Ohio State sophomore infielder Mariah Rodriguez (7) waits in the field during the Ohio State-Michigan game on April 9. Ohio State lost 7-0. Credit: Christian Harsa | Special Projects Director
With the regular season rounding third and heading for home, the Buckeyes will prepare for their final road series against a team fighting to remain near the top of the Big Ten Conference.
Ohio State will travel to Illinois for four games against the Fighting Illini on a three-game losing streak after dropping the final three ballgames at Purdue last weekend. The Buckeyes’ record sits at 18-17, eighth in the conference standings.
“By this point in the season, our preparation is to build on our strengths and quickly try to tweak things that we didn’t have success with, so more of the focus was on our execution,” head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly said.
Having won seven of its last 12 games and splitting each of its last two series, Illinois is in fourth place in the Big Ten with a 22-14 record. The Illini haven’t won back-to-back games since a doubleheader sweep against the Boilermakers April 17, and they last dropped a 6-3 decision at Northwestern.
Illinois is one of two Big Ten teams with a top-3 team batting average and team earned-run average alongside first-place Michigan. The Illini own a collective .287 clip at the plate, just two spots ahead of Ohio State’s .269 team batting average.
Four Illini hitters own batting averages higher than .300, and their offense has been paced by juniors utility Kailee Powell and infielder Avrey Steiner. Powell leads Illinois with a .983 on-base plus slugging percentage and four home runs, and Steiner has a .354 batting average, sixth-best in the Big Ten.
In the circle, Illinois pitchers have thrown 222 strikeouts, second-most in the conference, with a 2.27 ERA. Junior right-hander Sydney Sickels leads the Illini pitching staff with 12 complete games alongside a 1.90 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 117 ⅔ innings.
“There are specific pitches that the Illinois pitchers throw that we focused in on,” Schoenly said. “[We] prepped the catchers for an aggressive run game.”
The Buckeyes’ offense did an exceptional job of finding hits against the Boilermakers last weekend, but struggled to get them around and score. Ohio State had the same or more runners left on base than Purdue in three of the four contests, and left six compared to the Boilermakers’ seven in Game 1 Saturday.
Some movement in the batting order has seen several Buckeyes stand out in recent trips to the plate. Senior outfielder Megan McMenemy blasted her first-career home run in Game 2 last Saturday, and junior infielder Ashley Prange drove in three runs Friday as one of six different Buckeyes to have multi-hit games across the series with Purdue.
“Our goal is consistency and timely hitting with all the hitters,” Schoenly said. “I think all of them had moments where they produced this past weekend and our goal is to clump that production.”
Senior right-hander Payton Buresch, a Downers Grove, Illinois, native, will return to her home state when the Buckeyes take the field against the Illini. Buresch logged at least 5 ⅔ innings in three of the four games against the Boilermakers.
Staying in the circle, freshman right-handed pitcher Allison Smith raised her total to 109 punch outs this season after totaling eight strikeouts in six innings last weekend. Smith’s strikeout total is sixth-most in the Big Ten.
Also from the latest class of first-year Buckeyes, freshman Hannah Bryan made the first two starts of her Ohio State career in the final two contests at Purdue last weekend. The Columbus native took four turns at-bat and made five putouts.
“Hannah did an amazing job for being put into that situation,” Schoenly said. “She is a very capable receiver and has built those relationships in the bullpen for her pitchers to trust her.”
In advance of expected weather, the Buckeyes and Illini will play doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday. Game 1 on Friday will begin at 2 p.m., and Game 1 on Saturday will broadcast on Big Ten Network beginning at 11 a.m.
