Softball: Ohio State shuts out Maryland, wins seventh in a row

McKenzie Welch
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 23:09:28 +0000
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Senior catcher Hannah Bryan (10) holds up a broomstick after the Ohio State softball team completed its series sweep of Maryland on Sunday, defeating the Terrapins 3-2 at Buckeye Field. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics

The Buckeyes won their second Big Ten series with a 3-0 shutout against Maryland this weekend at Buckeye Field.

Ohio State (27-17, 8-9 Big Ten) won all three games Friday with a 4-0 win. It came back on the field Saturday to win 6-3, before finishing the series with a 3-2 victory over the Terrapins (18-27, 4-13 Big Ten) to close the series and kick off finals week.

Junior shortstop Kami Kortokrax got the bats swinging with her home run in the bottom of the fourth inning Friday.

Senior third baseman McKenzie Bump scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 at the end of the fifth inning. In the sixth, senior catcher Sam Hackenbracht singled to bring a runner in before she walked home to close out the night’s scoring.

“Outside of softball is a big thing for us as well, along with finals and everything else going on right now,” Bump said. “But I think the biggest thing is just making sure that you’re staying in softball when it’s softball time, worrying about other things when you’re outside of it. And having fun is the biggest thing for us.”

Senior right fielder Taylor Heckman started the game this time with her homer to take an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Saturday.

Still 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Heckman stepped up to the plate again and singled to bring two runners in, making the score 3-0.

The Terrapins waited until late in the game to try and make a comeback when graduate center fielder Jaeda McFarland hit an RBI before returning home in the top of the sixth to make it 3-2.

Ohio State’s sophomore first baseman Hannah Church tripled to right field in the bottom of the sixth to bring a runner home and then made it home herself after a fielding error by Maryland.

In the bottom of the sixth, graduate left fielder Tegan Cortelletti singled to right field to bring in the last Buckeye run.

The Terrapins tried to rally in the seventh, down 6-2, with an RBI double but fell short, dropping their second game of the series.

Despite breaking her nose in Saturday’s contest, Kortokrax started Sunday off right with a home run to bring on-base Cortelletti home and take an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

Heckman hit an RBI to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth.

Maryland’s McFarland hit a sacrifice fly to start a comeback and make it 3-1 in the top of the sixth, followed by an RBI from graduate right fielder Mazie MacFarlane, but the fun for the Terrapins stopped there, giving the Buckeyes the series sweep.

“Kami is one of the people that thrive under pressure in every single situation like I can’t say enough good things about her,” Cortelletti said.

Ohio State will take on its next Big Ten opponent, Illinois, at Buckeye Field in Columbus this weekend. The first pitch will take place at 6 p.m., Friday and at 2 p.m., both Saturday and Sunday.