Ohio State softball’s sweep over Penn State was another home run-filled effort

The softball Buckeyes pulled off a sweep over Penn State on Wednesday, finishing the doubleheader with a 9-1 six-inning win, and a 7-4 victory to cap off the night. The two wins put the team at 26-8 overall (7-4 in Big Ten games) which should help Ohio State move up a bit in the national rankings, where they’ve hovered in the high-teens/low-20s, and currently sit at No. 22 in both the ESPN and USA Today/NFCA Coaches polls.

Big hits and home runs have highlighted an already-impressive season for the Buckeye softball team, and they continued that trend against the Nittany Lions, notching three additional home runs during the doubleheader and nine hits for extra bases. Taylor White was a show stopper during the pair of games, hitting .714 (with 5 hits), three runs scored, a triple, a double, a pair of RBI and a slugging percentage of 1.143. (I mean, damn!)

It wasn’t just White making contact at the plate, Emily Clark claimed her seventh home run of the season, and her 100th career RBI in the process. Similarly, Ashley Goodwin’s two-run homer was her sixth of the season and pushed her to the 100 career-hit mark.

Not all of the game’s big hits made it over the fence though, with Bailee Sturgeon notching a hit in her ninth game in a row, and Bri Betschel claiming a pair of triples in the doubleheader. The Buckeyes definitely have a couple heavy bats on the roster, but one of the cool things about this year’s squad is how many various players have had their own big-hit moment this season — and it’s not over yet.

Leading the Buckeyes in home runs on the season is Lilli Piper, who is dominating with 16 dingers so far. She only saw three at-bats against the Nittany Lions, so while she didn’t add to her overall total, she sits just two HRs shy of tying Garner-Webb’s Katie Prebble for the most home runs this season — a stat she should be able to top by season’s end. Piper finished last season with 18 homers, and is on her way to joining the 50-career HR Club by the time she finishes her career at Ohio State.

After losing 0-3 to Indiana in their Big Ten opening series, the Buckeyes have won their last six and sit at No. 3 in the conference, just behind Michigan (8-1 B1G, 33-7-0) and Indiana (7-2 B1G, 15-24-0). The Hoosiers may be doing well in conference play, but that overall season record is far from impressive, so a regression to the mean is likely.

The Ohio State softball team is completely immersed in Big Ten play at this point in the season, and will next face Northwestern on the road for a weekend series, April 13-15.