The Ohio State softball team won a nail-biter in the first game of the Knoxville Region of the 2019 NCAA Tournament Friday. It was a pitcher’s duel with OSU’s Morgan Ray trading scoreless innings with Brittany Pickett all the way through five innings.
The Buckeyes finally manufactured a run on some help from the Tar Heels in the top of the sixth inning. Brianna Betschel led off the inning with a single, followed by a Lilli Piper grounder to second base. What should have been a routine out was thrown over the first baseman’s head and suddenly OSU had runners on second and third with no outs.
A soft line out followed, and with one out, Ohio State dialed up a squeeze play that was executed perfectly. Brianna Betschel broke on the pitch and Ashley Prange laid down a beautiful bunt to allow the go-ahead run to cross easily.
That was all that Ray would need. She continued to shut down the Tar Heel offense and finished out a seven-inning complete game shutout for a 1-0 victory. She allowed just two hits on eight strikeouts to advance Ohio State to the winner’s bracket.
The Buckeyes will take on Tennessee Saturday at Noon. The winner stays in the winner’s bracket and heads to the championship game of the regional. The loser plays the winner of Longwood and North Carolina later in the day Saturday.
