This Week in Ohio State Athletics – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/15/1998 12:00:00 AM | General
Tuesday, April 14
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Wooster, 4 p.m., Woody Hayes Athletic Center Turf Field
Women’s Lacrosse vs. Denison, 4:30 p.m., North Field
Baseball vs. Dayton, 6:35 p.m., Bill Davis Stadium
Softball vs. Dayton (DH), 3 p.m., Buckeye Field
Wednesday, April 15
Women’s Tennis vs. Miami, 2:30 p.m. Stickney Tennis Center
Baseball vs. Toledo, 6:35 p.m., Bill Davis Stadium
Softball vs. Bowling Green (DH), 3 p.m., Buckeye Field
Thursday, April 16
NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships at Penn State, Thurs.-Sat., All Day
NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Chamionships at UCLA, Thurs.-Sat., All Day
Softball vs. Morehead State (DH), 3 p.m., Buckeye Field
Friday, April 17
Volleyball vs. Loyola-Chicago at Ball State, MIVA Semifinals, 7 p.m. EDT (6 p.m., EST)
Baseball at Purdue, 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 18
MIVA Championship Game, Ball State University, 7 p.m. EDT
Women’s Tennis vs. Purdue, 11 a.m., Stickney Tennis Center
Men’s Golf hosts Kepler Intercollegiate, OSU Golf Course, Sat.-Sun., All Day
Women’s Lacrosse vs. Penn State, 1 p.m., North Field
Baseball at Purdue (DH), 1 p.m.
Softball vs. Michigan State (DH), 1 p.m., Buckeye Field
Sunday, April 19
Women’s Tennis vs. Illinois, 10 a.m., Stickney Tennis Center
Men’s Tennis vs. Penn State, 1 p.m., Stickney Tennis Center
Baseball at Purdue, 1 p.m.
Softball vs. Michigan State, noon, Buckeye Field
Men’s Golf
1997-98 Record – 82-32 overall
Head Coach – Jim Brown, 25th year (Ohio State ’66)
Good Stuff – The Buckeyes have collected an unprecedented 20 wins at the Kepler Intercollegiate.
This Week -The Ohio State men’s golf team will host the 29th annual Robert Kepler Intercollegiate Invitational Championship at the OSU Scarlet Course on April 18 and 19. The tournament returns to Columbus, Ohio after a one year hiatus so the Buckeyes could host the Northern Intercollegiate during the 1996-97 season. In the history of the Kepler Intercollegiate only four teams have ever won. Those teams being Ohio State, Indiana, Miami (O.) and Kent State. All four teams will compete in the field of 16 at this years tournament. Last Week — The Buckeyes rallied in the final round of play at the Marshall Invitational in Huntington, W.Va., to move up from eighth to second place. Ohio State put forth a tremendous team effort on Sunday, tying the tournament record with a 279 stroke total. The Buckeyes tied their own record set back in 1995. However, Ohio State’s outstanding team performance could not surpass tournament champion Illinois. The Buckeyes finished four strokes behind the Fighting Illini. Freshman Mike Austin (Burton, Mich.) led the Buckeye squad with his highest finish of the season, he tied for ninth with a two over par-215. Austin shot an amazing five under par-66 in the final round of golf.
Women’s Golf
1997-98 Record – 72-44-1, 28-2 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Therese Hession, seventh year (Southern Methodist, ’79)
Good Stuff – Last time Ohio State played at the Scarlet Golf Course, Mosher posted a personal best of 67.
This Week – Ohio State is idle. The Buckeyes will next compete at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational on April 25-26 at the Scarlet Golf Course. Competing at the Lady Buckeye will be Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Xavier.
Last Week – The Buckeyes placed second out of a field of 15 teams with a score of 935 (47) at the Indiana Invitational. Natalie Mosher (Jr., New Philadelphia, Ohio) was Ohio State’s top finisher, tying for fifth with a score of 230 (+8).
Notes – Ohio State has come back strong in the past two tournaments and will be ready to compete against several of the Big Ten’s top players at the Lady Buckeye Invitational. Mosher has played well to lead the team with the best average of 75.4 per round. Lisa Strom has also stepped up and is averaging a 79 after 18 rounds.
Men’s Gymnastics
1997-98 Record – 9-4 overall, 3rd at Big Ten Championships, 1st at East Regional Championships
Head Coach – Miles Avery, first year (Temple, ’81)
Good Stuff – The Buckeyes have qualified for the NCAA Championships for the 18th consecutive year.
This Week – The Buckeyes will travel to University Park, Pa. for the 1998 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships on April 16-18. This is the 18th consecutive year that Ohio State has qualified for the NCAA Championships. The Buckeyes are going into the meet as the No.1 seed out of the East region for the third year in a row. Big Ten rivals Illinois and Iowa will join the Buckeyes at the championships along with Brigham Young University, Oklahoma and defending champions California. The schedule for the championships are as followed: Thursday, April 16, will be team and individual preliminaries, and all-around finals. Friday, April 17, will be the team finals, and Saturday Individual event finals will finish up the meet. All events start at 7 p.m. Last Week– The team was idle.
Women’s Gymnastics
1997-98 Record – 9-4 overall, 2-3 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Larry Cox, 19th year (Arizona State, ’77)
This Week – The Buckeyes will take on the top gymnastics teams in the country at the NCAA Championships hosted by UCLA beginning on Thursday. Teams that place first at Regional Championships are qualified to compete. Along with these teams, 12 individual gymnasts qualified to compete in the all-around. Ohio State will send three all-arounders to UCLA: Lindsey Vagedes (Fr., Warrneville, Ill.), Susan Eckman (Jr., Boardman, Ohio) and Mindi Farmer (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.). Vagedes is the No. 2 individual qualifier with a qualifying score of 39.0. In the Regional Championships at Pittsburgh, she placed second in the all around, vault (9.875) and tied for second in the floor exercise (9.850). Eckman is the No. 4 qualifier with a score of 38.95. Eckman captured first place on the uneven bars (9.850) at the Regionals. With a qualifying score 38.825, Farmer is No. 10. At Pittsburgh, she took second on the balance beam and tied for second on the floor exercise (9.850). “All three have the capability of returning home as All-Americans,” said head coach Larry Cox. “They are strong contenders in every event and competing at this level shows their ability.” Last Week – The Buckeyes were idle.
Men’s Lacrosse
1998 Record – 1-6, 0-2 Great Western Lacrosse League
Head Coach – Joe Breschi (North Carolina ’90), 1st year
Good Stuff – Ohio State assistant coach Craig Kahoun, a Worthington native and Kilbourne graduate, faced an awkward situation when the Buckeyes faced Butler. Kahoun played his college lacrosse at Butler and is their all-time leading scorer., while his brother, Cory, is a current Butler player and their current leading scorer.
This Week – On Tuesday at 4:30 at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex, Ohio State will take on Wooster College. The game against the Scots will be the first home, weekday contest for the Buckeyes.
Last Week – The Buckeyes hosted Great Western Lacrosse League rival Butler on Saturday and fell just short, losing 9-8 in overtime. The Buckeyes fell behind 5-0 after one quarter, but began to scratch and claw their way back into the game, holding two leads in the fourth quarter. Ohio State was led offensively by Kevin Johnson (Jr., Penfield, N.Y.) and Tim Houston (So., Garden City, N.Y.) who each had two goals and an assist. Mike Abeles (So., Westfield, N.J.) got his first start of the season and recorded a season high 21 saves to keep the Buckeyes in the game in the second half.
Notes – Abeles’ performance raised Ohio State’s goalie save percentage to 57 percent, a season high. Johnson continues to lead the Buckeyes in points with 14, while Greg Zytkowksi (So., North Olmstead, Ohio) broke into double figures (10) with an assist against Butler.
Women’s Lacrosse
1997-98 Record – 5-6 overall
Head Coach – Sue Stimmel (Temple ’84, UMass ’87, 3rd year)
Good Stuff – Cianfrani led the Buckeyes in scoring both games tallying seven goals over the weekend.
This Week – The Buckeyes will host their last two home games of the season when they play Denison on Tuesday, April 14 and Penn State on Saturday, April 18. Denison took Ohio State to the limit last year but the Buckeyes prevailed 9-8. Denison has a very competitive team this year with a 6-2 overall record and ranked 20th in the Division III rankings. Against PSU, the Buckeyes hope to avenge their 14-3 loss last year. Penn State is 6-6 on the year. They return Jenn Johnson, a preseason All-American and this years leading scorer with 33 goals and 12 assists. Last Week – Ohio State split their two games dominating Davidson 16-7 but allowing Virginia Tech to slip away a 10-8 loss. The Buckeyes had no shortage of participants as nine different players scored goals, led by Celeste Cianfrani (Fr., Telford, Pa.) who scored a game high. The Buckeyes and the Hokies exchanged goals throughout the first half as Ohio State took a one point lead at the half. The Hokies however, proved too be to strong for the Buckeyes as they went on a 6-3 run in the second half to put Ohio State away. Notes – Ohio State defeated Denison and lost to the Nittany Lions last year.
Men’s Tennis
1997-98 Record – 4-18-0, 0-9-0 in Big Ten
Head Coach – John Daly, 27th year (Northern Illinois)
Good Stuff – Porter has been Ohio State’s good note this season as he has captured an 18-14 overall record overall and a 8-3 record in tournament play.
This Week – The Buckeyes (4-18, 0-9) will compete against Penn State on April 19 at 1 p.m. at the Stickney Tennis Center. This will be Ohio State’s last Big Ten dual match for the season. Last year, Ohio State was defeated by Penn State 5-2, giving the Buckeyes an all-time record of 6-2 against the Nittany Lions.
Last Week – Ohio State took two losses over the weekend against Illinois (7-0) and Purdue (7-0). Notes – Key match-ups for this weekend will be Chris Porter (Fr., Canton, Ohio) against Penn State’s No. 1 player Mike Griesser, who has a 15-10 record overall. Porter has struggled in his past three matches to give him a 4-11 record at the No. 1 spot. However, Porter remains undefeated at the No. 2 and No. 4 singles spot, to give him the team’s best overall record of 18-14. Porter with his partner Pari Laxminarayan (Jr., Bangalore, India) went 1-1 for the weekend to give them a 10-10 record at the No. 2 doubles position. The No. 2 duo will need to play well this weekend as they compete against Penn State’s team of Dortman and Meditz, who have a record of 16-6 overall and are undefeated in Big Ten play (5-0).
Women’s Tennis
1997-98 Record – 7-11, 1-6 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Chuck Merzbacher, second year (Minnesota ’87)
This Week – The Buckeyes return home on Wednesday to battle in an intrastate match with Miami (O.) at the Stickney Tennis Center at 2:30 p.m. Ohio State will then have two days off before the team squares off in Big Ten showdowns against Purdue on Saturday at 11 a.m. and Illinois on Sunday at 10 a.m. Both matches are scheduled to be played at the Stickney Tennis Center.
Last Week – Ohio State dropped two Big Ten matches on the road. The first loss came at the hands of the Northwestern Wildcats by a team score of 4-2 on Saturday. The Buckeyes then suffered their fourth straight loss to Wisconsin 5-2, Sunday. Freshman Kristy Dascoli (Bradenton, Fla.) continued to shine, collecting her 19th win over Northwestern’s Katherine Nasser and 20th victory by downing Barbara Urbanska of Wisconsin in three sets at the No. 1 singles position. The lone senior on the Buckeye team, Carolina Nahuz (Sao Paulo, Brazil) also went 2-0 on the weekend with convincing wins over Robyn Porter of Northwestern and Roz Sweeney of Wisconsin. Nahuz and Dascoli combined, scored all four points for the Buckeyes against the Wildcats and Badgers.
Track and Field
1997-98 Record – M-6-9-0, 0-0-0 in Big Ten, W-11-4-0, 0-0-0 in Big Ten
Track & Field Head Coach – Russ Rogers, 9th year (Maryland-Baltimore County ’65)
Good Stuff – Calloway and Merriman surpassed the NCAA provisional qualifying standard of 13.70 in the 100 hurdles Saturday. All-American Calloway won the event with a time of 13.52, while teammate Merriman took second place with a personal best time of 13.67.
This Week – Ohio State will split the team with OSU’s top performers traveling to Walnut, Calif. to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays, while the rest of the squad will travel to Terre Haute, Ind. to compete in the Indiana State Invitational on Saturday. Indiana State will host Ohio State, Illinois State and Western Illinois.
Last Week – The OSU track and field team competed in the Brutus Hamilton Memorial Invitational at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, Calif. Saturday. The women’s squad snagged a second-place finish with 97 points, behind Oregon (132). The men’s squad finished in seventh place with 41 points, while California captured the team championship with 130 points. All-American Dominque Calloway (So., Aurora, Colo.) led the Buckeyes capturing the individual title in both the 200 (23.93) and 100 hurdles (13.52), while Andrew Pierce (Fr., Yellow Springs, Ohio) and Sekou Smith (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) reigned supreme in the 400 (47.06) and 400 hurdles (51.75) respectively. Notes – Winston Tidwell (Sr., Topeka, Kan.), Donica Merriman (Fr., Trotwood, Ohio), Ayanna Reece (Jr., Bronx, N.Y.), Calloway, Smith and Pierce all improved their season’s best times in each of their respective events.
Men’s Volleyball
1998 Record – 25-1, 10-0 in Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association
Head Coach – Pete Hanson, 14th year (Ball State ’79)
Good Stuff – Ohio State has won 22 consecutive matches since a 3-1 loss to Stanford in January. The Buckeyes have defeated 12 of 13 nationally ranked opponents this season. For information on the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association check out: www.acs.ohio-state.edu/units/athletics/MIVA/miva.html.
This Week – Second-ranked (USA TODAY/AVCA) Ohio State (25-1 overall) will travel to Ball State University for a Friday meeting with No. 11 Loyola-Chicago (23-7) in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament semifinals. No. 8 Lewis (23-8) faces No. 9 Indiana-Purdue (17-4) in the other semifinal. The winners play Saturday at Ball State for the Midwest bid to the NCAA Championship semifinals, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 30.
Last Week – Ohio State defeated Clarke College 3-0 (15-2, 15-4, 15-4) in a quarterfinal match of the MIVA Tournament. Phil Kerewich (Jr., Wilmette, Ill.) scored a team-high eight kills with Rene’ Esteves (So., San Juan, Puerto Rico) adding seven kills and a match-high five assist blocks. Ohio State hit a season high .528 in the match.
Notes – Ohio State has defeated each semifinalist twice this season. OSU won at Loyola 3-1 (7-15, 15-12, 15-13, 15-5) and in Columbus 3-0 (17-15, 15-6, 15-7). The Buckeyes defeated Indiana-Purdue 3-1 (15-9, 15-9, 11-15, 16-14) in Columbus and 3-2 (15-3, 13-15, 12-15, 15-5, 15-12) in Fort Wayne. Against Lewis, both matches have gone five games. OSU won at Lewis 15-13, 15-12, 12-15, 8-15, 15-12 and in Columbus 15-17, 15-8, 6-15, 15-6, 15-13. The Buckeyes still hold the top spot in the Volleyball Magazine Poll for the second week.
