Ohio State Tops Nebraska 4-2 in Game One

The Nebraska softball team dropped the first game of its Sunday doubleheader with Ohio State, 4-2, in a well pitched game by both teams at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex in Leesburg, Fla.

There were only eight combined hits in the game. Nebraska (2-3) didn’t get its first base runner until the fifth inning and produced only three hits –  a double from senior cam Ybarra, a single from senior Samantha Owen and an inside-the-park home run from senior Tristen Edwards. Ohio State managed five hits, four of which were singles.

 

Senior Olivia Ferrell (1-3) started and allowed four runs (two earned) in 5.0 innings. Freshman Kaylin Kinney pitched the final two innings and did not allow a run while surrendering only one hit. Payton Buresch (2-0) tossed a three-hitter for Ohio State (3-2), allowing two runs (one earned). No player for either team had more than one hit.

 

Ohio State mounted the game’s first scoring threat in the top of the third. A leadoff hit batter, a sacrifice bunt and a two-out infield single put Buckeyes on the corners before Ferrell escaped the jam with a groundout.

 

The lone of hit of the game through the first four innings was an infield single but that changed in the top of the fifth. Following a leadoff walk, Sam Hackenbracht doubled to the gap in right center. Mariah Rodriguez then delivered a two-run single up the middle to give Ohio State a 2-0 lead. The Buckeyes still had a runner at second with no outs but Ferrell retired the next three batters.

 

The first 13 Husker hitters were retired before Ybarra became Nebraska’s first base runner with a one-out double in the bottom of the fifth. Owen then singled to second base and a Buckeye error allowed freshman pinch runner Camyl Armendariz to score Nebraska’s first run.

 

In the top of the sixth, an Ohio State batter was hit by a pitch to begin an inning for the third time in the game. A bunt single put Buckeyes on first and second with no outs, and Nebraska brought Kinney in from the bullpen. A wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third but Kinney retired the next two batters on an infield foul out and a strikeout. A two-out walk loaded the bases before freshman Billie Andrews was able to get to a ball up the middle, but the ball bounced off her glove allowing two runs to score and Ohio State to take a 4-1 lead.

Nebraska got one run back in the bottom of the seventh when Edwards hit a fly ball down the right field line that dropped for a hit. Buckeye right fielder Kaitlyn Coffman made a diving attempt at the ball, and by the time she recovered and threw the ball back to the infield, Edwards was crossing the plate with her first career inside-the-park home run. But Buresch retired the next three Huskers to preserve the victory.