Ronnie Ladines isn’t like most pitchers. The right-hander is 20-7 this season with a 2.71 earned run average and strikes out over 25 percent of the batters she faces. But what sets her apart from her counterparts in the Mid-American Conference is what she does at the plate.
Unlike most pitchers, Ladines is comfortable with a bat in her hands, as evident by her .325 batting average, the third highest on the team.
And her power was on display against Ohio State, both in the circle and at bat.
In the top of the first, Ladines drove a 3-2 pitch over the left-center wall at Buckeye Field for a grand slam – her second in the past four games – and she threw a complete game, en route to a 6-3 win over Big Ten foe Ohio State in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader.