Baseball Buckeyes Go West for Three Games – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 2002
%^$
%^$
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
%^$
%^$
%^$Ohio State remains undefeated entering the third week of the season. After going 3-0-1 in the first weekend of the season, Ohio State got a win against North Florida, the No. 4 team in Division II, on March 1 to improve to 4-0-1. The two other games the Buckeyes had scheduled in Jacksonville – against Jacksonville and The Citadel – were rained out.%^$
%^$This week, OSU heads to Albuquerque, N.M. for three games. On Friday, the Buckeyes will meet Toledo at 3 p.m. (EST, 1 p.m. MST). Toledo is approximately 145 miles from Columbus, yet Ohio State will be traveling a little more than 1,450 miles for the game against the Rockets in New Mexico. The Buckeyes and Lobos will meet for the first time ever at 4 p.m. (EST, 2 p.m. MST) and then again on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (EST, 10:30 a.m. MST). Neither Toledo nor New Mexico is ranked in this week’s three polls.%^$
%^$Senior catcher Joe Wilkins is leading the team with a .438 batting average. He has seven hits in 16 at bats, including the team’s only home run. It was just the second of his career. His first was in his sophomore season. Two other Buckeyes also have seven hits though the first five games of the season. Christian Snavely has seven hits in 20 at bats (.350) and Doug Deeds has seven in 21 at bats (.333). As a team, OSU is hitting .281.%^$
%^$Buckeye pitchers are off to a good year. Three pitchers which have seen at least four innings each have a 0.00 ERA, while three others who have pitched less than four innings also boast 0.00 ERA. E.J. Laratta has pitched 9.0 innings and has allowed no runs off just three hits. The team ERA is 1.00.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes’ quick start has them ranked 25th by Collegiate Baseball this week. They are also receiving votes (34th) in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll.%^$
%^$No. 25 Ohio State Buckeyes
%^$(4-0-1 Overall, 0-0 in Big Ten)
%^$vs.
%^$Toledo (0-0) and New Mexico (7-11)
%^$March 8-10, 2002
%^$Albuquerque, N.M.
%^$
%^$Friday, March 8: vs. Toledo, 3 p.m.
%^$Saturday, March 9: at New Mexico, 4 p.m.
%^$Sunday, March 10: at New Mexico, 12:30 p.m.
%^$All Times Eastern Standard
%^$
%^$Going For Victory No. 2,000
%^$With two more wins, Ohio State will reach 2,000 all-time wins in baseball. The Buckeyes enter the weekend with an all-time record of 1998-1286-41 (.607) in the 118 years of Ohio State baseball. The school first started playing the sport in 1881, but did not field teams in 1886, 1887, 1908 or 1910. Ohio State ranks 21st all-time in number of all-time victories.%^$
%^$Going for Career Win No. 700
%^$OSU skipper Bob Todd needs only three wins to record 700 career victories. He is 697-360-2 in his 19th season as a head coach. The numbers include the 573 wins he has in his 14+ years at Ohio State. The winningest coach in Buckeye baseball history, Todd previously was a head coach at Kent State, where he won 124 games in four seasons.%^$
%^$While at Ohio State, Todd has guided the Buckeyes to seven Big Ten regular season and five Big Ten tournament championships, eight NCAA tournament appearances and five top-20 finishes.%^$
%^$About Toledo
%^$Toledo has yet to play this season after inclement weather forced the postponement of its series last weekend against Morehead State. Those games will be made up in April. The Rockets finished 26-29 overall in 2001 and went 10-17 to tie for fifth in the Western Division of the Mid-American Conference. Catcher Mitch Maier led the team witha .444 batting average a year ago and tied for the second-most hits on the team with 71. Phil Pilewski had 74 hits to fuel the Rockets’ offense.%^$
%^$Against the Rockets
%^$Ohio State leads the all-time series with Toledo 19-6, yet the two teams haven’t met since 1997, when the Buckeyes won 12-4 in Columbus.%^$
%^$About New Mexico
%^$The Lobos are 7-11 on the year, but have won their last two and three of their last four games. Despite the record, New Mexico, which is 6-3 at home this season, has a played in five one-run games this season, including a pair of 3-2 losses to then-No. 8 Nebraska and then-No. 22 Wake Forest at the Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas. Two of the losses have come in extra innings. The Lobos own a team batting average of .312 and a team ERA of 6.80.%^$
%^$Against the Lobos
%^$The meeting between Ohio State and New Mexico on Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools on a baseball diamond.%^$
%^$Ohio State Blanks N. Florida
%^$Rightfielder Doug Deeds broke a scoreless tie in the seventh inning with an RBI single that scored shortstop Brett Garrard and then catcher Joe Wilkins hit a two-run homer as No. 25 Ohio State claimed a 3-0 victory over North Florida, ranked No. 4 in Division II, on March 1.%^$It was a pitchers dual for most of the game, but Ohio State broke a scoreless tie in the top of the seventh inning when Deeds hit a liner to short right with two outs to score Garrard who walked to lead off the inning. Centerfielder Mike Rabin had bunted Garrard over to second. Second baseman Christian Snavely led off the eighth with a base hit to right field and then Wilkins came to the plate had deposited a Brian Rauch 2-2 offering off the score board in left-center field.%^$
%^$Ohio State freshman lefty Scott Lewis picked up his first win for the Buckeyes in his first career start. He pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up six hits while striking out five batters and walking two. Mike Madsen picked up his first save as a Buckeye.%^$
%^$Rain Cancels Two Games
%^$Constant rain last Saturday and Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla., forced Ohio State to cancel two of its three games at the Kennel Club Classic. The No. 25 Buckeyes were to play at Jacksonville on Saturday and against The Citadel on Sunday. Ohio State will likely add two games later this season.%^$
%^$Wilkins Hits First OSU Homer This Season
%^$Senior catcher Joe Wilkins hit the first home run by a Buckeye this year on March 1 in the 3-0 win over No. 4 (Division II) North Florida. It was just the second home run of his career. He had not homered since his sophomore year in 2000. His first was a grand slam, while this one plated two. Wilkins leads the team with a .438 average through the first five games and is tied for the team lead in hits with seven. He has six RBIs, 12 total bases and a .750 slugging percentage to lead the team.%^$
%^$Pitching Staff Has 1.00 ERA
%^$It is early, but the Ohio State pitching staff boasts a team ERA of 1.00 through the first five games of the season. Seven Buckeye pitchers have a 0.00 ERA, including three pitchers that have hurled at least 4.0 innings.%^$
%^$Senior righty E.J. Laratta pitched a complete game shutout to get the Scarlet and Gray started on a positive note. He did not allow a run to score off three hits by Alabama-Birmingham on Feb. 22. Laratta is holding opposing batters to a .107 average. Freshman Chris Hanners pitched has pitched 7.0 innings and has allowed no runs from just one hit. He is holding opponents to a .045 batting average. Junior Nate Smith also has a 0.00 ERA after allowing three runs, none of which were earned, off three hits in 4.0 innings.%^$
%^$Freshman Mike Madsen, senior Brandon Steen, junior Kyle Brown and red-shirt freshman Matt Davis also haven’t been charged with an earned run, but none have pitched more than two innings.%^$
%^$Ohio State has three other pitchers who have seen action in 2002. Sophomore Josh Newman has pitched 8.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) off six hits for an ERA of 1.12. Freshman Scott Lewis has pitched 12.1 innings and has allowed three runs (two earned) off 13 hits with an ERA of 1.46.%^$
%^$Bulldogs and Buckeyes Tie
%^$Ohio State closed out its stay in Starkville, Miss., Feb. 24 with a rare 6-6 tie at Polk-Dement Stadium at Mississippi State. The game was called because of travel considerations. Drew Anderson led the offense with a 2-for-4 day at the plate and scored two runs for OSU as the Buckeyes remained undefeated to start the season at 3-0-1. MSU improved to 1-1-1 on the year.%^$The Buckeyes sprinted out to a 6-1 lead and appeared to be handing then-No. 19 Mississippi State its second loss of the year, leading by that margin into the bottom of the seventh inning. Back-to-back home runs by the Bulldogs pulled them within a 6-3 score.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes went three and out in the eighth. Snavely reached on a single but was picked off two batters later to clear the bases and the inning ended with a Rabin ground out to short. Three singles and a Buckeye error allowed Mississippi State to tie the game in the eighth before the game was called.%^$
%^$First Tie Since 1990
%^$The 6-6 tie between Ohio State and Mississippi State during the opening weekend of the season was the first tie for Ohio State since March 21, 1990, at the Spartan Classic in San Jose, Calif. The Buckeyes played Big Ten foe Minnesota to a 9-9 tie, which was the first tie in the Bob Todd era at Ohio State. This was the 41st tie in OSU baseball history.%^$
%^$Buckeyes Get Extra Inning Win Over UAB to Get to 3-0
%^$Lance Rolston lined a single to left center field in the bottom of the 10th inning allowing Christian Snavely to score the game-winning run in a 4-3 contest with the UAB Blazers at Polk-Dement Stadium in Starkville, Miss., Feb. 23. It was the third win in a row for the Buckeyes (3-0) at the NBC Classic hosted by Mississippi State while the Blazers lost their third-consecutive game to slip to 2-6 on the year.%^$
%^$Nate Smith made his first start of the year for the Buckeyes and allowed one hit while the OSU defense retired the side. Offensively, Snavely, Anderson and Rolston chipped in two hits to the OSU total of 10 with Rolston adding two RBI. Chris Hanners pitched six scoreless innings in relief of Smith allowing one hit and striking out two to garner the first win of his collegiate career.%^$
%^$Ohio State Smacks No. 19 Mississippi State
%^$The Ohio State baseball team’s offense broke out for nine runs on 12 hits to defeat Mississippi State, 9-2, in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader at the NBC Classic in Starkville, Miss. Nick Swisher went 1-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored to pace the Buckeyes.%^$
%^$Doug Deeds also scored three times and Christian Snavely went 3-for-5 with one RBI and one run scored to support starting pitcher Josh Newman. Newman went eight innings throwing 117 pitches allowing two runs on six hits with nine strike outs. He opened the game limiting the Bulldogs to two hits and recording four strike outs, including three in the first inning.%^$
%^$Buckeyes Open With 2-0 Win
%^$The Ohio State baseball team, behind a solid pitching performance from E.J. Laratta, opened its 2002 season with a 2-0 victory over Alabama-Birmingham in the first game of the National Bank of Commerce Classic in Starkville, Miss., on Friday, Feb. 22.%^$
%^$Laratta struck out nine Blazers en route to the 15th complete game of his career. Doug Dendiger sparked the Buckeye offense with an RBI single in the top of the eighth to break a scoreless tie in a classic pitcher’s dual at Polk-Dement Stadium at Mississippi State.%^$
%^$Laratta Gets 27th Win
%^$With the 2-0 win in the season opener over Alabama-Birmingham, Laratta moved into a tie with Chris Granata (1991-94) for fifth all-time at OSU with 27. He also moved past Granata and Tom Schwarber (1987-91) in innings pitched with 300.1, the third-most in Buckeye history.%^$
%^$Laratta Named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week
%^$E.J. Laratta was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Feb. 26 after he started the season opener for the Buckeyes and delivered a nine-inning shutout. The senior righthander struck out nine batters and allowed only three hits in shutting down the UAB attack to spark OSU to a 3-0-1 start to the season. Laratta moved into a tie for fifth on the all-time Ohio State wins list with 27 and tossed the 15th complete game of his career.%^$
%^$Best Start Since 1991
%^$Ohio State is off to its best start since the 1991 season when the team won its first eight games before losing its ninth. The 1991 team finished the year with a 53-13 record and won the Big Ten. This season, the team is 4-0-1.%^$The Buckeyes had lost their season opener each of the last two years. The last team to win an opener was the 1999 team, which won its first two games before a loss. That team won four of its first five games and five of its first seven contests.%^$
%^$On the Bases
%^$The Buckeyes stole 12 bases on 17 attempts in the four games of the season. Seven players had at least one stolen base, including Drew Anderson, who was perfect on three attempts. Ohio State did not attempt to steal last weekend at North Florida.%^$
%^$New Year… Same Goals
%^$Regardless of the year, decade or century, the goal of coach Bob Todd’s Buckeyes is always simple and always the same. Just play baseball. Fundamentals and education are the key to success of any organization whether it be a corporate setting, a workroom floor or a ball club.%^$Ohio State has proven to be the dominant team of the Big Ten and a national contender every season. The Buckeyes won their 14th conference championship, seven of which have come under the leadership of Todd. One of the most impressive streaks in all of college athletics was also continued — Every player recruited by Todd has left school with a Big Ten Championship ring.%^$
%^$The Captains
%^$Seniors Doug Dendinger and Brandon Steen and juniors Nate Smith and Lance Rolston have been elected captains for 2002 season.%^$
%^$”All four of these student-athletes are great representatives of the Ohio State baseball program,” head coach Bob Todd said. “Each of them already has a pair of Big Ten Championship rings. They know what it takes to excel at this level and will be an integral part in what we do as a team this season.”%^$
%^$Dendinger, a two-year starter, will play both first base and outfield this season. Steen enters the year as the team’s stopper out of the bullpen. Smith, who missed last year rehabilitating a shoulder injury, will compete for one of the starting jobs in the rotation. Rolston will contend for a starting job in the outfield.%^$
%^$Swisher Preseason All-American
%^$A couple of national publications have tabbed first baseman Nick Swisher as a preseason All-American. Both Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America have pegged Swisher as a second team selection. Last year, Swisher led the Big Ten with 15 home runs, set a school record with 60 walks and was a First-Team All-Big Ten honoree. He was also a member of the U.S. National team in the summer.%^$
%^$Four All-Big Ten Selections Return
%^$The Ohio State roster returns four All-Big Ten selections, including three first team selections. Nick Swisher (first base), Doug Deeds (designated hitter) and E.J. Laratta (starting pitcher) were all first team honorees. Greg Prenger (starting pitcher) was a third team selection.%^$
%^$Three Freshman All-Americans
%^$OSU’s fabulous freshman class of 2001 should return as super sophomores in 2002. At the conclusion of last season, Doug Deeds, Josh Newman and Christian Snavely were all named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team.%^$
%^$Only Four-Time Coach of the Year
%^$Bob Todd continues to be the standard bearer for baseball coaches in the Big Ten. Since the inception of the award in 1988, Todd has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year an unprecedented four-times, including last season. No other coach has won the award more than twice.%^$
%^$Back-to-Back-to-Back
%^$In 1999 E.J. Laratta started a three-year run of Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-America selections for the Buckeyes. Following Laratta were Nick Swisher in 2000 and Doug Deeds last year. Since the inception of the award in 1998, Ohio State leads the Big Ten with an unprecedented five selections. No other school has more than two honorees.%^$
%^$The New Faces
%^$The Buckeyes welcomed 12 freshman to the program this fall. This group features six all-state selections and one Major League Draft selection. The freshman class includes: Drew Anderson, Cody Caughenbaugh, Paul Farinacci, Geno Ferraro, Chris Hanners, Brooks Graff, Kelly Houser, Scott Lewis, Trent Luyster, Mike Madsen, Justin Myers and John Toffey.%^$
%^$Bill Davis Stadium
%^$The Ohio State baseball program will call Bill Davis Stadium its home for the sixth-consecutive year. In a short period of time, the venue has established itself as one of the premier college ballparks in the nation. Last year was highlighted when for the second time in three seasons, Ohio State earned the right to host the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Columbus Regional. In 1999, the Buckeyes also played host to an NCAA Super Regional.%^$In 1998, lights, a batter’s eye in centerfield and the matrix score board for animation were added. In 1999, expanded seating was added as additional bleachers were placed along both foul lines to increase the stadium capacity to 4,450. Also, the baseball office was relocated inside the stadium making Bill Davis Stadium the true home of the Ohio State baseball program.%^$In the 2000 offseason, meeting, equipment and recreation rooms were added under the stadium on the third base side. Prior to last season, a weight room was constructed under the stadium along the first base side.
