Baseball Buckeyes Return to Campus – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/13/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sept. 13, 1999
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Just one win separated the Ohio State baseball team from going to the 1999 College World Series in June. The quest to the CWS begins today as the newest installment of Ohio State Baseball prepares for the 2000 season. The team will practice six days a week for four weeks leading up to the Scarlet and Gray World Series.
Y2K Preview
Winning and baseball have become synonymous in the 12 years of head coach Bob Todd’s tenure. The 2000 season should prove to be no different. All-American Chad Ehrnsberger and Freshman All-American E.J. Laratta headline a group that also returns starters Trent McIlvain (SS), Jason Turner (RF), Jason Driscoll (RF) and John Mayor (DH) as well as relief ace Cory Cox.
Y2K Schedule
The 2000 season will begin on Feb. 25 in Millington, Tenn., as the Buckeyes compete in the Service Academy Baseball Classic. The other spring tournaments scheduled are the North Florida Baseball Tourney in Jacksonville, Fla. (March 3-5), the Wintrop Classic in Rock Hill, S.C. (March 10-12), and the Aggie Continental Airlines Tournament in Commerce, Texas (March 17-20). The Buckeyes have 15 home dates scheduled at Bill Davis Stadium. The three Big Ten weekends are against Iowa (March 31-April 2), Indiana (April 21-23) and Michigan State (May 12-14).
1999 Review
The 1999 season will go down as one of the best ever in school history. The Buckeyes finished the season with an astonishing 50-14 (.781) overall record. The winning percentage ranked ninth in the country and marked only the second time in school history that the Buckeyes reached the 50 win plateau. From April 11-May 8, OSU rattled off a school record 21-game winning streak. In conference play, OSU captured the Big Ten Regular Season Championship with a 25-3 record. At the conclusion of the season, head coach Bob Todd was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in his career. In the postseason, the Buckeyes earned the right to play host to both the NCAA Regional and Super Regional tournaments. In the Columbus Regional, the team went 3-0 to capture the championship. In the Super Regional, a Game One win put the Buckeyes on the threshold of a birth to the College World Series only to have Cal-State Fullerton come back and win the best of three series. Three Buckeyes earned All-America honors at the conclusion of the season (Chad Ehrnsberger, Justin Fry and Mike Lockwood). All-American Ehrnsberger
Chad Ehrnsberger was named to the 1999 National College Baseball Writers Association All-American team. A second team selection at second base, Ehrnsberger led the Buckeyes with 16 home runs and 73 runs batted in. These numbers placed him third in both categories in the Big Ten Conference. Ehrnsberger also carried a .356 batting average and a .648 slugging percentage.
All-American Laratta
Last season, pitcher E.J. Laratta took the college baseball world by storm earning Freshman All-America honors from both Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America. He also was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Laratta finished last season with a 10-3 record and a 3.77 earned run average. In the Big Ten, he led the league in shutouts (3), finished second in wins and sixth in ERA.
Four All-Big Ten’s are Back
Last season, the baseball team had nine student-athletes named to the all-Big Ten team. Of these nine, four are returning this year -first team selections pitcher E.J. Laratta and second baseman Chad Ehrnsberger, second team selection pitcher Cory Cox and third team selection shortstop Trent McIlvain.
Baseball Information
Location Columbus, Ohio
Enrollment 48,300
President William E. Kirwan
Athletic Director Andy Geiger
Nickname Buckeyes
Colors Scarlet & Gray
Mascot Brutus Buckeye
Home Field Bill Davis Stadium
Conference Big Ten Conference
1999 Record 50-14 overall, 25-3 in Big Ten
Head Coach Bob Todd, Missouri ’71
OSU Record 489-237-1 (.673), 12 years
Career Record 613-319-1 (.658), 16 years
Assistants Greg Cypret, Pat Bangston and Brian Mannino
Athletics Communications Pat Chun
Trainers Vince O’Brien and Jim Turk
2000 Captains TBA
Fall Baseball Schedule
Monday, Sept. 13
The Buckeyes begin fall practice at 11 a.m. The team will practice for the next four weeks in preparation for the Scarlet and Gray World Series at Bill Davis Stadium.
Wednesday, Sept. 22
First day of classes at The Ohio State University. The team will begin practices at 2:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 11
The Scarlet and Gray World Series begins and continues through Friday.
Wednesday, Oct. 13
The Diamond Club will have its annual “Night Out” during day three of the Scarlet and Gray World Series. The game and festivities begin at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 15
The Scarlet and Gray World Series concludes.
Insider Information
Two Buckeyes were selected in Major League Baseball’s June Draft – outfielder Mike Lockwood in Round 23 by Oakland and pitcher Justin Fry in Round 25 by Philadelphia. Lockwood is currently playing for Class A South Oregon of the Northwest League and Fry is with Class A Batavia in the New York-Penn League.
