Buckeye excellence is not exclusive to the football field or the basketball court. Around the Oval is our way of keeping you informed of the amazing things happening with the other 34 varsity sports on campus.
B1G Time Win
The Buckeye seniors went out the right way, Saturday afternoon as the No. 12 Ohio State women's lacrosse team downed No. 9 Penn State 16-13 on Senior Day at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The seniors stole the show on Senior Day, as Rainey Hodgson and Cian Dabrowski combined for 15 points. The pair each had four goals with Hodgson accumulating four assists and Dabrowski three. Fellow senior, goalkeeper Katie Frederick, also came up big for the Bucks making 13 saves.
“The past few games with Penn State have been really close and the seniors and the team made it a mission this week to come out and get the win,” said head coach Alexis Venechanos in an Ohio State release.
With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 11-1 on the season, which is the best start in program history. The win is also the 45th for the current senior class, tying the 2015 senior class for most wins in four seasons at Ohio State.
“We’ve been winning a few games in a row now and every game we’re learning and getting better," said Venechanos. "This group is really hungry. They’re students of the game as well, we’re gaining confidence, but I also think we’re looking forward to getting even better down the stretch.”
The Buckeyes take their nine-game winning streak to College Park next Saturday where they'll take on top-ranked Maryland for first place in the B1G.
Double Sweep
The No.24 Buckeye softball team got it done every way this week, sweeping both Penn State and Rutgers thanks to stellar pitching, great defense and offensive explosions.
The week started with a Wednesday double-header against Penn State. In game one, Ohio State pitcher Shelby Hursh was the story. The junior was unhittable – literally. Hursh recorded 10 strikeouts on her way to her second career no-hitter. It was the program's 15th ever no-hitter and first since Hursh herself threw one against Utah Valley her freshman season.
On the offensive end, Alex Bayne hit her team-leading 13th home run in the first, putting the Buckeyes ahead 2-0. The Scarlet and Gray got an insurance run in the fifth, thanks to a RBI single from Erika Leonard, and came away with a 3-0 win.
"We had a great plan going in to the day and executed," Hursh said in an Ohio State release. "A lot of credit goes to [catcher] Cammi Prantl, coach [Kelly Kovach] Schoenly and the defense behind me for making plays. No hitters never happen just because of one person. It was a total team effort."
Game two was a back and forth offense-heavy contest in which the Buckeyes had the final word. Unsurprisingly, Bayne launched another homer, this time off the video board in centerfield, to tie the game at 8 in the fifth. Ohio State promptly took the lead in the fifth, and held it the remainder of the contest earning a 12-10 win.
Ohio State then headed to Piscataway, N.J. where it earned its second B1G sweep of the week, downing Rutgers 17-8, 11-9 and 10-0. The offense was the story all weekend, especially in game one where the Buckeyes launched five home runs and scored 13 in the final three innings.
With the wins, Ohio State improves to 24-8-1 and 9-1-1 in the Big Ten. The team is currently riding a seven game unbeaten streak, which they'll put on the line Wednesday as they host Dayton at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
The Buckeyes then head to Ann Arbor for a three-game series against top-ranked Michigan.
Other Scores and News
- No. 2 Men's Volleyball: Swept Lindenwood 3-0, clinching the program's 25th regular season conference title and extending its win streak to 16 matches.
- No. 2 Women's Tennis: Swept both Iowa and Nebraska, 7-0. The team has yet to drop and individual match during Big Ten play, winning a total of 41 matches to 0.
- No. 3 Men's Tennis: Downed No. 20 Kentucky 4-2 and swept both Indiana and Purdue 4-0. The men's team has also not lost an individual match during Big Ten play, winning a total of 28 matches to 0.
- No. 3 Women's Rowing: Won three races against No. 6 Michigan and four against Michigan State.
- Baseball: Ended seven game win streak by dropping four straight games, losing to Kent State 8-3 Wednesday and getting swept by B1G foe Maryland in a weekend series.
- Men's Lacrosse: Lost another close game to a top-ranked team, falling to No. 17 Johns Hopkins 13-12 for a sixth straight loss.
- Men's Golf: Finished fourth at Robert Kepler Invitational.
- Women's Golf: Finished fifth at Silverado Showdown.
