In 7 days the 2018 Ohio State softball team will be kicking off their 46th season as they hit the road to sunny Boca Raton, Florida for the FAU “First Pitch” Classic. They will be taking on the Northern Illinois Huskies at 9 a.m. The Buckeyes are looking to continue on last years success. In 2017 the Buckeyes finished the season strong with 35 wins, the most in 7 years, and made its way into the Big Ten Championship game.
The Buckeyes are led by Head Coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly who in her first four seasons in Columbus has led her teams to 128 victories, including nine over teams ranked in the Top 25. Nine of her players have earned All-Big Ten or NFCA All-Midwest Region honors. And just as important, the Buckeyes are excelling in the classroom. In 2014, five players garnered Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recognition, the most of any softball program in the conference.
Schoenly’s proven herself to be a winner. Surrounded by her great staff of Assistant coaches Jenna Hall and Sharonda McDonald, and volunteer assistant coach Anna Kirk, she has built the Buckeyes into a powerhouse program. She has done such a wonderful job she was rewarded with a contract extension after last season.
The Buckeyes bring back a bevy of experienced seniors including utility player Becca Gavin, Pitcher Shelby McCombs, and infielders Maddie Marotti and Ashley Goodwin. McCombs finished last season with an outstanding 2.07 ERA against RPI Top-75 teams. Gavin Hit .348 and was named Second-team All-NFCA Midwest Region and OSU Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Big Ten last season. Goodwin played in and started all 53 games last season and had a .986 fielding percentage playing the majority of time at first base.
Also looking forward to a big season is Junior Lilli Piper who was just named to the USA Softball player of the year watch list. Piper had an outstanding sophomore season in 2017 and led the Buckeyes in nearly every offensive category, including average (.421), home runs (18), RBI (53), hits (75), slugging percentage (.787) and on-base percentage (.436). She finished third overall in the Big Ten in batting, fourth in slugging, second in hits, fifth in RBI and second in home runs. She was also honored as NFCA Third Team All-American, unanimous First Team All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Tournament Team, NFCA First Team All-Region, CollegeSportsMadness.com Third Team All-American, and FastPitchNews.com Second Team All-American.
Schoenly and her assistants did a great job in the offseason as they brought in several outstanding recruits who will be donning the new look scarlet and grey uniforms for the first time. There will be 7 freshmen on the 2018 team and the future of Ohio State softball is looking exceptional.
