Buckeyes reach postseason play
By Gabe Norris
After seemingly fighting an uphill battle for the entire regular season, the Ohio State Softball team finally had something go their way this past Sunday: Losses by both Penn State and Purdue during the final weekend of conference play vaulted the Buckeyes into 8th place in the Big Ten standings, and therefore qualified them for the 2008 Big Ten Tournament this weekend in Evanston, Illinois. Ohio State, which entered this year as the defending regular season and tournament champions from 2007, will have one last chance to protect those well-earned titles from one year ago.
Earlier in the week, Ohio State wrapped up their regular season schedule with a sweep of the Ohio Bobcats at Buckeye Field on Wednesday night. In game one, sophomore pitcher Megan Miller was once again impressive from inside the circle, holding her opponent to just two-earned runs or less for her fifth consecutive start. The Buckeyes won the game, 7-3.
“I think she has gained confidence, and that is definitely a big part of it. It has always been just that one pitch that has hurt us when she starts, and thankfully, tonight that was not the case,” Ohio State Head Coach Linda Kalafatis said of her sophomore hurler.
In game two of the midweek doubleheader, the Buckeyes strung together back-to-back-to-back solo home runs, for the first time in program history, on their way to a 3-0 win. Sophomore Tory Haddad recorded her third home run before freshman Brittany Shepherd and sophomore Whitney Cooper followed suit. It was the first home run of their seasons for both of the youngsters.
“Our pitching was very good tonight, and we executed well for the most part,” Kalafatis said. “We played with an energy we haven’t always had with the kind of youth we have on this club. Obviously Sam Marder had a great day, and it was great to see Liz Caputo and Brittany Vanderink go out with wins and good games.”
For both Vanderink and Caputo, the only two seniors on the team, Wednesday night’s contests were their final games ever at Buckeye Field.
“I think it was a really great two games tonight. I am really sad because it has been the best four years of my life,” Caputo said afterward. “We definitely had a great start to the season and struggled a little bit in the middle, and we tried to end it on a good note by hopefully making it into the tournament.”
Heading into the final weekend of conference play this past weekend, the Buckeyes were literally sitting on pins and needles during their bye week as the other ten teams slugged it out for final positioning. Ohio State, 34-22 (7-13 in Big Ten play), needed both Purdue and Penn State to be swept by their opponents (Michigan and Indiana) to clinch the eighth and final seed. Ohio State will square off against the Big Ten Co-Champion Northwestern Wildcats on Thursday afternoon.
“The biggest thing that I am pleased with is the effort. These could have been meaningless games, but tonight we showed that they did mean something to us,” Kalafatis said after the sweep of the Bobcats. Hopefully, her squad can carry this momentum into the postseason.
Originally Published: Issue 647 - May 7, 2008
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