Softball
Wildcats Send Buckeyes Packing
Northwestern wins with one-hitter against Ohio State
By Kevin Schlosser(Evanston, Illinois) With a daunting first-round game against the top seed on Thursday Night, the Buckeyes knew they would have their hands full with the league-champion Northwestern Wildcats. Northwestern did not disappoint their home-town crowd as they broke a scoreless tie wide open with eight runs in the bottom fourth inning. When Ohio State went down in order in the fifth, the Wildcats won 8-0 to advance to the semifinals.
“We played pretty strong there for three innings and I thought we battled much better in our at bats. We let the game get away from us and gave them too many bases; five walks and a hit batter. Northwestern is too good to do that,” said OSU head coach Linda Kalafatis. “They are going to take advantage of that; they are a momentum team and certainly carried that momentum.”
Northwestern shared the Big Ten regular-season title with Michigan and won a coin toss to host the tournament. Unlike the second-seeded Wolverines who were upset by Michigan State in the first game of the day, the Wildcats turned a nail-biter into a blow out to improve to 35-13 overall as the Buckeyes fell to 33-23.
Ohio State got off to a good start by putting the first two batters of the game on as Sam Marder walked and Dee Dee Hillman followed with a single. Brittany Vanderink sacrificed both runners over before Tory Haddad reached on a fielders choice when Marder was thrown out at home trying to advance. Rachael Shepherd struck out to strand two runners.
OSU junior Kim Reeder responded by holding the Wildcats scoreless through the first three innings. She stranded two in the first, benefited from a double play in the second, and left one on in the third. While Reeder was walking a tightrope; Northwestern starter Kim Delaney settled down to shut down the Buckeyes retiring the side in the second and fourth innings. Dee Dee Hillman walked in the third.
The game was won in the fourth inning as the Wildcats unloaded their offense and their bench. Ten-straight batters reached base and eight crossed the plate. After getting the first out, Reeder did not retire another batter and was charged with seven earned runs before the inning ended. Megan Miller came into the game in relief and walked the first batter she faced to force in a run. She also gave up a two-run double and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. Miller got the last two outs and was charged with one unearned run.
“I thought Kim was throwing good pitches; we were keeping them guessing. Sam (Marder) and Kim called their own game and were doing a good job of mixing it up,” commented Kalafatis. “Even some of those hits early on in that fourth inning I thought we fisted them, balls that just kind of crawled over the infield.”
Ohio State had one final chance to keep the game alive but went down in order in the fifth-inning to end the game. Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Kim Delaney (32-8) went the distance for the Wildcats to earn the win while Kim Reeder (18-16) was charged with the loss. Delaney went 3-0 against OSU this year winning three complete-game shutouts; 7-0 and 6-0 in Columbus and 8-0 in the Big Ten Tournament. Delaney held the Buckeyes to four hits in nineteen combined innings.
“We tried to making a pitching change and stop some of that momentum, but didn’t get the job done. Northwestern proved they were the better team today,” continued Kalafatis. “The score doesn’t look pretty look pretty, but I’m proud of the effort our kids gave and the way we prepared to play here today.”
Twelfth-ranked Northwestern will play the winner of the Minnesota-Purdue quarterfinal on Friday afternoon. While both the Wildcats and Wolverines are certain to make the NCAA Tournament irregardless of what happens in the Big Ten Tournament, the Buckeyes will not.
“I definitely think the experiences we went through this year and the good pitchers we faced all season will help the team next year,” said OSU senior Brittany Vanderink. “We are pretty young and the experience of just going against them and playing these games is a good learning experience for the team. They are only going to get better.”
Head Coach Linda Kalafatis supported Vanderink’s assessment of the game and the season. With only two seniors on the team, Kalafatis remained optimistic about the lessons the Buckeyes learned against Northwestern and throughout the regular season.
“When we pulled Kim Reeder, we only had two returning starters out there. Being in these situations is critical for the future of our program,” stated Kalafatis. “In a lot of ways we will show a very different team next year even though we have a lot of returning players. We will have some healthy kids back and some new kids who I think will help us right away.”
OSU's season record is now 33-23. Northwestern in 35-13.
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