By Danielle Daniels
May 11, 2025
Ohio State is headed to its 13th NCAA Tournament in program history
COLUMBUS, Ohio – On the strength of a 43-win regular season, the Ohio State softball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament.
The Buckeyes (43-12-1) learned their postseason fate on Sunday evening as the 64-team field was unveiled on ESPN2. Ohio State will be the No. 2 seed in the Knoxville Regional and will take on North Carolina in the first game of the double elimination regional on Friday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The other game will feature Tennessee, the No. 7 overall seed in the tournament, vs. Miami (Ohio).
Under first-year head coach Kirin Kumar, this will be Ohio State’s 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and the sixth in the last 10 seasons. Kumar guided Miami University to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2021-24 before becoming the Buckeyes’ head coach.
The 2025 Buckeyes have been powered by one of the best offenses in the country. Ohio State enters the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s leader in home runs (137), slugging percentage (.707), runs scored (473), runs scored per game (8.44) and walks (268). During its 55-game regular season, Ohio State had 20 run-rule wins and scored 10 or more runs in 25 games.
Sophomore catcher Jasmyn Burns, a unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection, has a team-best 23 home runs with 70 RBI and a .467 batting average. In all, six different players have 10 or more home runs and every starter has an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) or 1.000 or better. Burns, Reagan Milliken, Kami Kortokrax, Taylor Cruse and Skylar Limon were All-Big Ten selections when the teams were announced on Friday.
Ohio State’s pitching staff is comprised of three freshmen and a fourth-year junior. One of those freshmen – Lorin Boutte – leads the team in innings (140.0), strikeouts (119) and wins (19). She was a member of this year’s Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
During the regular season, Ohio State earned series wins over six of the eight Big Ten opponents that it faced. That included a sweep against Michigan for the first time in program history.
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