The Ohio State softball team lost a close game against a ranked South Carolina squad Friday, but came back strong on Saturday — winning both games it played in the Carolina Classic.
The Buckeyes got the bats out in game one against North Dakota State, raking out fifteen hits and four home runs in a 13-5 victory. Ashley Prange had two bombs on the day, and Niki Carver and Avery Clark also went deep to lead an offensive onslaught for Ohio State.
Game two was a bit closer with pitcher Payton Buresch dominating in the circle, allowing five runs to more than hold up for the Buckeyes against Southern Illinois. Buresch allowed just one hit and struck out a career-high seven batters to improve to 1-1 on the year.
At the plate Ashley Prange got things going in the bottom of the 3rd inning with an RBI double. Kaitlyn Coffman then followed that up with an RBI single to give Ohio State the 2-0 lead.
🌰 BUCKEYES WIN 🌰@paytonburesch and the defense holds SIU to one hit. She struck out a career-high seven batters in Ohio State's 5-0 victory!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/sK9wkg7ah7
— Ohio State Softball (@OhioStateSB) February 9, 2020
Taylor Pack added another RBI double after a run already crossed the plate on an RBI groundout by Niki Carver in the bottom of the 5th inning. Meg Otte then added the fourth extra-base hit of the game with another RBI Double in the 6th inning to finish the scoring.
With both wins, Ohio State improved to 2-1 on the year and are back in action Sunday at 12:30 PM against UNC Greensboro.