This past weekend, from Friday, March 7, until Sunday, March 9, the Oakland softball team competed in five games at the Ohio State Tournament, going 1-4 during the stretch.
In the tournament, the Golden Grizzlies played against the top team in the country, the Texas Longhorns, the Merrimack Warriors, the Kent State Golden Flashes, and twice against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Oakland started the tournament against Merrimack, and the Golden Grizzlies quickly established their dominance in the matchup.
At the bottom of the first, Brooklyn Plitz was walked to mark Oakland’s first at-bat. Next, Storm Kentros bunted to advance Plitz to second before Alyssa Balcom sent Plitz home with a single, putting the Golden Grizzlies up 1-0 with just a single out.
With Reese Ruhlman up to bat, she was walked ahead of Kamryn Troyer, who found contact for a single, loading the bases for Oakland. With Madi Herrington up to bat next, she sent a deep shot to left-center field for a grand slam to put the Golden Grizzlies up 5-0.
The Warriors responded throughout the game, with sole runs coming in the third and fifth innings, but Oakland’s hot start in the first was too much for Merrimack to overcome, giving the Golden Grizzlies the win. Balcom pitched the entire game for Oakland, notching seven strikeouts in the process.
The Golden Grizzlies struggled in their game against the No. 1 ranked Longhorns. Notably, the Longhorns were the runner-up of last season’s Women’s College World Series, losing a best-of-three series to the Oklahoma Sooners.
Texas nearly put the game away in the first inning, scoring seven runs, leaving the Golden Grizzlies behind in a big way early. In the following two innings, the Longhorns homered three separate times before Leighann Goode hit an RBI double to put Texas up 13-0.
Although Oakland held the Longhorns scoreless the rest of the game, the Golden Grizzlies struggled to get on base. Plitz and Troyer were the only Golden Grizzlies to record hits, leading to the game being called early in favor of Texas.
With a chance of redemption against Kent State following the loss to Texas, the Golden Grizzlies found themselves down the entire game.
The Golden Flashes got on the scoreboard first, as a walk with the bases loaded gave Kent State a 1-0 lead in the first inning. In the second, Kent State’s Carley Penner hit an RBI single, sending two batters home to elevate the score to 3-0.
Oakland responded in the bottom of the second as Mia Konyvka sent a line drive to right center, sending Herrington home. However, the Golden Flashes answered with two more runs in the third after Kam Utendorf reached on a fielder’s choice and a Megan Claerhout single.
With some ground to make up, Oakland did just that in the bottom of the fourth. Konyvka hit a solo home run before Plitz grounded out to send Alexa Kownacki home. Kentros hit an RBI single on the next at-bat, putting the Golden Grizzlies down 5-4.
Although Oakland scored again behind a two-RBI single from Herrington in the bottom of the sixth, Kent State continued to rattle in runs, resulting in another loss for the Golden Grizzlies, with a final score of 8-6.
In both matchups against the Buckeyes, the Golden Grizzlies came up short, letting the Buckeyes get the better of them.
Although Taylor Carraway and Ruhlman each rattled a homer off in the first game, Ohio State came away on top 10-2 in five innings. In the second matchup, the Buckeyes shut the Golden Grizzlies out, 10-0.
Next, the Golden Grizzlies will kick off conference play with three road games against the Robert Morris Colonials starting on Friday, March 14, and ending with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 15.