Softball: Ohio State bats silenced in 3-1 loss in Game Two against Wisconsin

Tayla Davis
Sat, 31 Mar 2018 21:45:07 +0000
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Emily Clark follows through on her swing, hitting a double against Wright State on Sep.
24. Credit: Gretchen Rudolph | For The Lantern

Nothing seemed to go the way of the Ohio State softball team (20-8, 1-4 Big Ten) in its 3-1 loss to Wisconsin (16-12, 2-1 Big Ten) on Saturday.

The Buckeyes were coming off of a thrilling late comeback victory in the first game of this three-game series, but the spark didn’t carry over to Game 2.

“I think we were a little bit too passive,” Ohio State head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly said. “When we play our more aggressive style we’re more successful and I think we need to do that.”

Ohio State scored just one run off an RBI single from junior second baseman Emily Clark that scored senior center fielder Taylor White in the bottom of the third inning. Wisconsin freshman pitcher Haley Hestekin held Ohio State to just five hits and zero walks, striking out five Buckeyes.

“We let her control what we were going to do,” Clark said. “She had us guessing and I think we just need to be more aggressive.”

Junior pitcher Kat Duvall started out on the mound for Ohio State after closing out Wisconsin in the first game where she struck out the side in the seventh inning to clinch the Buckeye win.

The first two innings went quietly, but Wisconsin senior shortstop Brooke Wyderski changed that when she homered to left-center in the top of the third. Freshman third baseman Taylor Johnson followed her teammate with a long ball of her one, cranking one over the left field wall to extend the Badgers’ lead to 2-0.

An error by the Buckeyes in the top of the seventh allowed Johnson to get home, providing the Badgers with insurance to bring the score to 3-1.