April has started off poorly for the softball team, which recorded a season-high 15 hits against its Big Ten opponent on Wednesday but still managed to come up short.
Ohio State (23-11, 5-1 Big Ten), a team ranked No. 64 in the nation, rode a six-game winning streak into the doubleheader against the Bulls (7-17, 0-3 Mid-American Conference), and continued its winning ways as it beat the Bulls 5-0 and 8-5.
After the consecutive losses to the Buckeyes, Buffalo finds itself on a six-game losing skid with its last victory since beating No. 15 Baylor on March 17.
"Every time you face a Big Ten opponent it's going to be a challenge," said head coach Jennifer Teague. "They definitely were beatable and that's the frustrating part, especially in the second game."
In the first shutout loss, the Bulls connected for just two hits throughout the entire contest as Ohio State rallied behind outstanding pitching from Mikayla Endicott. The Buckeyes also used a four-run second inning to jump out to an early lead, which would not be relinquished.
"In the first game, we just didn't come out with any energy," Teague said. "We allowed too many batters on base with walks and hit-by-pitches and their pitching was just too strong as they allowed us just a few hits."
The Buffalo bats came alive in the second game of the doubleheader as the Bulls doubled their hit total in the first inning alone and jumped out to a 1-0 lead. The run was the first time the Bulls had scored in 14 innings after being shutout in their last two games.
Teague was proud of her team's will to keep playing.
"The girls never gave up and kept fighting 'til the end," Teague said. "We got a lot of runners on base throughout the game so we definitely had a lot of production. We scored in the first, third, fourth and last inning so, they really battled it out."
The Buckeyes quickly demolished Buffalo's lead with two homeruns in the bottom of the third, accounting for five runs. The Bulls kept close with their own rallies, sparked by freshmen infielder Alexis Curtiss who hit a perfect 4-for-4 in the contest.
The Bulls scored two runs in the last inning but the Ohio State lead proved insurmountable.
Despite the loss, the Bulls had five players with multi-hit games. Junior outfielder Caitlin Dekker, junior third baseman Alyssa Ward, junior first baseman Jessica Griffin, and sophomore shortstop Tori Pettine each had two hits in the game to go along with the four hits from Curtiss.
"We had a lot of players play big in the second game," Teague said. "For the most part our young players are stepping up, which is good, but we need everyone else to follow in."
Teague still remains optimistic for the future of the season.
"I need to go back and speak to the coaching staff on what we have to do to improve going forward," Teague said. "We just need to come back and practice harder and be better on the mound and see if we can show some consistency within our offense and our defense."
The Bulls will attempt to get their first conference win this weekend as they host Toledo (9-21, 2-2 MAC) in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Friday
Email: sports@ubspectrum.com
