The Ohio State softball team defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 7-2 Saturday and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional for the first time in program history.
The Buckeyes have made six trips to the NCAA tournament in the program’s 36-year history, but this is the first time any team has advanced to this stage of the tournament.
Coach Linda Kalafatis called the win one of the most exciting games she has ever experienced.
“We knew we had the ingredients. We knew we had some kids that really wanted this badly. Our leadership has been excellent and we felt like if we stayed on the right path [this season], then we would do it,” Kalafatis said.
OSU is 47-9 this season, the second-highest win record in school history, and trails the record set in 2002 by eight.
ZACH TUGGLE/THE LANTERNPitcher Kim Reeder, right, hugs catcher Sam Marder after the last out of the Buckeyes’ first win in a regional final in the program’s history.Senior captain Kim Reeder etched her name atop the history books on the record-setting day. The win was Reeder’s 77th of her career and 26th of the season, setting new OSU records.
“It is a testament to how well the team has done behind me in the last four years,” Reeder said.
Kalafatis said Reeder is a special player because even when she is not at her best she grinds it out and is good enough to help the team win. That persistence and attitude has helped Reeder secure a spot among the all-time greats to play OSU softball.
The Buckeyes powered their way to victory behind four home runs. The most dramatic was a two-run home run from junior catcher Sam Marder, which was a part of a three-run fifth inning that helped secure OSU the victory.
Marder attributed the home runs to the chicken sandwiches the team got from the hospitality tent before the game.
But the real focus may have come from Marder’s perspective on the game, which she shared with the team before the first pitch Saturday.
“I told the team it doesn’t matter who is on the field. Doesn’t matter if you’re playing in the national championship or a game on a Wednesday, it’s the same game no matter what,” Marder said.
When asked if she thought at the start of the year that the team would have so much success, Kalafatis said she knew this team would make it this far, and expects them to move on farther in the tournament.
“The ultimate goal for us this season is to get to Oklahoma for the college World Series,” Kalafatis said.
OSU will travel to Georgia Thursday to take on the Bulldogs in a best-of-three series to secure a trip to the World Series.
Evan Winkofsky can be reached at [email protected].
