20 Courtney Pruner
First Base/Pitcher/Outfield
Jr., Bats: L - Throws: L
Akron, Ohio, Ellet H.S.
Ohio Ice
Sport & Leisure Studies
Kalafatis on Pruner: “Courtney has returned from her injury last season nearly as strong as she’s ever been. It’s been a tough road and she’ll have to play through some pain, but Courtney loves the game and loves the Buckeyes so I believe good things will happen for her. We will probably have to DP her to save her some wear and tear, but we have the depth this year to do that. We’re still looking for Pruner to be a top performer for us this season.”
At a glance: Junior captain ... left-handed power hitter with 14 home runs and 70 runs batted in her first two seasons ... was Ohio State’s DP as a freshman and right fielder as a sophomore ... had hip surgery in Dec. 2007 and missed entire 2008 season ... one of only two left-handed pitchers in the Big Ten her first two seasons ... notched her first two pitching wins of the season on the same day in 2006 over eventual national runner-up Northwestern ... owns a career 6-1 record in the circle with a 3.43 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 53 innings ... career .388 batter at Buckeye Field (42-108) ... all-time HR leader in Ohio high school softball history.
2008 (Redshirt Sophomore Season): Missed the season due to offseason surgery
2007 (Sophomore Season): Hitting: First-team All-Big Ten ... batted .336 with seven homers and 37 RBI ... named team’s Most Improved Player at postseason banquet ... in Big Ten games only, owned team-best .415 (17-41) average, five doubles, nine walks and a .529 on base pct. (avg. ranked fifth in Big Ten, OBP ranked second) ... named to All-Big Ten tournament team (.444, 4-9, 3 RBI) ... took over RF for last 39-straight games of season after splitting time at DP to start ... played in all but two games and started all but five ... owned OSU’s hottest bat to end the season (batted .457 in last 24 games, 29-61, 9 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI) ... second on team in HR, RBI (fifth-most in season at OSU), doubles (11, tie), runs (37, tie), on base pct. (.453) and slugging pct. (.569) ... hit team-high .357 (10-28) in May (12 games) ... in home games, led team with .456 average (26-57), .562 on base pct. and .684 slugging pct. ... led team in batting with runner at third base and less than two outs (.750, 15-20) ... in 11 total night games, batted team-best .519 (14-27) with three HR ... had career-best nine game hitting streak from April 21 to May 1 ... hit two HR at No. 7 Northwestern (both off Eileen Canney) in 5-3 win April 13 ... hit team-best .444 in Palm Springs Feb. 23-25 with a HR, five RBI and five runs ... Pitching: had four appearances ... went 0-0 with a 12.00 ERA and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings ... threw 1.1 innings of no-hit relief at No. 7 Northwestern April 14 ... pitched Feb. 9 vs. No. 1 Arizona (0.0 IP, 4 ER), Feb. 25 vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (0.2 IP) and vs. Wisconsin April 1 (0.1 IP).
2006 (Freshman Season): Hitting: Belted seven home runs, the second-most ever by an OSU freshman ... four triples and 27 walks tied the OSU freshman record ... 33 RBI are the third-most by on OSU rookie and her 29 runs are fourth ... hit .242 and her RBI, home run and walk totals ranked second on the team ... homered off Arizona All-American Alicia Hollowell Feb. 25 (her first run allowed in 51 innings) ... ranked second in the Big Ten in triples (4) ... ranked second on team in slugging percentage (.483) and fifth in on-base percentage (.370) ... eight multiple-RBI games tied for second on team ... hit two home runs at Miami April 19 ... got off to a fast start, getting at least one hit in 11 of her first 14 games to give her a season-high .324 average (12-for-37) on March 3 ... tied the OSU single-game record for walks with four vs. Central Michigan March 18 ... her first collegiate hit was a home run (Feb. 11 vs. Portland St.) ... Pitching: went 6-1 in the circle with a 2.96 ERA ... struck out 49 batters in 52.0 innings pitched ... got her first two collegiate wins on same day, April 9 vs. No. 15 Northwestern, first in relief (one inning pitched, three strikeouts with the bases loaded), then in her first start (7 IP, 6 H, 7 K) ... with runners on base, batters hit just .186 against her, best on the OSU staff (lowered it to .143 in Big Ten games) ... went 3-0 in Big Ten games with a 1.53 ERA.
Prior to Ohio State: Is the all-time home run leader in Ohio High School Athletic Association history ... was the 2005 Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year ... was first-team all-city at least twice in three different sports and captained all three teams at least one year ... in softball, earned first-team all-city honors all four years of high school ... earned All-Ohio honors three times, including first-team in 2005 ... was named the MVP of the City Series three times ... first-team all-district as a sophomore, junior and senior ... all-city academic team all four years ... Cleveland Plain Dealer “Best of the Best” as a junior and senior and was a first-team selection to the Akron Beacon Journal All-Star team as a sophomore, junior and senior ... was named the Player of the Year as a senior by those two newspapers ... led Ellet to city and sectional titles all four years ... hit .434 with 11 home runs as a senior and had a 21-5 pitching record with a 0.78 ERA ... in volleyball, earned honorable mention All-Ohio honors as a senior and was all-city three times ... led volleyball team to the city championship three times ... in basketball, was all-city three times and team won city her senior year.
Personal: Daughter of Dave and the late Marsha Pruner ... has an older brother, Chip (26) ... would like to teach physical education and coach after graduation ... enjoys spending time with friends, shopping and being on the phone.
