All Senior Day’s are special at a place like Ohio State, but what could make it even more special? How about a come-from-behind win complete with a dramatic home run by one of those seniors to cap off a weekend sweep of a Big Ten foe?
That’s exactly what happened at Buckeye Field Sunday as senior Emily Clark belted a two-run shot in the sixth inning to complete a three-game sweep of visiting Illinois.
The Illini put the Buckeyes in a hole early with two-runs in the top of the 1st inning on an RBI double to make it 2-0, then added to the lead with a two-run homer in the top of the 2nd inning to make it 4-0.
OSU chipped away in the bottom of the 3rd inning on an RBI single by Ashley Prange to pull within 4-1, then added two more in the bottom of the 4th. First, Brianna Betschel singled to center field to bring in Kaitlyn Coffman, then Emily Clark walked with the bases loaded, and just like that, the score was 4-3 Illinois.
That set the stage for the heroics in the bottom of the 6th. Lilli Piper singled, then Emily Clark sent one off the scoreboard for the go-ahead 5-4 lead. Starting pitcher Morgan Ray was able to settled down after giving up four runs early in the game, and closed things out in the 7th inning for her 16th win of the year.
The victory is the Buckeyes eighth-straight and improves their record to 34-14 overall and 15-5 in the Big Ten. They will conclude their regular season with a three game set this coming weekend at Iowa.
