Transfers Bewick, Parisien help start new era of Ohio State softball
Ohio State named former Miami (OH) head coach Kirin Kumar to the same position in early June. Kumar developed one of the best offensive environments in the country during her tenure leading the RedHawks. Kumar has a tall task ahead of her in building up the offense in Columbus. Ohio State’s top five hitters in terms of average graduated or transferred after the season. Kumar began reloading the lineup with two of her former Miami (OH) bats Sami Bewick and Hadley Parisien to make the Ohio State softball transfer class.
Both Bewick and Parisien are both coming off successful freshman years. Bewick was named the MAC Freshman of the Year after 11 doubles, 14 home runs and 55 RBIs. Parisien wasn’t far off with eight homers, 32 RBIs and a .357 batting average. In our transfer portal rankings, Bewick came in at 30th and Parisien was 63rd.
Sami Bewick
Bewick is a natural infielder, having spent time playing both second base and shortstop. But she mostly slotted in the designated player role last season. She has a simple swing from the right side with her open stance to help generate her power from the lower half.
According to Synergy Sports, Bewick crushed the upper half of the zone. The majority of her home runs were on curveballs and rise balls. While looking at Bewick’s hitting and spray chart below, it is easy to see her balance as a hitter.
Bewick displayed the ability to hit for power on pitches on the inner half and be able to extend her barrel on pitchers trying to work the outside of the plate. Most of Bewick’s home runs were pulled or hit to center. She did show she can go the other way with her power as well.
The next step is Bewick’s development is hitting better in the lower part of the zone. She had a .200 average last season in the lower third of the zone and even below the zone. Bewick also struggled against drop balls, which follows the previous trends. Until she can prove to hit a drop and the bottom part of the strikezone consistency, that’s likely how the opposition will try to attack her.
Hadley Parisien
Parisien likely slots in as a corner outfielder for the Buckeyes. The lefty swinger has a relatively straight up stance. That allows her to reach every quadrant of the plate and keep her swing very compact. Parisien wasn’t in the starting lineup from opening day but quickly made an impression on Kumar to earn a starting spot.
In the clips below from Synergy Sports, Parisien hits three different pitches in three different parts of the zone.
Parisien hit right-handed pitchers very well. She had an average of well above .350 last season. It got even better against screwballs from righties in the circle. Parisien had a .435 batting average and 1.204 OPS when right-handed pitchers threw screwballs at her.
Overall, Bewick and Parisien will need to adjust to playing a Power Four schedule and the higher level of pitching that comes with it. However its worth noting that the arms in the Big Ten aren’t necessarily the deepest. Plus, Miami (OH) played plenty of quality opponents last season including Oklahoma, Georgia and Louisiana. The sophomores seem to be a good foundation for Kumar to build around.
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