Sam Marder broke the all-time Ohio State home run record as the No. 11 softball team swept Penn State 2-0 and 6-0 Saturday in a doubleheader.

Ohio State junior catcher Sam Marder takes a pitch during the April 29 game against Western Michigan. OSU won 1-0. Photo by chris uhler.CHRIS UHLER/THE LANTERNOhio State junior catcher Sam Marder takes a pitch during the April 29 game against Western Michigan. OSU won 1-0.
Marder, a junior catcher, broke the record in the bottom half of the sixth inning in the Buckeyes’ game two victory over the Nittany Lions. The record-breaking home run was the 42nd of her career and 14th of the season.

Sophomore Lindsay Bodeker went the distance in game two, giving up just five hits in seven innings. Bodeker improved to 16-4 this season and notched her 13th career complete game.

Game two was scoreless until freshman left fielder Vanessa Spears singled in junior right fielder Courtney Pruner in the fifth inning.

OSU added an insurance run in the sixth inning on Marder’s record-setting home run. She broke the record of former Buckeye Kristine Himes, who set the record in 2003.

In game one senior captain Kim Reeder shut down the Penn State offense and moved into second place on OSU’s single-season shutouts list.

Reeder (23-5) has 10 shutouts this year and is one behind the single-season record. She gave up two hits and struck out eight batters over seven innings.

In the fifth inning Spears singled in the first run of the game that scored sophomore center fielder Dee Dee Hillman from third.

OSU’s offense came to life in the sixth inning as the Buckeyes scored five runs. Spears once again led the Buckeye charge and hit a three-run shot to right center field.

The Buckeyes took a 6-0 lead on Spears’ second home run of the season. She finished the weekend 3-7 with five RBIs.

OSU (44-9, 16-4 Big Ten) finished the season second in the Big Ten conference.

The No. 11 softball team earned an 11 seed in the NCAA tournament and will host the regional from Buckeye Field. The Buckeyes will welcome Kentucky (32-21), BYU (39-16) and Canisius (26-23).

OSU will play its first regional game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The NCAA regional has a double-elimination format. The rest of the games are to be announced and will be decided by the winners of games one and two. The final game is 1:00 p.m. Saturday. OSU hosted a regional in 2007 and lost to Cal State Fullerton in the championship game.

The Buckeyes are the top seed in the Columbus regional. This is the program’s third appearance in the last four seasons.

Evan Winkofsky can be reached at [email protected].