Ohio State Alumni Spotlight: Softball Star Lilli Piper (Part 1)

Lilli Piper is one of Ohio State’s most legendary softball players during the program’s most successful era. She will play with Athletes Unlimited in their inaugural season after NPF chose to forgo their 2020 season. Part One of our two-part interview reviews her team’s legacy at Ohio State, her favorite Buckeye Softball memory, and what led her to leave basketball behind in Akron to pursue softball at her dream school.

BN: You were the biggest bat in the Buckeye lineup for three seasons. The Buckeyes reached four consecutive NCAA Regionals for the first time and you were a part of 106 Ohio State victories. What is the legacy of those teams to Buckeyes Softball under Kelly Kovach Schoenly?:

LP: As much as I’m very grateful for my accomplishments, I couldn’t do it without the people around me. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. From the coaching staff to my teammates to the people I graduated with. I think that they play a huge part in it.

The people ahead of me that set that standard – when I first came in, my seniors were amazing and they set that standard that we’re going to be nothing but the best, and we’re going to leave it better than we got it. To me, going back to Columbus and it still feels like home – that’s something I’ll always have.

As much as it was our class trying to leave a legacy, we couldn’t have done it without the people around us.

☑@Fastpitchnews Preseason All-American
☑@USASoftball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List

Can't wait to see what you do this season, @PiperSwiper!

📰 https://t.co/k5G6rRBu2G #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/kzC1NmeeJS
— Ohio State Softball (@OhioStateSB) January 30, 2019

BN: Before you came to Ohio State you were a regular for the Akron Zips’ basketball team. You were a star two-sport athlete at Walsh Jesuit High School. What drove you to commit to softball and Ohio State?:

LP: I always wanted to - growing up in Ohio, any sports fan knows Ohio State is the big thing in the state of Ohio. I love basketball, it’s still my first love, that has never changed. But it just didn’t work out for me. It didn’t feel right, I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.

As soon as I had the opportunity, that I wanted to transfer and start to focus on softball and go that route – I already knew before I went to campus, before I even knew the coaches personally. I know a lot of my friends and old teammates went there, for me I knew it was comfortable.

The fire within OSU athletes. Doesn’t matter where or when. https://t.co/p1WHttlSOC
— Lillian Piper (@PiperSwiper) August 4, 2020

BN: What was the most memorable game you played in as a Buckeye, and what’s the one thing fans don’t know about that game?:

LP: For me the most memorable game was at Texas. Top of the seventh, we were down a run. They walked me to get to Emily Clark. She gets into a 3-2 count with two outs. So it’s the storybook of every athlete, every softball or baseball player. And then she hits a grand slam, then we go out and shut them down in the bottom of the seventh and we end up winning that game. I can honestly remember screaming at the top of my lungs on first base – telling her she can do this, she’s meant to be there, this is for her. She’s had so many of these clutch moments because she’s been put in that situation.

I honestly owe a lot of my career to her, because if it wasn’t for her – you always need a better hitter behind a great hitter. If not, they’ll skip right over them and continue on to the rest of the lineup. She’s always been able to hit behind me and handle that if they did walk me. It takes a great athlete to do that.

The thing people don’t know is just that feeling. That feeling that all of us had. That it didn’t matter, that we were going to figure it out, and we were going to win. We all kind of felt that on the field, you just have that special feeling when you see that ball go off the bat and we’re all running around the bases.

Part two of our weekend series with Piper dives into life after Ohio State, including her professional playing career.

Stay tuned to BuckeyesNow and all of our social media outlets (@BuckeyesNowSI) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for continued coverage!