If you haven’t been paying attention, what with the March madness and all, the Ohio State softball team has been on fire lately. That continued Saturday with two more wins that extended the Buckeyes’ winning streak to 10 straight games.
The ninth straight victory came behind a 14-strikeout performance by Allison Smith in a 5-2 victory over Presbyterian at the Jolly Roger Invite in Greenville, North Carolina. OSU then followed up with an impressive 9-2 win over host East Carolina in the second game of the day.
The rolling Buckeyes are now 16-7 on the season and will end their spring break trip at 9:30 am ET on Sunday against Cleveland State.
Here’s how things played out on Saturday thanks to some notes from the Ohio State Department of Athletics.
Ohio State 5, Presbyterian 2 – Game Notes
- Smith set a new career high with 14 strikeouts, and the Buckeyes’ offense was marked by two RBIs each from Mariah Rodriguez and Kaitlyn Farley.
- After falling behind 1-0 after the first inning, the Buckeyes countered with two in the top of the second and another in the third to take a 3-1 lead.
- The Buckeyes’ offense gave Smith safe runs in the sixth and seventh innings. He had six hits in seven innings to earn his eighth win of the year.
- Rodríguez finished the game 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Over the seven games Ohio State has played this week, he’s hitting .400 with two doubles, seven RBIs and four runs scored.
- Smith’s win was his third this week. In those starts, he allowed just two earned runs and has 41 strikeouts.
Ohio State 9, East Carolina 2 – Game Notes
- Ohio State’s offense was led by junior Destinee Noury, who drove in four runs. His biggest hit of the night was a three-run double in the fourth inning that gave the Buckeyes a 6-1 lead.
- Noury also added an RBI in the sixth inning.
- Emily Ruck made her third start of the week and her second of the weekend. She pitched seven full innings, allowing just five hits and two earned runs.
- This week, Ruck is 3-0 with a 1.87 ERA in 15.0 innings of action.
- Melina Wilkison continued to throw a hot bat, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, one RBI and two stolen bases.
- Wilkison was one of five players to have multiple hits. Overall, the Buckeyes’ 14-hit rush was the second-highest output of the season.
- Kaitlyn Farley went 4-for-6 on the day with two doubles and two runs scored.
- Mariah Rodriguez also had four hits on the day while Wilkison had five.
𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝟏𝟎 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐑𝐎𝐖
He #buckeyes takes his winning streak to double digits with a 9-2 win over East Carolina ‼️#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/BNvvu4cW7I
— Ohio State Softball (@OhioStateSB) March 18, 2023
After Sunday’s game, Ohio State will finally head to Columbus to make things work at home. The Buckeyes will play Kent State on Tuesday at Buckeye Field.
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