After a successful regular season, Ohio State softball’s year came to an end when it lost to No. 7 Tennessee, 5-0, in the finals of the Knoxville regional bracket.
The weekend began with a 9-6 win over North Carolina, which earned the Buckeyes a spot in the semifinals against the Volunteers, which they lost 4-2. But after defeating Miami (Ohio) 11-1 in the elimination bracket, they needed to beat Tennessee twice to advance to Super Regionals.
Despite the loss, it was a great season for first-year coach Kirin Kumar, finishing with a 45-14-1 record and going 16-6 in the Big Ten but the Buckeyes offense that helped it have so much success during the regular season went quiet in their final game in Knoxville, with just two hits in the shutout.
The game was scoreless through five innings, but Tennessee came through in the sixth for three runs and wouldn’t relinquish the lead.
Sage Mardjetko started the game for the Volunteers and went five innings with five strikeouts and two walks before Karlyn Pickens went the final two innings with five strikeouts of her own.
Kennedy Kay went 6 2/3 innings for OSU and gave up three runs, had no strikeouts and walked one hitter. Lorin Boutte took over for the final out in the seventh inning, but gave up two runs before she could get out of the inning.
The year might have ended on a disappointing note, but what Kumar was able to do in her first season with the Buckeyes is an encouraging sign for what could be to come for the program going forward.
