Minnesota Visits Ohio State with Title on the Line – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 17, 2002
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It all comes down to this, the final weekend of the regular season.
Ohio State and Minnesota square off in a four-game series at Bill Davis Stadium that will decide the Big Ten regular season champion. For the Buckeyes, they must win three of the four games to be crowned champion for the third time in four years. For the Golden Gophers, they must win only twice. Should fewer than four games be played, the Buckeyes must have at least one more win in the series than Minnesota to earn the championship and host the conference tournament next week, May 22-26.
The Buckeyes (16-9) led the Big Ten until the first weekend in May when they lost the Saturday doubleheader at Michigan. Ever since then, Minnesota (16-8), which has played one fewer game than the Buckeyes, has led the conference by only percentage points in front of Ohio State.
The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten in pitching with a 4.20 ERA and are led by junior righthanded pitcher Nate Smith, who owns the best ERA in both overall (1.98) and in conference games (2.21). The Gophers have a 4.89 ERA as a team, which is fifth in the Big Ten. Josh Krogman has a 3.44 ERA to go with a 5-3 record to lead the Minnesota pitching staff.
Ohio State is fourth in team batting with a .303 average behind Minnesota’s .328, which is third behind Indiana and Michigan State. The Buckeyes have two players ranked in the top 10 in individual batting. Doug Deeds is fourth with a .387 average. Minnesota’s Luke Appert has a .383 average to lead the Gophers and rank seventh in the Big Ten.
About Minnesota
The Golden Gophers enter this weekend’s series with a 28-22 overall record after splitting last weekend’s home series with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Minnesota lost the first game 5-3 and then took the single game on Saturday 5-2. The schools had to play a Sunday doubleheader after only getting one game in around rain showers on Saturday. The Gophers won the first game 8-5, but lost the nightcap 12-6.
Luke Appert leads Minnesota with a .383 batting average. He is tied for the team lead in home runs with 12 and is third on the team in RBI with 37. Jason Kennedy leads the Gophers with 56 RBI and also has 12 home runs. Ben Pattee has 39 RBI on a team that is batting .328.
The pitching staff has a 4.89 ERA and is led by Josh Krogman and Craig Molldrem with identical 5-3 records. Krogman owns the top ERA at 3.44, while Molldrem is second with a 3.89 ERA. C.J. Woodrow has a team-best 68 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings.
Against the Golden Gophers
Ohio State trials the all-time series against Minnesota by the slimmest of margins. The Golden Gophers have a two-game edge with a 59-57-2 advantage in a series that dates back to 1923. The Buckeyes swept Minnesota in the four-game regular season series last year by scores of 7-2, 4-3, 5-3 and 5-1, but the Golden Gophers got the better of the Buckeyes in the tournament, eliminating Ohio State in a 6-5 decision.
Last Year vs. Minnesota
Doug Dendinger earned Big Ten Player of the Week after batting .600 against the Gophers last year in the four regular season games. He was 6-for-10 with four runs scored, a triple, home run and six RBI. He broke the game open in the finale when he belted a three-run home run off a 2-0 offering from Minnesota reliever Jason Shupe over the centerfield wall to give its 5-1 margin of victory. In the third game of the series, he drove in the game-winning run with an RBI single in the fifth inning of OSU’s 5-3 triumph.
Thanks for the Memories
This weekend marks the final regular season series for a group of four OSU seniors. Doug Dendinger, E.J. Laratta, Brandon Steen and Joe Wilkins will all be playing their final regular season home game on Sunday when the Buckeyes and Gophers meet in the 1:05 p.m. series finale. The game will be televised by ONN and on the radio by both WOSU-AM and by OSU student radio (www.underground.fm).
The accomplishments of all four seniors will be recognized prior to the first pitch on Sunday.
Dendinger leaves Ohio State as the all-time walks leader. He enters the weekend with 138 career walks. The senior from Greenwich, Ohio, is leaving Ohio State with a .295 batting average, 143 hits, 116 RBI, 30 doubles and 17 home runs and a fielding percentage of .987.
Laratta will leave OSU as the second-winningest pitcher (by wins) in Buckeye history. The senior from Englewood, Colo., has a career record of 32-15, good enough for a winning percentage of .681. He appeared in 57 games, which ties him for 12th most of all time, and has pitched in 359 1/3 inning, second best of all-time. He is leaving with 229 strikeouts (10th) and only 90 walks, the sixth fewest bases on balls against a Buckeye pitcher, who has pitched at least 175 innings.
Steen will be leaving Ohio State with total appearances that ranks in the top five in the program. He entered the week with 68 appearances. The senior from Hendersonville, Tenn., has seven saves this season which is tied for seventh in the season record book. He had five as a junior, which also ranks among the top 10.
Wilkins has been an incredible field commander behind the plate for the Buckeyes this season. He has a .982 fielding percentage this season and has the confidence of a pitching staff that leads the Big Ten in ERA. The senior from Grove City, Ohio, departs with a career fielding percentage of .978 and a batting average of .286. He has 20 doubles four home runs and 84 RBI. The 15 career sacrifices, including nine by bunt, lead the roster.
OSU Pitchers Two-Hit Cleveland State in 14-0 Victory
The Ohio State offense jumped all over Cleveland State and the pitching staff gave up only two hits in a 14-0 victory Wednesday night in front of 2,319 fans at Bill Davis Stadium.
The win was a great team effort as nearly everyone in the Buckeye dugout saw action on the field, including two pitchers Ohio State typically throws only on Sunday in Nate Smith and Scott Lewis. Both had missed starts last weekend because of rainouts and coach Bob Todd didn’t want them rusty heading into the series this weekend against Minnesota.
Smith threw only 37 pitches in improving to 6-0 in only four innings of work. He struck out one and walked one without allowing a hit. Lewis replaced Smith to start the fifth inning and did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and struck out two batters in his two innings on the mound. But as much as the two-hit shutout by Buckeye pitching was the story, OSU bats came alive early and often.
Third baseman Drew Anderson got things started with a homer in the second inning and then Nick Swisher doubled in one run and Doug Dendinger doubled in two during a five-run third. In the fourth, Swisher and Joe Wilkins had run- scoring singles. Ohio State built an 8-0 lead through four innings and was never challenged. Paul Farinacci deposited his third home run of the season over the leftfield fence to put the Buckeyes up 14-0 in the seventh.
Swisher finished 3-for-4 in the game, scoring twice with a run batted in. Dendinger was 2-for-4 knocking in three runs and scoring once, while Wilkins plated two runs.
Todd Posts 600th OSU Win
With the 14-0 two-hit shutout victory by the Buckeyes over Cleveland State this past Wednesday, Ohio State coach Bob Todd won his 600th game at Ohio State. The triumph was also the 600th victory for OSU head coach Bob Todd. Todd now has a 600-294-2 record and is already the winningest baseball coach in Buckeye history, doing that with his 479th win in 1999 vs. Pittsburgh. Todd, now in his 15th year at Ohio State, has a career record of 724-376-2 in his 19th season as a head coach, having previously coached at Kent. Todd won his 700th career game earlier this season against Detroit on March 16.
Todd’s Milestone Victories
Career Wins
1 – March 23, 1984 vs. Mercer (18-4)
100 – March 25, 1987 vs. UNC-Wilm. (12-10)
200 – April 1, 1990 vs. Wisconsin (7-4)
300 – April 20, 1992 vs. Penn State (8-0)
400 – May 11, 1994 vs. Cincinnati (14-4)
500 – March 29, 1997 at Michigan State (6-1)
600 – May 2, 1999 vs. Purdue (3-2)
700 – March 16, 2002 vs. Detroit (10-0)
Ohio State Wins
1 – Feb. 27, 1988 vs. Louisville (16-2)
100 – Feb. 22, 1991 vs. Dartmouth (14-7)
200 – March 27, 1993 vs. Cleveland State (8-5)
300 – April 12, 1995 vs. Marshall (9-6)
400 – May 16, 1997 at Michigan (8-5)
*479 – May 5, 1999 vs. Pittsburgh (7-1)
500 – March 19, 2000 vs. Oregon State (8-3)
600 – May 15, 2002 vs. Cleveland State (14-0)
*became the winningest coach in Ohio State history.
Big Ten Wins
1 – April 3, 1988 vs. Illinois (14-6)
100 – May 1, 1993 vs. Michigan (3-2)
200 – May 10, 1998 vs. Michigan State (5-4)
One Error in Last Five Games
The defense continued to be strong for the Buckeyes in the 14-0 win over Cleveland State on Wednesday. Ohio State has now committed just one error in its last five games after miscues in the previous six ballgames. The Buckeyes entered the Michigan series May 3-5 having committed one error in each of its previous three games and then had three, two and two errors in the first three games of the Michigan series. OSU is the fourth best fielding team in the Big Ten with a .964 fielding percentage.
Bucks Pitch Another Shutout
The 14-0 shutout was the eighth time this season Ohio State has blanked an opponent. That total equals the school record set by both the 1977 and 2001 teams. The Buckeyes also have shutouts this season against Alabama-Birmingham (2-0 on Feb. 22), North Florida (3-0 on March 1), Detroit (10-0 on March 16), Harvard (9-0 on March 25), Penn State (10-0 on April 6 and 11-0 on April 7) and Purdue (8-0 on April 28). Ohio State has been shutout just once this season, a 1-0 loss in the second game of a doubleheader at Michigan.
The Cleveland State game was also the third time this season that OSU has allowed its opponents two hits or fewer. Actually, all three instances were two-hit efforts. Harvard had two-hits in the 9-0 loss on March 25 and Penn State had a pair of hits in the 10-0 loss on April 6.
OSU Evens Midweek Mark
The 14-0 win over Cleveland State was also the third Wednesday night victory in a row for Ohio State. The Buckeyes had lost the first three midweek games of the season falling to Oakland (10-5 on April 10), Dayton (4-3 on April 17) and Wooster, the top-ranked Division III team (9-7 on April 24). Wins over Youngstown State (6-5 on May 1) and Miami (Ohio) (11-2 on May 8) allowed the Buckeyes to finish at .500 in the six Wednesday night games.
Streaking Snavely
Christian Snavely is currently riding an 11-game hit streak after getting a single in the fourth inning Wednesday against Cleveland State. In the streak that dates back to the third game of the Purdue series on April 28, the sophomore second baseman is hitting .390 (16-41) during the streak with six doubles, a home run, a sac fly and six RBI. For the year, he is batting .374, second best on the team behind Doug Deeds.
Earlier this season Snavely rode a 13-game streak. He has a hit in 39 of his 47 games this season.
The longest streak on the team this year was a 19-game streak by junior first baseman Nick Swisher. The length of the streak came within four games of the all-time OSU record of 23 held by Jay Semke, who had hits in games 13-35 in 1987. Swisher’s streak was snapped in the first game of the doubleheader at Michigan on May 4. Also ending that day was a string of 51 straight games in which he reached base safely.
Walking Into History
Doug Dendinger needed one walk at Michigan State to become the school’s all-time leader. It came in the form of an intentional walk in the second game of the series.
A Nick Swisher single to right in the sixth inning plated Christian Snavely. Swisher then stole second to open first base for the intentional walk to Dendinger. The walk was the 137th of his career, giving him the school’s career bases on balls record. He had been tied with Greg Mohler who had 136 walks between 1981-84. Dendinger walked a second time in the game and now has 138 career walks.
His 43 walks this season leads the Big Ten and is the sixth highest season total in school history. Dendinger’s 55 walks last season were the second most in OSU history, five off the 60 free passes by Swisher a year ago. Swisher has 33 walks this season and is now fifth on the career list with 121.
Pettorini Named Second-Team Academic All-District
Sophomore Terry Pettorini has been selected to the Verizon Academic Second-Team All-District IV, which was announced Thursday.
The Buckeye sometime-designated hitter carries a 3.40 GPA in political science. On the field, Pettorini has a .247 batting average having played in 29 games, with 24 starts. He has 16 RBI with four home runs. Earlier this season, he went 6-for-6, scoring six times while driving in five runs.
The district team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher. Team members are selected by a vote of members of the College Sports Information Directors of America within the district.
Big Ten Rankings
The Buckeyes own the top ERA in the league. Ohio State has a 4.20 ERA led by Nate Smith, who has the top individual ERA in all games (1.98) and in Big Ten games (2.21). The team’s ERA in conference only games ranks fourth best (4.63) behind Michigan (3.87), Minnesota (4.09) and Northwestern (4.58). Scott Lewis has a 2.82 ERA to rank fourth in individual pitching in all games.
In all games, Ohio State ranks fourth among the 10 schools with a .306 batting average and fourth in fielding percentage, fielding at a .964 clip. In conference only games, OSU is third in batting behind Minnesota (.332) and Indiana (.327) and is fifth in fielding (.963).
Ohio State has just one player ranked in the top 10 in individual batting. Doug Deeds is fifth with a .387 average. In conference only games, neither is ranked in the top 10, but the Buckeyes have two players ranked there. Mike Rabin has a .377 in conference games while Nick Swisher is hitting .369.
Other Big Ten Rankings…
Doug Deeds ranks third in the conference in runs scored (55) and is second in on-base percentage (.495) after walking a career-high four times against Cleveland State. He also ranks ninth in slugging percentage (.619) and is tied for eighth with 10 home runs. His 32 walks also rank sixth.
Nick Swisher ranks fifth in slugging percentage (.649) and fourth in on-base percentage (.478). He is also fifth in walks with 33. Swisher has batted in the third highest run total in Big Ten games with 23.
Home Run 33 for No. 33
Nick Swisher, who wears No. 33 on his uniform, hit career home run No. 33 in the 11-2 victory against Miami (Ohio) on May 8. That total moved him into seventh place on the school’s all-time home run list. He trails Alex Eckelman (1994-97) and Mike Lockwood (1997-99), who each have 34 home runs. He is within six home runs of second place on the list, but is still 19 behind the all-time record set by Dan Seimetz (1995-98) who had 52.
Swisher now has eight home runs this season, which ties him for second most on the team with Christian Snavely, two behind Doug Deeds, who has 10.
Rabin Sports Best Buckeye Average in Big Ten Play
Freshman Mike Rabin leads the team with a .377 (26-for-69) in Big Ten action. He was 2-for-7 last weekend at Michigan State after leading the team with a .417 average in a 5-for-12 effort at Michigan the week before. He scored three times against the Wolverines and plated the team’s second run in Sunday’s 9-5 victory.
Earlier this season, Rabin was the Big Ten Player of the Week for his efforts against Indiana. Against the Hoosiers, the outfielder batted 6-for-9 (.667), scored three times and knocked in four runs. Including the midweek game against Dayton, he was 8-for-11 (.727) that week.
Steen Has Seven Saves
Brandon Steen got saves in both Ohio State wins against Michigan and also had one against Youngstown State on May 1 giving him saves in each of the three Buckeye wins that week. He now has seven saves this season, which is a season high for the senior from Hendersonville, Tenn. The seven saves are also the seventh most in a season by a Buckeye. He now has 12 saves in his career.
Steen has also appeared in 68 games in his four seasons at Ohio State after pitching an inning against Cleveland State. Those appearances tie him for fourth all-time in the career record book with Kevin Goodrum (1998-01) and Chad Hale (1991-94). His 69th appearance ties him for third with Dennis Pachner (1992-94). He is still 11 games out of second place, which is hled by Andy Lee (1996-99).
Team Has 10 Saves
Brandon Steen accounts for seven of the team’s 10 saves this season, but the 10 saves equal the seventh most ever in one season. The most ever saves in one season by Ohio State is 15, which happened in both 1996 and 2001. Freshman Mike Madsen has a pair of saves and freshman Chris Hanners has one save to his credit.
Laratta Second in Wins
E.J. Laratta is currently in second place on the school’s all-time win list and trails Justin Fry (1995-99) by just four wins for the most all time.
Laratta has now pitched 359 1/3 innings in his career at Ohio State. The total is the second most in school history, behind Fry, the all-time leader, who pitched 419 2/3 innings.
Laratta also has 229 strikeouts in his four years as a Buckeye to rank 10th. Scott Klingenbeck (1990-92) is ninth on the list with 238 strikeouts.
Five Buckeyes on Watch List for Smith Award
Five players are among the more than 150 players that have been named to the mid-season watch list for the 15th annual Rotary Smith Award, that was announced April 25. The award will be given to the nation’s top player June 24 in Houston, Texas.
The Buckeyes landed a pair of starting pitchers on the list in E.J. Laratta and Nate Smith. The three other OSU players nominated for this prestigious honor are first baseman Nick Swisher, second baseman Christian Snavely and outfielder Doug Deeds. Swisher was the 2000 Big Ten Freshman of the Year while Deeds copped Freshman of the Year accolades last season.
Voting to determine the 12 semifinalists is currently underway. Three finalists will be announced prior to the start of the NCAA super regionals, June 7-9.
Two Games Rained Out
Sunday’s doubleheader between Ohio State and Michigan State at Oldsmobile Park was rained out meaning a two-game series split. The Spartans won Friday by a score of 12-5 and the Buckeyes claimed Saturday’s game 6-4.
The teams were originally scheduled to play a four-game series with a Saturday doubleheader, but it also rained Saturday in Lansing. The teams played a single game on Saturday after a three-hour delay..
Buckeyes Rally for 6-4 Win
Lefthanded pitcher Josh Newman struck out eight batters and the Ohio State offense rallied with four runs in the sixth to beat Michigan State 6-4 last Saturday at Oldsmobile Park.
The Buckeyes scored four runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-2 advantage. Christian Snavely drew a walk to lead off the inning and then Brett Garrard reached on a throwing error by Spartan starter Nick Bates. Bates then caught Doug Deeds looking at strike three for the first out of the inning. The walk by Snavely ended a streak of 13 batters retired by Bates.
A Nick Swisher single to right plated Snavely, who then stole second to open first base for an intentional walk to Doug Dendinger. The walk to Dendinger was the 137th of his career, giving him the school’s career bases on balls record. He had been tied with Greg Mohler who had 136 walks between 1981-84.
Joe Wilkins grounded to first base, but instead of stepping on first for the automatic out, Spartan first baseman Kyle Geswein threw home trying to catch Garrard at the plate, but Garrard slid under the tag to put the Buckeyes up 4-2.
Drew Anderson and Mike Rabin knocked in runs to give the Buckeyes a 6-2 lead. The Spartans rallied to score two in the bottom of the sixth to pull within the two-run final.
Newman pitched all seven innings allowing the four Michigan State runs on four hits. He had two walks vs. the eight strikeouts in improving to 8-4 on the year. Swisher finished the game 2-for-4 for the Buckeyes, scored a run and knocked in a run. Dendinger was 1-for-2, scored once and drove in a pair of runs.
MSU Trips Up OSU 12-5
Michigan scored five runs in each of the second and fifth innings on its way to a 12-5 victory last Friday at Oldsmobile Park.
The Spartans put up a five-spot in the second inning to take a 6-1 lead. Rightfielder Bob Malek launched a line drive home run over the fence in rightfield that scored three and then the next batter, centerfielder Chris McCuiston, launched a long ball to left-centerfield. Michigan State scored five runs in the fifth inning to extend its lead to 12-1 before Ohio State could muster any more offense. The Buckeyes scored four times in the top of the sixth. Doug Deeds led off the inning with a base hit through the right side and then Nick Swisher drew a walk. Joe Wilkins grounded into a 6-4-3 double play that scored Deeds and a miniature two-out rally was on.
Drew Anderson singled up the middle to score Swisher and then back-to-back doubles by Lance Rolston and Mike Rabin scored Anderson and Rolston.
Jesse Paciorek came on in relief of E.J. Laratta with one gone in the fifth inning, but the senior left the game charged with all 12 Spartan runs on 13 hits, walking one and striking out two. He had one wild pitch and hit two batters in falling to 7-4 on the season. Paciorek did not allow a run off three hits in 3 2/3 innings of work. He struck out four and walked two.
Christian Snavely and Deeds each went 2-for-5. Deeds scored once and drove in a run.
Buckeyes Beat Miami 11-2
Ohio State smacked out 14 hits, including home runs by Brett Garrard and Nick Swisher, to beat Miami (Ohio) 11-2 last Wednesday at Bill Davis Stadium.
Garrard and Swisher went deep in the bottom half of the sixth inning to give the Buckeyes an 8-1 lead. Garrard’s fourth home run of the season was a solo shot with one out, while Swisher’s eighth blast of the year went over the fence in deep right-centerfield and also scored Doug Deeds, who singled up the middle to get on base.
Swisher finished the game 2-for-5 and batted in three runs. Lance Rolston went 3-for-5 for the Buckeyes on Wednesday as the designated hitter in a different defensive lineup.
Swisher moved from centerfield to first base, where he had played until this season when he moved to the outfield. Doug Dendinger, who had been the first baseman all season, moved to leftfield and Mike Rabin moved over to fill Swisher’s void in center.
Matt Davis made his third start of the season and earned his fourth victory, improving to 4-0 with the win. He pitched a career-high five innings, not allowing a run on four hits. He struck out four and walked two.
