The Buckeyes will be in a familiar location when they kick off their NCAA Tournament run on Friday afternoon against North Carolina.
After posting a 43-12-1 record this season, Ohio State softball received an invitation to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2022 campaign, marking their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 10 seasons.
This is the first NCAA Tournament appearance under first-year head coach Kirin Kumar, who led Miami (OH) to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons.
The Buckeyes didn’t have much luck when it came to the draw for this year’s NCAA Tournament, as they will be in a regional that is just one of two in this year’s NCAA Tournament that features three teams with at least 40 wins this year. First up for Ohio State is North Carolina, which won 40 games this season.
The winner of the contest between the Buckeyes and Tar Heels will move on to battle the winner of the game between Tennessee and Miami (OH). The winner of the double-elimination regional will move to face the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional in a Super Regional next weekend.
History isn’t on Ohio State’s side since the Buckeyes have played in the Knoxville Regional in five of their last six NCAA Tournament appearances, failing to reach a Super Regional in any of their trips to Knoxville. The only Super Regional appearance for Ohio State came back in 2009 when their postseason run started at home before they were swept in the Athens Regional the following weekend by Georgia.
The Buckeyes have advanced to the Women’s College World Series once in program history, with their only appearance coming in 1982.
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Friday’s game between Ohio State and North Carolina should feature plenty of fireworks since the squads have two of the best offenses in the country. The Buckeyes lead the country with 473 runs, 137 home runs, 8.44 runs per game, and a .707 slugging percentage.
On the other side, North Carolina’s .347 batting average is ninth in the country. Back in 2019, the Buckeyes and Tar Heels matched up in the Knoxville Regional as well, with North Carolina earning a spot in the Regional Final against Tennessee with their win over Ohio State. The 2019 NCAA Tournament appearance was the most recent for the Tar Heels prior to this season.
Pacing the Buckeye offense is the dynamic duo of Reagan Miliken and Jasmyn Burns. Miliken has knocked in 71 runs this year, which is the most in a single season in program history. Burns sits just one RBI short of matching Miliken’s total this year, making them the first pair of Ohio State softball players to each knock in at least 70 runs in a season.
Burns leads the team with 23 home runs. Hadley Parisien ranks second with 19 homers, followed by Miliken and Kami Kortokrax, who each have 18 big flies this season.
For as prolific as Miliken and Burns have been when it comes to knocking in runs this season, North Carolina has a player with an even higher total this season. Kat Rodriguez tied a single-season ACC record with 83 runs batted in. The graduate student who made stops at Quinnipiac and Pitt earlier in her college softball career has been nearly impossible for opponents to retire this year, sporting a .453 batting average.
Along with Rodriguez, Carlie Myrtle and Sanaa Thompson have each driven in at least 50 runs this season.
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Looking to slow down the offensive attack of the Tar Heels is pitcher Lorin Boutte, who led the Big Ten with 140 innings pitched, 119 strikeouts, and 19 wins. Boutte is part of a trifecta of true freshmen who have solidified the Buckeye pitching rotation. Fellow freshmen Kassandra Gewecke and Layna Gerhard have combined to post an 11-0 record, while fourth-year junior Kennedy Kay is 13-3 on the season.
Despite going up against a couple of the toughest teams in the country, the Ohio State pitching rotation can find confidence in the fact that they pitched in a conference that is sending eight teams to the NCAA Tournament, setting a conference record.
Adding even more spice to this weekend’s Knoxville Regional is the possibility we could see Ohio State head coach Kirin Kumar match up against her former team. In four seasons as head coach of Miami (OH), Kumar posted a 174-56-1 record with the RedHawks, making the NCAA Tournament in each of her four seasons with the school.
Kumar should have a little familiarity with heading to the Knoxville Regional since her team was placed there in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Friday’s Ohio State game can be seen on ESPNU after the first game of the regional between the Volunteers and RedHawks. The winners of Game 1 and Game 2 will move on to play on Saturday, with the winner of that contest securing a spot in Sunday’s Regional Final.