11-Game Win Streak On Line for Baseball – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/6/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 1999
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team (18-6, 4-0) will play the last of five straight home games Wednesday when it hosts Ashland (22-6, 9-3) at 6:35 p.m. in Bill Davis Stadium (4,450).
OHIO STATE PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
RF 24 Jason Turner Jr. L-L CF 20 Mike Lockwood Jr. L-L LF 6 Jason Driscoll Jr. R-R 1B 36 Jason Trott Jr. L-L 2B 7 Chad Ehrnsberger So. R-R SS 17 Trent McIlvain So. R-R 3B 21 Matt Middleton Sr. L-R C 10 Tom Durant Sr. R-R DH 13 John Mayor So. R-R P 29 Kevin Goodrum So. L-L Not projected batting order
Trent McIlvain leads the Big Ten in conference batting with a.615 average. He is battting .333 in all games. Kevin Goodrumsscoreless inning streak currently stands at 11.2. He has notallowed a run in his last four appearances.
ASHLAND PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
RF 7 Josh Baker Jr. L-R CF 20 Shad Conn So. L-L LF 28 Teddy Sturzinger Jr. R-R 1B 34 K.C. Murphy So. R-R 2B 14 Matt Roseberry Sr. S-R SS 33 Jason Boland So. R-R 3B 48 Brian Guzik Jr. R-R C 24 Jason Russell Sr. R-R DH 21 Andy McBrayer Jr. R-R P 19 Jamie Detillion Jr. L-L Not projected batting order
Jamie Detillion ranks third among Eagle hurlers with a 3.98earned run average. Detillion also leads the team in hitting with a.414 average and home runs with 11. Teddy Sturzinger has stolen 19bases in 21 attempts on the season.
THE BROADCAST
The game will be broadcast live on WOSU Radio (820 AM) with the tandem of Herb Howenstine and Frank Fraas calling all the action.
OSU IN THE POLLS
Ohio State remained the 31-st ranked team in the country in the USA Today Baseball Weekly/ ESPN Coaches Poll. It is OSUs highest ranking of the 1999 season to date.
OSUS LAST ACTION
The Buckeyes swept their first Big Ten series of the season, beating Northwestern 10-4, 3-0, 11-6, and 9-4 in Bill Davis Stadium last weekend. Ohio State batted .376 as a team in the four games, knocking 44 hits (including 36 singles). Chad Ehrnsberger (9-for-15; .600) and Trent McIlvain (8-for-13; .615) led OSU offensively in the sweep. The Buckeyes got solid pitching efforts from starters Justin Fry (8 IP, 3 ER, 8 Ks), Andy Lee (7 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER), E.J. Laratta (5 IP, 2 ER), and reliever Cory Cox (3.2 IP, 1 ER), who earned the win in game three. Mike Lockwood and Tom Durant each homered for OSU.
THE STREAK
Ohio States 11-game win streak is tied for the longest such run since the 1994 team set a school record by winning 20 straight games. Last years Buckeye baseball team also won 11 straight games, but its streak was snapped with a 4-2 loss to Penn State on April 25.
HITTING STREAKS
Chad Ehrnsberger (eight games)
Jason Driscoll (six games)
Trent McIlvain (six games)
BACK-TO-BACK WINNERS
For the second straight week, an Ohio State player has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week. Second baseman Chad Ehrnsberger earned the honor after hitting .526 in the five games (10-for-19). Ehrnsberger had a hand in 27 percent (9-of-33) of the runs scored by OSU against Northwestern. In the final win over the Wildcats last Sunday, the Kalida, Ohio native went 4-for-5 with three doubles and two doubles, three runs scored, and two RBIs. Ehrnsberger ranks second in the Big Ten in hitting in league games with his .600 (9-for-15) average.
EVEN HIGHER THAN EHRNSBERGER
Not to be outdone by his middle infield partner, shortstop Trent McIlvain leads the Big Ten in hitting in league games with a sizzling .615 average (8-for-13).
ASHLAND SERIES HISTORY
The Buckeyes lead the all-time series with the Eagles 7-1. The two teams met last year on April 21 in Bill Davis Stadium with OSU notching a 6-5 win. Jason Trott went 2-for-4 in the game with an RBI and a run scored. Former Buckeye Mike Stafford picked up the win in relief.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
The Eagles stand 22-6 overall and will enter Bill Davis Stadium as winners of four straight. Ashland is hitting .349 as a team and is led by first baseman Jamie Detillion (.414 ba, 11 home runs). Opponents are hitting .287 off the AU pitching staff, which sports a team earned run average of 4.62.
ERNIE SHINES
Chad Ehrnsberger extended set a new career high by extending his current hitting streak to eight games in game four against Northwestern. Ehrnsberger has 14 hits in his last 32 at-bats and has hit .438 over the streak.
AND HE CAN HIT, TOO
Slick fielding shortstop Trent McIlvain has been making a name for himself with the bat lately, despite hitting in typically the seven or eight spots. McIlvain went 4-for-6 combined in the two games yesterday and currently owns a six game-hitting streak, the longest such streak of his career. He has hit .421 over that span (8-for-19).
MAYOR FOR MAYOR
Ohio State continues to receive some surprising offense from designated hitter John Mayor. He has hit safely in three straight games and is batting .546 (6-for-11) in Bill Davis Stadium this year. He has played as a designated hitter on six occasions this year, and Ohio State is a perfect 6-0 in those games. Overall in the designated hitter role, Mayor is 8-for-15 (.533) and has scored eight runs and driven in six.
FIRST PLACE BUCKEYES
Ohio State is the only undefeated team in the Big Ten to date. The Buckeyes are one game ahead of Minnesota (3-1) in the conference standings.
PINPOINT CONTROL
Freshman pitcher E.J. Laratta has gone sixteen consecutive innings without walking a batter. Laratta trails only All-American Justin Fry among OSUs four starters in earned run average (3.16). He has struck out 20 batters in 31.1 innings of work and walked just eight. Opponents are hitting only .256 against him.
ONE MORE FOR A NEW CAREER HIGH
Jason Driscolls current six-game hitting streak is just one game shy of his career high seven game streak. Driscoll has hit safely in seven straight games twice in his career – once in 1997 and once in 1998.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Buckeyes are a perfect 5-0 in Bill Davis Stadium this year. Dating back to last season, OSU has won eight consecutive games in BDS. Ohio State is an impressive 45-13 all-time in Bill Davis Stadium.
GOOD…RUM
Kevin Goodrum has not allowed a run in his last four appearances. His streak of consecutive scoreless innings currently stands at 11.2. Over the weekend against Northwestern, Goodrum lowered his earned run average from 3.63 to 2.95.
KEY TO VICTORY
Ohio State is a perfect 12-0 this season when it out-hits its opponent.
NO. 500
Matt Middleton recorded his 500th career at-bat in game four against Northwestern. Middleton flew out to centerfield in No. 500, but did go 2-for-5 in the game. Jason Trott wil most likely record his 500th at-bat this weekend in a four-game series against Michigan. He has 489 career at-bats entering the Ashland game. The all-time record for career at-bats at OSU belongs to former Buckeye Mark Carek, who recorded 823 from 1995-98.
THE BOB TODD CALL-IN SHOW
The Bob Todd weekly call-in show begins April 13 and will air every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in WBNS Radio 1460 The Fan. Call 821-1460 or *1460 from your Ameritech Cellular phone to talk live with OSU head coach Bob Todd.
HOMESTEAD CHALLENGE WINNERS
The Buckeyes went 8-1 at the Homestead Challenge, winning the Final Four Tournament with a 4-2 victory over Harvard.
HURRICANE CLASSIC CHAMPIONS
The Buckeyes claimed the 1999 BELLSOUTH Hurricane Diamond Classic with a 3-1 weekend at Coral Gables, Fla. Tom Durant was named to the all-tournament team and MVP and Lee, Jason Turner and McIlvain were also all-tournament selections.
BUCKEYES FINISH SECOND IN BLUE-GRAY
OSU put together a 2-1 record in its first action of the year, finishing second at the Blue-Gray Classic at Montgomery, Ala. The Buckeyes same out strong, defeating Kentucky 9-6 and Troy State 11-8 before falling 16-12 to Big Ten rival Minnesota on the final day. OSU batted .303 as a team and put up a team ERA of 7.27. Ohio State managed five homeruns, but also committed nine errors.
TODD SECURING A PLACE IN HISTORY
One more 40-win season and Todd will become the all-time winningest baseball coach in Ohio State history. He has won 457 games as the Buckeye skipper, second behind Marty Karow who managed 478 in 25 seasons. The Buckeyes have averaged 40-wins per season since Todds arrival in 1988.
CAN TROTT THREEPEAT
Trott became the first player since Indianas Mike Smith (1991-.476, 1992-.472) to win back-to-back batting titles. Trott posted a .426 average for the 1998 regular season and claimed the crown in 1997 with a .418 mark. Wisconsins Rick Reichardt is the only other player to win consecutive titles when he posted season bests in 1963 (.429) and 1964 (.472). No player has ever claimed three conference batting titles.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Fry and Lockwood were named to Collegiate Baseballs preseason All-America third team. Fry was a first team preseason selection in 1998. Freshman pitcher Smith was named a first team top freshman by Baseball America.
SEASON TICKETS
Season box seats went on March 1 and individual game tickets were made available March 22. Contact the OSU Athletic Ticket Office for more details (1 800-GO-BUCKS). The ticket office is now located in The Jerome Schottenstein Center.
ONE OF THE TOP TEAMS OF THE 90s
With its 372-168-1 record over the past nine seasons, Ohio State is ranked the 12th winningest team of the 1990s with a .689 winning percentage. The Buckeyes are the only Big Ten Conference school among the top 25. Wichita State leads the pack with a 484-130-0 (.788) mark since the 1990 season.
PREDICTED BIG TEN FINISH
According to the Baseball America college preview, Ohio State is predicted to finish third in the Big Ten behind Minnesota and Illinois. All three squads are expected to receive NCAA tournament bids and Fry, Lockwood and Trott arepreseason all-Big Ten selections. The Big Ten is ranked the sixth-best conference in the nation this year.
Predicted final Big Ten standings according to Baseball America
1. Minnesota 19-9 42-21 2. Illinois 19-5 42-21 3. Ohio State 18-9 45-15 4. Michigan 9-15 21-27 5. Penn State 15-11 28-24 6. Purdue 9-18 23-29 7. Indiana 14-14 29-27 8. Northwestern 10-18 27-26 9. Michigan State 8-16 25-27 10. Iowa 9-15 19-27 STADIUM SEATING
The Ohio State baseball program has had a new treat each season for the past two years. In 1997, it was the opening of the stadium itself. Last year it was the lights for night contests, a batters eye in centerfield and the matrix scoreboard for animation. This year, expanded seating is the name of the game as the Buckeye venue maintains its spot as one of the premier college ball-parks. With the addition of bleacher seating down both foul lines, the stadium capacity has increased to 4,450, making it a probable choice for NCAA Regional competition. Permanent batting cages are also being constructed on the third base side.
THE RECORD WATCH
Career Batting Average
1. Jason Trott .399 2. Dan Seimetz (1995-98) .370 3. Alex Eckelman (1994-97) .367 4. Robby Cobb (1980-83) .363 5. Brian Mannino (1992-95) .362
Career Wins
1. Pete Perini (1947-50) 30 2. Justin Fry 29 Scott Klingenbeck (1990-92) 28 Tom Schwarber (1987-91) 28
Career Innings Pitched
1. Justin Fry 352.2
Career Strikeouts
1. Justin Fry 316
