (16-4) as both Wolverines starting pitchers in senior left-hander Meghan Beaubien and junior righty Alex Storako tossed two complete games.
Beaubien began the weekend with a five-hit shutout of the Buckeyes, keying the way to a 7-0 win Friday. Sophomore designated player Taylor Pack led Ohio State with two hits, including a double.
Storako was an out away from the second complete-game shutout of the weekend before allowing a solo home run to sophomore catcher and reigning Big Ten Softball Player of the Week in Sam Hackenbracht. The right-hander held on to complete the two-hitter, piling 11 strikeouts in the 3-1 Game 1 win.
Junior center fielder Meggie Otte was on display in Game 2, throwing out a runner at the plate in the first inning and then hitting the game-tying, two-run single in the bottom of the fifth. Senior first baseman Niki Carver plated the go-ahead run one batter later, helping the Buckeyes to a 3-2 comeback victory and their fourth over Michigan in the last four seasons.
Freshman right-hander Allison Smith and Storako battled again on Sunday, but an eight-run seventh inning pushed the game out of reach for the Buckeyes as all nine Wolverines starters had at least one hit in their 11-0 win.
Game 1
From the first batter of the weekend, the Wolverines created pressure as junior center fielder Lexie Blair reached on a fielding error to leadoff the top of the first inning. Michigan got its leadoff hitters to reach base in five of the seven innings.
Senior shortstop Natalia Rodriguez then grounded into a fielder’s choice to take the basepaths in place of Blair, then scored from second base on sophomore designated hitter Lauren Esman’s fielder’s choice two batters later.
The Buckeyes loaded the bases in response during the bottom half of the first for junior right fielder Kaitlyn Coffman, but Beaubien picked up the strikeout looking to escape the threat.
Senior right-hander Payton Buresch and Beaubien combined to allow just two baserunners over the next two innings, then sophomore second baseman Julia Jimenez and senior third baseman Taylor Bump hit back-to-back singles to push the lead to 2-0 and score Esman, who led off the fourth frame with a single of her own.
Buresch allowed only two baserunners herself across the fifth and sixth innings, then served a leadoff home run to Blair on the third pitch of the seventh. Two of the next three Wolverines reached base, then senior first baseman Lou Allan broke the game open with a three-run home run to extend the lead to 6-0. Jimenez reached on an error, then came around to score on a passed ball.
Beaubien worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to finish her 12-strikeout, complete-game shutout.
Pack led the Buckeyes with two hits, including a double off the wall in deep center field and a bunt single. Despite being shut out, Ohio State stranded eight batters, one more than Michigan.
Game 2
Stellar pitching carried over into the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader as Buckeyes standout Smith went pound-for-pound with Big Ten earned-run average leader Storako, who also was the lone hurler in the conference with more than 100 strikeouts.
Michigan tested Smith early, however, loading the bases in the top of the first inning as Jimenez stepped to the plate. Smith worked ahead to a 1-2 count, then forced Jimenez to fly out to center field.
After seeing Storako retire the side on strikeouts in the bottom half of the first, Smith went out in the second and did the same, picking up three swinging-strikeouts.
Junior third baseman Ashley Prange legged out a double to the right-center field gap in the bottom of the second, then advanced to third during Hackenbracht’s at-bat, in which she drew a full-count walk.
Storako retired the next 12 hitters, just one more than Smith’s 11 that lasted until fifth-year right fielder Haley Hoogenraad’s one-out walk in the top of the fifth inning.
Allan struck again for Michigan, breaking the scoreless tie with a solo home run over the left field wall with two outs in the sixth. Jimenez immediately followed with a home run herself, pulling it just a bit more down the left field line as the Wolverines found themselves with a 2-0 lead.
The lead extended to three as Blair and Rodriguez hit back-to-back doubles with two outs in the seventh.
Storako was one out away from completing the second-straight shutout of the series, but Hackenbracht drove her season’s fifth home run to put the score at 3-1, where it finished upon the final groundout.
Storako allowed just two hits over the seven-inning ballgame — both for extra bases — while racking up 11 strikeouts and a pair of walks.
Game 3
Buresch and Beaubien squared off for the second time of the series in the second game of the afternoon, and Blair led off by reaching on an error — similar to Friday.
Just as Michigan seemed to be mounting an early push as junior catcher Hannah Carson grounded the ball up the middle, Otte fielded the ball and fired a dart to home plate, beating a sliding Blair for an important outfield assist.
The game remained scoreless through three innings while Ohio State had one runner reach base in each frame. The Wolverines plated the game’s first two runs on a single by sophomore Lexi Voss, who pinch hit for Hoogenraad.
After going down in three trips during the fourth, the Buckeyes offense found a spark in the bottom of the fifth.
Pack worked a full-count walk, then freshman pinch-hitter Taylor Heckman reached on a fielder’s choice that put runners on first and second.
Two batters and two outs later, Otte dug into the batter’s box. She drove a two-run flare to shallow right-center field to tie the ball game, then Carver grounded an RBI single down the left field line past Bump to give Ohio State its first lead of the weekend, 3-2.
Riding momentum and the energy of the onlooking crowd, Smith retired six of the next seven to earn Ohio State the victory over Michigan, its first since an eight-inning win April 13, 2019, when then-senior right fielder Bri Betchel hit a walk-off single.
The Buckeyes needed just four hits from as many different players to secure the win, and Otte’s big game saw her reach base twice while making three putouts in center field.
Game 4
Another rematch between two of the Big Ten’s strikeout leaders was on tap for the fourth and final game of the series, and Michigan’s Storako got her complete-game shutout she narrowly missed the day before.
Storako won her 10th game of the season, putting herself in the same company as Northwestern junior left-hander Danielle Williams. Storako struck out 10 batters and allowed five hits while walking one.
Before the right-hander took the circle, the Wolverines offense pushed a run across on an RBI single from Carson. Jimenez’s two-out single loaded the bases, but Smith limited the damage to one run with a strikeout of Bump.
Storako went out and struck out the side in her first inning of work, then Smith matched her with the same in the top of the second.
Sophomore left fielder Tegan Cortelletti laced the Buckeyes’ first hit through the legs of Bump at third base with two outs in the bottom of the third. Cortelletti stole second base before Storako struck out her fifth batter to end the inning.
For the third-straight day, Allan added a home run to left field to lead off the top of the fifth. The first baseman had entered the weekend with just one home run, and exited Columbus with four to tie for the team lead.
Three batters later, Bump blasted her first home run of the season, connecting with the bricks just feet above the windows of the Schumaker Complex beyond the left field wall.
The Buckeyes had runners reach base in each of the second-through-sixth innings, but Storako forced a double play in the fourth and struck out two in each of the fifth and sixth frames.
Michigan sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the seventh inning, scoring eight runs to break the game wide open. Freshman left fielder Sierra Kersten began with a two-run double, then senior infielder Natalia Rodriguez hit a two-run triple two batters later.
Freshman infielder Kaylee Rodriguez pounded a three-run home run to deep right field, capping the inning with its fifth hit. Each of Michigan’s nine starters had at least one hit, and all but three scored at least once.
Storako forced two popouts and a groundout to finish the game. Sophomore second baseman Mariah Rodriguez and Pack had singles in the final inning of the weekend.
Smith struck out six batters over her five innings, but allowed nine hits and three runs. Junior right-hander Jessica Ross came on in the sixth for 1 2/3 innings, allowing six runs across four hits before turning the ball over to freshman righty Emily Ruck, who allowed two runs on as many hits before getting the last out of the seventh inning.
Mariah Rodriguez led Ohio State with two hits in three trips to the plate, and Carver reached base twice on a walk and bunt single.
The Buckeyes will hit the road once more, this time destined for Indiana and a four-game series with the Hoosiers beginning Friday at 7:30 p.m.
