Buckeyes Head to South Carolina for First Pitch Invite
3/7/2019 11:30:49 AM | Baseball
| Ohio State Baseball Gameday | 2019 NCAA Tournament - Nashville Regional - Opening Round - vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt |
|---|---|
| Site | Hawkins Field - Nashville, Tenn. |
| Date/Time | Friday, May 31, 2019 - 7 p.m. ET |
| Broadcast Info | Live Stats | ESPN2 | Ohio State Radio AM 1460 ESPN |
| Tournament Info | Nashville Regional Tournament Central Page | Tickets |
| Game Notes | Ohio State Game Notes |
| FOLLOW The Buckeyes | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
| Team Links | Roster | Schedule | 2019 Media Guide |
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team hits the road for the fourth straight week to participate at the 2019 First Pitch Invitational Friday-Sunday in Greenville, S.C., hosted by Michigan State University. The Buckeyes (7-5) will take on Furman at 6 p.m. Friday, the Spartans at 6 p.m. Saturday and Western Carolina at 5 p.m. Sunday.
All games will be played at Fluor Field, the home of the Greenville Drive baseball team, the A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The park nearly replicates the dimensions of historic Fenway Park, including a 30-foot high wall in left field. The Scarlet and Gray are the only team making their first trip to Fluor Field this weekend.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live stats links can be found by going to the schedule page of Ohio State Baseball on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. The match Friday vs. Furman will be streamed on the SoCon Digital Network (audio available as well). There will be no stream or radio available for the game against the Spartans. Western Carolina will have audio available on Sunday on the Catamount Sports Network.
TICKETS
Tickets are general admission for $9 at Fluor Field. Fans can purchase tickets or get more information by calling the Fluor Field box office at (864) 240-4528 or by CLICKING HERE
TRAVEL PLANS
The Buckeyes will depart Columbus via commercial airlines Thursday afternoon. The team will return to Columbus Tuesday night via charter flight following a midweek game at Wofford at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Spartanburg, S.C.
ON THE BUMP
Friday, March 8: LHP Seth Lonsway (1-2, 6.39) vs. RHP Nik Verbeke (0-2, 5.40)
Saturday, March 9: RHP Garrett Burhenn (2-0, 1.40) vs. TBA
Sunday, March 10: LHP Griffan Smith (3-0, 4.24) vs. TBA
LEADING OFF
- The Buckeyes return to the diamond after a splitting a four-game series at Bethune-Cookman last week in Daytona Beach, Fla. The team began the year with a 4-0 start following a sweep of Seton Hall in a three-game set at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. The Scarlet and Gray also have wins over FGCU and Oral Roberts.
- Ohio State is 2-1 all-time vs. Furman. This is the first meeting between the Buckeyes and Paladins since the 1991 season.
- The Buckeyes are 142-93-1 all-time vs. the Spartans. Ohio State dropped two of three games in a road series at Michigan State to conclude the 2018 regular season. The contest Saturday is the first meeting between the two schools on a neutral-site field since 2016 when the Scarlet and Gray beat the Green and White in back-to-back games during the Big Ten tournament title run at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.
- Ohio State is 5-6 all-time vs. Western Carolina. The Sunday game is the first meeting between the two schools in 12 years.
- Ohio State is hitting .238 and averaging 5.25 runs per game. The Buckeyes are second in the Big Ten with 10 home runs and fourth in the league with 17 doubles.
- The OSU pitching staff has combined for a 3.14 ERA, good for third-best in the Big Ten. The staff has struck out a Big Ten-best 101 batters in 12 contests.
- The 2019 Buckeyes return 15 letterwinners from the 2018 NCAA Tournament team that finished with a 36-24 overall record. Key players returning this year include second team All-Big Ten honoree Dominic Canzone, third team selection Conner Pohl and 2018 All-Big Ten Freshman standout Dillon Dingler.
- The team welcomed 16 newcomers in the fall. 11 Buckeyes have made their debuts this year.
- Ohio State is led by ninth-year head coach Greg Beals. He is 268-208-1 overall at Ohio State and holds a 511-410-1 career coaching record. Beals has guided the team to NCAA Regional appearances in two of the last three years.
A LOOK AT FURMAN
The Paladins are 2-8 overall and have lost their last five contests. Last time out, Furman fell, 3-1, against Clemson Tuesday evening at Fluor Field. The team is hitting .260 with 14 doubles and nine home runs. John Michael Boswell is batting .395 (15-for-38) with two doubles, two homers and nine RBI. Furman has a 5.79 combined ERA on the mound with 82 strikeouts in 87.0 innings pitched.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans snapped a nine-game losing streak last time out with an 8-5 win at Arizona Tuesday night in Tuscon, Ariz. Michigan State scored eight runs in the seventh, including two on a bases-loaded RBI single by freshman designated hitter Zaid Walker. The team has a .209 average with seven doubles and five home runs. Royce Ando leads the bats with a .278 clip with four runs scored, one double, one triple and one homer. The Spartan pitching staff has combined for a 7.30 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 93.2 innings pitched. The MSU arms have given up 43 extra-base hits, including 26 doubles.
OHIO STATE VS. THE SPARTANS
Dominic Canzone is batting .423 (11-for-26) with three doubles, one triple and one home run in six games in his career vs. Michigan State. Kobie Foppe hit .364 (4-for-11) last year in the three-game series in East Lansing. Brady Cherry holds a .308 career average (4-for-13), while Conner Pohl is batting .263 (5-for-19) with two RBI vs. the Green and White.
WESTERN CAROLINA PREVIEW
The Catamounts are 6-5 overall in 2019. The team dropped three games at the Keith LeClair Classic last weekend in Greenville, N.C. against Wright State, Utah and ECU. Western Carolina bounced back with a 16-4 victory over UNC Asheville Wednesday night highlighted by a grand slam in the first inning by Luke Robinson. Justice Bigbie is batting .429 (18-for-42) with 15 runs scored, four homers and 16 RBI. The pitching staff holds a 6.35 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 95.0 innings of work.
ON TOP OF THE HILL
- The Buckeyes lost 442.1 innings pitched (IP) of 535.1 total IP from the 2018 NCAA tourney team (83 percent), one of the largest percentage of innings pitched lost in the country (according to college baseball sports information directors).
- Ohio State starting pitchers have lasted at least 5.0 innings in nine of their 12 starts.
- Seth Lonsway (4.1 IP and 11 Ks at Bethune-Cookman), Griffan Smith (5.0 IP and 7 Ks at FGCU), Jake Vance (5.0 IP and 6 Ks vs. Seton Hall) and Garrett Burhenn (8.0 IP and 6 Ks vs. Seton Hall) tied or set career strikeout highs.
- Lonsway became the first Buckeye pitcher to strike out at least 11 hitters in a game since 2010 (Alex Wimmers, vs. Minnesota).
- Ohio State has had seven different arms make their collegiate or OSU debuts this season.
- Griffan Smith leads the team with three wins and also has one save out of the bullpen. Garrett Burhenn is 2-0, guiding OSU to two of its three shutouts.
- Rookie lefty Mitch Milheim has tossed five scoreless outings to start his career in 6.2 innings of work out of the bullpen. Classmate righty Will Pfennig has a 1.64 ERA with seven strikeouts and 11.0 innings pitched in five relief appearances.
- Veteran relievers Andrew Magno and Thomas Waning also have saves on the year.
CONTRIBUTIONS EVERYWHERE
The Buckeyes are getting offensive contributions from its entire roster. Consider:
- 13 players have scored runs, including five members with at least five runs.
- Six players have hit home runs led by Dominic Canzone and Brady Cherry with three apiece.
- Eight players have doubled, including Brent Todys and Noah West each with four doubles. West has a team-high six extra-base hits as the team’s lead-off hitter (.313)
- Todys has led the team in hitting the last two weekends – .417 in Corpus Christi, Texas, and a .444 clip last week in Daytona – and he has taken over the team lead in hitting with a .333 average.
HOME OPENER AROUND THE CORNER
Following the team’s midweek game at Wofford next Tuesday, the Buckeyes will open the 2019 home schedule with a three-game series vs. Lipscomb March 15-17 at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. For ticket info, CLICK HERE.
