No. 1 seed and 12th-ranked Wildcats score all eight runs in fourth inning

EVANSTON, Ill. – Top-seed and 12th-ranked Northwestern scored all eight of its runs in the fourth inning and Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Lauren Delaney held the Ohio State softball team to one hit as the host Wildcats eliminated the Buckeyes, 8-0, Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament at Sharon J. Drysdale Field in Evanston.

It was a rematch of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament championship game in Columbus that defending Big Ten champion Ohio State won, 2-1. The Buckeyes are now 33-23 overall and will await the NCAA tournament selection show Sunday night to see if their season will continue.

Big Ten co-champion Northwestern is now 35-13 and will play either Minnesota or Purdue in a semifinal game Friday afternoon.

Ohio State junior Kim Reeder shut down the Wildcats’ lineup through three innings, but in the bottom of the fourth Northwestern sent 13 batters to the plate and saw 10-consecutive Wildcats reach base safely.

Delaney shut out the Buckeyes twice in Columbus April 6, throwing a no-hitter and a three-hitter with a combined 25 strikeouts in the doubleheader. In the top of the first inning Thursday, it appeared Ohio State would not fall to the same fate, getting two runners aboard when sophomore Sam Marder walked and freshman Dee Dee Hillman singled to left-centerfield.

But Hillman’s single would be the Buckeyes’ only hit of the game and they would have only one more base runner – that coming when Hillman walked in the third inning. Delaney (32-8) retired 13 of the last 14 batters she faced – all but Hillman’s walk – and when Ohio State did not score in the top of the fifth the game ended early by the eight-run rule.

In Northwestern’s big fourth inning, Reeder (18-16) retired the first batter with a fly-out, but the Wildcats then had a walk, single, single, infield fielder’s choice, single, single and hit by pitch to go up five-nothing with the bases loaded. That brought on OSU reliever Megan Miller, who walked in a run and then allowed Northwestern’s only extra-base hit of the inning, a two-run double by Nicole Pauly.

Postgame Notes – No. 1 seed/12th-ranked Northwestern 8, No. 8 seed Ohio State 0
Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals ... May 8, 2008
- Despite the loss, Ohio State was making its seventh Big Ten tournament appearance in the last eight years. Only Michigan (eight), Iowa (eight) and Illinois (seven) have been to as many Big Ten tournaments in that span.
- Buckeyes at the plate: Freshman Dee Dee Hillman had a single in two-of-three games against Northwestern this season, the only Buckeye to have a hit in more than one game against Lauren Delaney.
- Buckeyes in the circle: Junior Kim Reeder’s seven earned runs allowed all came in the fourth inning and were the most earned runs she allowed in a game this season.
- Buckeyes in the field: The Buckeyes did not commit an error Thursday. Coupled with no errors in their regular-season finale against Ohio University April 30, it marks the first time this season Ohio State did not commit an error in back-to-back games.
- Ohio State turned its 12th double-play of the season in the second inning when shortstop Whitney Cooper made a leaping snag of a shallow pop-up into left-centerfield, then turned and threw back to Rebecca Schultz at second base to get a force out.
- Weather: Mostly sunny and 53 degrees at first pitch. Wind 10 MPH in from right field.
- Ohio State is now 24-58 all-time against Northwestern, including 1-2 in the Big Ten tournament.
- Northwestern has been to the Women’s College World Series the last two seasons.

Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State Head Coach
Opening statement
“We played pretty strong there for three innings and I thought we battled much better in our at bats. We let the game get away from us and gave them too many bases – five walks and a hit batter. Northwestern is too good. They’re going to take advantage of that. They’re a momentum team and they certainly carried that momentum. We tried to making a pitching change and stop some of that momentum, but didn’t get the job done there, so Northwestern proved they were the better team today. The score doesn’t look pretty look pretty but I’m proud of the effort our kids gave and the way we prepared to play here today.”

On Kim Reeder’s effectiveness early on and Northwestern’s fourth inning
“I thought Kim was throwing good pitches and was keeping them guessing. Sam (Marder) and Kim called their own game and were doing a good job of mixing it up. Even some of those hits early on in that fourth inning I thought we fisted them, balls that just kind of crawled over the infield. I was proud of their effort. We got in a lull there. We had some keys we wanted to focus on in our at bats and we did that really well at times, and at other times we didn’t. Delaney started to use her change up, which is a great pitch. She’s a great thrower and our chore now is to get better to face her the next two years.”

On the difference in the team facing Lauren Delaney today compared to in the regular-season (Delaney won twice April 6)
“The first time we faced her we weren’t the same team we were early in the year and at the end of the year. We were really struggling confidence wise then. Our kids have felt more confident, they were ready to battle and ready for this new chance, if you will. We did a good job staying off the rise ball most of the time and the change up some of the time.”

On a young Ohio State team gaining experience from playing in the Big Ten tournament
“That’s something we talked about after the game. I would like to know the experience level of the rest of the teams around the Big Ten, because when we pulled Kim Reeder we had only two returning starters out there. So, being in these situations is critical for the future of our program. In a lot of ways we’ll show a very different team next year even thought we’ll have a lot of returners. We’ll have some healthy kids back and some new kids who I think will help us right away.”

Kim Reeder, Ohio State junior pitcher
On Northwestern’s big fourth inning
“Even in the fourth inning I still felt that I was getting them on the pitches I wanted to get them on. Like coach said, I was getting them to fist it and they weren’t hitting it hard until the last two hits I gave up. So, I was still pretty confident in my performance and I didn’t notice anything they were doing differently.”

On several Northwestern hits not being hit hard
“It’s a little frustrating, but I’ve been playing the game long enough to know that it’s a matter of luck when they fall in between fielders like that. There are nine fielders out there and there’s not much you can do when they fall in between people like that.”

Brittany Vanderink, senior captain
On the goals of the team at the plate today against Delaney
“We wanted to go into the game today attacking. That was our mentality – attack the strikes, don’t get down in the count, stay off the rise ball and sit back on the change up.”

On the experience of playing in the Big Ten tournament for next season’s team
“I definitely think the experiences we went through this year and the good pitchers we faced all season will help the team next year. We’re pretty young and the experience of just going against them and playing these games is a good learning experience for the team and they’re only going to get better.”

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Contact: Tim Stried, stried.3@osu.edu