The No. 11 Ohio State softball team will take on the Western Michigan Broncos at 5 p.m. today in a doubleheader at Buckeye Field.

Their rank, calculated by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, is the highest-ranking in OSU history.

KENNY GREER/THE LANTERN

The Buckeyes (38-7) were ranked No. 14 before they won 14 of their last 15 games, bumping them up three spots. The previous record was No. 13, set during the 2002 season.

OSU has been ranked in the top 25 for a school record 11th-consecutive week.

The Bucks are 11-2 at home and have won their last three contests at Buckeye Field behind a powerful offense. Last weekend the Buckeyes hit three home runs in a sweep of the Oakland Grizzlies.

Two home runs came off of the bat of freshman short stop Alicia Herron. Her eight home runs this season is tied for second best on the team and her .317 batting average is third. She attributes her success to finally getting comfortable playing college softball.

“I am just trying to keep consistent as much as I can. I think sometimes I try too hard but I am just doing what I can,” she said.

Broncos freshmen pitcher Meredith Whitney will try to slow down Herron and the explosive Buckeye attack. Whitney is 13-7 in 20 appearances and has averaged over a strikeout an inning. Sophomore pitcher Lindsay Bodeker was held out of last weekend’s series and is expected to start one game of the doubleheader.

Reeder has pitched in 29 of the Buckeyes’ 45 games this season and is six wins shy of tying the all-time wins record at OSU. Reeder has 70 wins over her illustrious career, and with only eight games remaining in the regular season, coach Linda Kalafatis wants to get her out on the field.

Western Michigan (19-17) is 3-6 on the road but has won four games in a row. The doubleheader, against Western Michigan, ends a six-game home stand and a four-game out-of-conference streak.

The first-place Buckeyes will hit the road this weekend to take on the No. 12 Northwestern Wildcats from Evanston, Ill.

Ohio State finishes the season with six conference games. The Buckeyes control their own destiny to win the third Big Ten Championship in program history.

Evan Winkofsky can be reached at [email protected].