Softball Falls to No. 25 Ohio State

Friday, March 31

Columbus, Ohio

5:00 PM

Rutgers University

9-22, 0

Ohio State

20-7, 0

Rutgers

Ohio State

Apr 01 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

April 1, 2017

Final Stats

COLUMBUS, OHIO - Resuming game one of the series following rain suspending the contest on Friday, the Rutgers softball team dropped two to No. 25 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon at Buckeye Field.

OSU (21-7, 5-0 Big Ten) registered an 8-0 win followed by a 12-2 victory to clinch the series over RU (9-23, 1-4 Big Ten).

GAME ONE
After rain halted the contest in the bottom of the fourth on Friday, the Scarlet Knights and Buckeyes returned to action on Saturday. Following two scoreless innings to open the contest, OSU posted eight unanswered runs across the remaining three frames for the win.

Freshmen Taryn Atlee and Nicole Bowman, and senior Carly Todd each added in a hit, including doubles for Bowman and Todd. Senior Shayla Sweeney (8-7) suffered the loss for RU.

Taylor White led the Buckeyes with two hits, a home run, two runs and three RBIs. The Big Ten Player of the Week, Lilli Piper, also added in two hits and a home run. Shelby Hursh (9-2) picked up the complete game win.

Although both teams loaded the bases in the first inning, the score would remain 0-0 moving in to the second frame.

Following a scoreless second inning as well, the Buckeyes added the first runs of the contest with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the third for a 3-0 edge.

Despite a double from Todd to lead off the fourth, the Scarlet Knights were unable to bring in a run.

In the bottom of the frame, OSU extended its lead to 5-0 on two hits and two RU errors before the contest entered a rain delay.

Resuming play the following day, White led off with a home run to score two runs for a 7-0 lead in the game.

After RU stranded two runners on in the top of the fifth, OSU tacked on a run with three hits in the bottom of the frame to close the contest with an 8-0 victory.

GAME TWO
Despite RU starting off with a 2-0 lead in the contest, OSU went on to clinch the series with a 12-2, five-inning victory.

Bowman went 3-for-3 at the plate, notching a career-best three hits. Junior Rebecca Hall added in two hits of her own and an RBI. Sweeney (8-8) suffered the loss for RU.

The Buckeyes were led by Emily Clark with a home run and five RBIs. White also added a home run to follow with three RBIs. Lena Springer (8-2) picked up the complete game win in the circle.

Following a walk for Atlee, Bowman added a single to put two runners on. After a double for Hall scored the first run, Todd reached on a fielder's choice to send in another for a 2-0 RU lead in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the inning, OSU countered with a two-out, three-run home run for White to put the Buckeyes in front, 3-2.

The Buckeyes went on to grow its lead to 12-2 by the bottom of the third with five runs in the second frame and four more in the third.

Freshman Cambria Keefer would retire three of four batters faced in the fourth to register a scoreless frame. Despite a single for Bowman in the top of the fifth, it was not enough to help RU push any runs across to stay alive in the contest.

UP NEXT
Rutgers and Ohio State meet for the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

KNIGHT NOTES
-Ohio State marks the first ranked foe to cross Rutgers path this season.
-Nicole Bowman registered a career-high three hits with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate in game two. It marked Bowman's sixth multi-hit game of the season.
-Rebecca Hall posted her 11^th multi-hit game of the season with two hits also in game two.

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