Buckeyes Take 4-0 Record to Texas Tourney
2/21/2019 8:06:05 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 Thursday morning to Texas to participate in the 2019 Kleberg Bank College Classic Friday-Sunday in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Buckeyes will play three games at the early season tournament hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks baseball club.
Ohio State (4-0) will open play against BYU at 3 p.m. ET Friday before a contest against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. ET Saturday. The team will conclude tournament action against Oral Roberts at Noon ET Sunday. The Scarlet and Gray will stay in The Lone Star State for an additional day to play a road matchup against the Islanders at 3 p.m. ET Monday at their home facility, Chapman Field.
KLEBERG BANK COLLEGE CLASSIC TICKETS
Single game tickets are priced at $12. Weekend passes are $30. All tickets are general admission. For ticket info, click here.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live stats links can be found by going to the schedule page of Ohio State Baseball on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. All four games in Texas will be streamed for free on the Islanders Digital Network. BYU and Oral Roberts will also have radio available for streaming online this weekend.
ON THE BUMP
Friday, Feb. 22: LHP Seth Lonsway (1-0, 1.50) vs. RHP Jordan Wood (0-0, 5.40)
Saturday, Feb. 23: RHP Garrett Burhenn (1-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Dylan Duarte (0-1, 5.40)
Sunday, Feb. 24: RHP Isaac Coffey (1-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Griffan Smith (1-0, 2.57)
Monday, Feb. 24: RHP Jake Vance vs. (1-0, 3.60) vs. TBA
LEADING OFF
- The Buckeyes will look to continue their momentum in Texas this weekend after going 4-0 in Florida to begin the 2019 campaign. Ohio State swept Seton Hall in a three-game series at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., before shutting out FGCU, 2-0, in Fort Myers, Fla., last Monday.
- Ohio State is 4-0 to start a season for the second time in head coach Greg Beals’ tenure as coach and only the first time this century. OSU baseball previously started at least 4-0 in 2014 under Beals and in 2010 (5-0) and 2009 (7-0) under coach Bob Todd.
- This is the first trip to Texas in 11 years for the Baseball Buckeyes. Ohio State last played in Texas during the 2008 campaign at the Dominos Pizza Baseball Classic in College Station, Texas.
- 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. Nine Buckeyes made their debuts last weekend in Florida.
- Ohio State is led by ninth-year head coach Greg Beals. He is 265-203-1 overall at Ohio State and holds a 508-405-1 career coaching record. Beals has guided the team to NCAA Regional appearances in two of the last three years.
- The Scarlet and Gray will open the 2019 season with 16-straight road games. The Buckeyes will play in the state of Florida twice and will also visit Texas and South Carolina.
- Ohio State is 2-2 all-time vs. BYU. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1994.
- The Buckeyes and Islanders will meet for the first time on the ball diamond this weekend.
- Ohio State is 1-0 all-time vs. Oral Roberts with the lone meeting in 1998 with a 10-5 victory in Las Vegas, Nev.
Statement start in The Gulf #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/D2FVc0IEsM
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) February 19, 2019
A LOOK AT THE COUGARS
BYU is 2-2 to start the year. The team won two of three against Northwestern last weekend in Mesa, Ariz., and dropped a 10-6 contest vs. Cal in Tempe, Ariz. The Cougars return 14 players from the 2018 team that finished 22-28 overall, including outfielder Brock Hale, first baseman Keaton Kringlen and pitcher Jordan Wood, each All-WCC honorees. The Cougars are hitting .226 as a team with four doubles, one homer and 15 walks. Hale leads BYU with a .375 average with a double and a home run. The pitching staff has combined for a 4.37 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 35.0 innings of work. Wood worked five innings and gave up six hits on three runs with four walks in five innings in a no decision last Friday vs. the Wildcats.
SCOUTING THE ISLANDERS
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 2-3 to begin its 2019 season. The Islanders return nine of last season’s 13 starters that went 30-26 overall and 14-16 in the Southland Conference. The team is batting .315, scoring 33 runs in its first five games with 10 doubles. Drake Osborn is off to a hot start with a .524 clip with seven runs scored and four doubles. The Islander pitching staff has a 5.60 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 45.0 innings of work.
ORAL ROBERTS AT 3-0
The Golden Eagles began their season with a sweep over Murray State last weekend in Tulsa, Okla. Oral Roberts is batting .350, scoring 41 runs scored in three games with 11 doubles and four home runs. ORU outfielder Andrew Pace was named Summit League Player of the Week after posting a conference-best .615 average and a.846 slugging with multi-hit performances in all three wins. The Golden Eagle staff has a 2.67 ERA with 28 strikeout sin 27.0 innings of work. Isaac Coffey struck out seven in five innings to claim the win last Sunday.
BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Freshman right-handed pitcher Garrett Burhenn was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced Monday afternoon. Burhenn, from Indianapolis, Ind., earns his first career weekly honor. Burhenn is the first Buckeye to be named the league’s rookie of the week since Dominic Canzone was honored in 2017.
Burhenn was dominant in his collegiate debut last Saturday, leading the Buckeyes to a 6-0 shutout victory in Port Charlotte, Fla. He allowed just one hit in eight innings of work and only faced the minimum (24 batters). Burhenn finished with six strikeouts and had no walks to claim his first win of his career. Burhenn became the first Buckeye pitcher to toss at least seven innings in a debut since Brad Goldberg threw seven innings in his debut vs. St. John’s Feb. 17, 2013.
DOMINANT PITCHING
The Ohio State pitching staff combined to allow just six runs (five earned) over 36 innings of work en route to sweeping Seton Hall in Port Charlotte, Fla., and a win a 2-0 win at FGCU on Monday in Fort Myers. The Buckeyes, which had five arms make their collegiate debut, struck out a combined 38 hitters, while only allowing five walks. The staff ranks third in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.60) with a combined ERA of 1.25. Redshirt freshman left-hander Seth Lonsway struck out nine in six innings of work in his debut last Friday. He was the first Buckeye pitcher to strike out at least nine in his debut since Brett McKinney fanned eight in his debut back in 2010. Freshman right-hander Garrett Burhenn followed that up with a one-hit, eight-inning debut start on Saturday, striking out six Pirate hitters while facing the minimum. Junior right-handed pitcher Jake Vance capped off the weekend, tying his career-high with six strikeouts in five innings in the win on Sunday. Lefty Griffan Smith fanned a career-high seven at FGCU on Monday. The Ohio State bullpen got saves from sophomore Smith, fifth-year senior right-hander Thomas Waning and junior lefty Andrew Magno. The Buckeyes lost 442.1 innings pitched (IP) of 535.1 total IP from the 2018 NCAA tourney team (83 percent).
LEADING AT THE PLATE
Senior Brady Cherry is guiding the team with a .500 average (7-for-14) with three runs scored, two doubles and two home runs, while junior Noah West is hitting .357 (4-for-14) with two runs scored, one double and one home run. The top 2019 draft prospect on the Buckeyes, junior right fielder Dominic Canzone wrapped up the Snowbird Classic with a solid .444/.615/.1.111 slash line while launching two home runs and drawing three walks.
EIGHT FRESHMEN SEE FIRST ACTION
Coach Greg Beals did not hesitate to initiate freshmen in the team’s first weekend. Eight freshmen, including seven true freshmen, saw action in Florida. Seth Lonsway and Garrett Burhenn set the tone with fantastic starts in wins. Zach Dezenzo made three starts at third base and had a multi-hit game. Marcus Ernst got the nod at third base in one game and scored two runs with one double. Nolan Clegg started as the Buckeyes’ designated hitter in one contest. On the mound, Bayden Root fired three scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts at Florida Gulf Coast. Will Pfennig didn’t allow an earned run in two innings, while Mitch Milheim hung a zero on the board Sunday vs. Seton Hall.
SEEKING TO GO 5-0
With a win over BYU, the 2019 Buckeyes would become the 12th OSU team to start the season 5-0 and first since the 2010 campaign.
Buckeyes’ Best Baseball Starts
Record – Year  Coach
10-0 – 1917     L.W. St. John
9-0 – 1958      Marty Karow
8-0 – 1991      Bob Todd
7-0 – 2009      Bob Todd
7-0 – 1959      Marty Karow
7-0 – 1901      Jack Reed
6-0 – 1897      Unknown
6-0 – 1889      Unknown
5-0 – 2010      Bob Todd
5-0 – 1942      Fred Mackey
5-0 – 1890      Unknown
4-0 – 2019      Greg Beals
4-0 – 2014      Greg Beals
4-0 – 1919      L.W. St. John
UP NEXT
Ohio State heads back to Florida for a four-game series at Bethune-Cookman Friday, March 1-Monday, March 4 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
