The Ohio State softball team (25-22, 4-10) stole the thunder of Marshall’s Herd (40-15, 20-4) yesterday after a storm delay at Buckeye Field.
Catcher Stacy Hibma and third baseman Kristine Himes led the Buckeyes offensively with a home run and four RBIs each.
The ball thundered off Hibma’s bat in the bottom of the fourth for her first home run of the season.
Later that inning, first base coach Drema Neal was ejected for the game for arguing with the first base umpire.
“He made a mistake, and I brought it to his attention,” she said after both games.
Two close calls that went against the Buckeyes were the source of her frustration.
“I just told him it was his second (missed call),” Neal said.
Two more of Hibma’s RBIs came in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, the bases loaded and the Buckeyes down by one.
She singled to left field to drive home left fielder Meghan Rowlands and second baseman Jennifer Link to win game one.
“I like being in those positions,” Hibma said.
Himes’ got her home run and all her runs batted in one thunderous crack of the bat. In the bottom of the third in the second game, Himes went yard for the grand slam and her ninth homer of the season.
That swing put the Buckeyes up 6-0 on the Thundering Herd, and OSU never looked back.
OSU’s first two runs came earlier in the third when Marshall pitcher De’Shaun Drake walked home Rowlands and Link.
With six strikeouts in the second game, pitcher Katie Chain advanced her career strikeout record to just two shy of 700.
As a result of the rain delay, darkness began to fall on Buckeye Field in the fourth inning of game two.
Down by six runs, Marshall seemed to slow the pace of the game to push for the cancellation, as a game is not official until it has reached the fifth inning.
But despite the Herd’s attempts, the game did reach its minimum amount of innings, and OSU notched another win to its record.
Today the Buckeyes travel to Akron to take on the Zips of Akron at 7 p.m. at Firestone Stadium.
