Following a productive weekend in Palm Springs, Calif. for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, the Ohio State softball team is back to a .500 record on the season at 6-6.
Fresh off a run-rule loss at Clemson Feb. 19, the Buckeyes opened the weekend with their first run-rule win of the season, knocking off Cal State Northridge 12-0 in five innings.
Speaking of first, Ohio State blasted its first three home runs of the season against the Matadors, finally breaking their drought of more than eight games without a long ball. It happened on the first at-bat of the day as well, with Melina Wilkison going yard. Jaycee Ruberti did the same in the very next at-bat.
Pitcher Emily Ruck then turned in a masterclass performance against Oregon State, mainly through inducing weak contact as she had no strikeouts. She recorded a complete-game shutout and allowed just three hits, guiding the Buckeys to a 6-0 win.
The final win of the weekend against San Diego State Saturday took a lot more doing. The Buckeyes fell behind 4-0 early to the Aztecs, a deficit that held through the fourth inning. OSU finally started chipping away in the bottom of the fifth, however.
Wilkison and Ruberti again teamed up, this time with a single and a double, to plate three runs for Ohio State and trim the lead to 4-3. The following inning, Kaitlyn Farley brought home two more on a single back up the middle, before freshman Lexi Paulsen — who pitched 3.2 shutout innings in relief — closed out the 5-4 win.
Utah ended in the team’s weekend in a more disappointing fashion Sunday, defeating the Buckeyes 9-1 in five innings. Ohio State returns to the field Friday in Conway, S.C. against Canisius.
OSU Women Second At Big Ten Indoor Track And Field Championships
With the outdoor championship season still to follow in the summer, Ohio State’s women’s track and field team took second at the Big Ten Indoor Championships this past weekend.
Finishing with 90 points, the Buckeyes saw one competitor win a Big Ten Championship in her event, with Amaya Ugarte taking first place in high jump with a program-record height of 1.89 meters. Ugarte earned All-Big Ten first-team honors for her performance.
Alyssa Marsh was part of two program-record-breaking efforts at the event. She finished with a third-place time of 52.55 seconds in the 400-meter dash, fastest in school history, then led off Ohio State’s 400 relay team that came in at a program-record time of 3:31.14. She and her teammates Jaydan Wood, Chanler Robinson and Bryannia Murphy took second place in the event.
The four of them all earned second-team All-Big Ten honors alongside Abbey Kuhn and Jaimie Robinson.
Meanwhile the men’s track and field team took fifth place on its side, with Clarence Foote-Talley winning a championship in triple jump with a distance of 16.32 meters.
Synchronized Swimming Wins North Regionals
Wrapping up its home slate for the regular season, the Ohio State synchronized swimming team won the North Regionals, scoring 105 points to Michigan’s 78 and Minnesota’s 60.5.
Ohio State swimmers won every single event, and in many cases each of the top spots were occupied by a Buckeye. A Figures was composed entirely of OSU competitors, while someone donning scarlet and gray took each of the top seven places in B Figures.
Nikki Dzurko won the solos competition with a score of 82.9750, with Ohio State teammates Rose Homoelle and Hannah Heffernan finishing second and third, respectively, at 78.1580 and 69.7583.
Emily Armstrong and Ruby Remati took top prize in the duos competition, with the top four pairing all representing the Buckeyes. Dzurko teamed up with Paige Hopper and Emma Spott to win trios, with OSU taking the top three places there.
It almost goes without saying Ohio State won the team event as well, with its backup squad taking second place.
