Ohio State softball takes a pair from Illinois

It’s been an up and down year for the Ohio State softball team so far in 2021, but it’s off to a great start to Mother’s Day Weekend. That’s because the lady Buckeyes took two road contests from an Illinois team that is a few games up on them in the Big Ten standings.

OSU took care of game one on Friday night by breaking out the bats big time. All told, the Buckeyes pounded out 12 runs on nine hits. Most of that came in a firework-filled fourth inning that saw 11 runs cross the plate on seven hits. It was the most runs scored in one inning by OSU since it plated 12 in the first inning against Indiana in the 2015 Big Ten Tournament.

And while the offense stole the show, the pitching locked things up with a shoutout on just three hits behind Payton Buresch.

The pitching was fantastic again during game two for the Bucks. Allison Smith sat nine Illini hitters down via the strikeout and gave up just one run and three hits in a complete-game effort.

On offense, Ohio State got all they needed in the second inning. a walk by Niki Carver was followed by a single by Meggie Otte to put two runners on with nobody out. The next batter, Carley Gaskill, sacrificed both runners over, putting them at second and third for Taylor Pack.

Pack grounded out to second but the first run of the game came in as Carver scored. A pitch later, Megan McMenemy hit a three-run bomb to make it 3-0. OSU would score one more on a passed ball in the inning, then added one more run on a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to round out the scoring.

With the two wins, Ohio State improved its record to 20-17 on the season to move into a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes will be back at it again with another doubleheader against Illinois tomorrow.

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