Baseball Travels to South Bend Regional – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 29, 2002
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Ohio State drew a third seed and will open the NCAA Tournament at the South Bend Regional against second-seeded Notre Dame on Friday at 4:05 p.m. (EDT, 3:05 p.m. CDT) game at Frank Eck Stadium.
No. 1 seed South Alabama will play No. 4 seed Kent at 8:05 p.m. The loser’s of those two games will meet Saturday at 12:05 p.m. with the winners meeting at 4:05 p.m. The winner of Saturday’s first game will play the loser of the second game Saturday night at 8:05 p.m. The winner of the Saturday night game would have to beat the undefeated team twice on Sunday to advance to a Super Regional against the winner of the Tallahassee Regional, which includes Florida State, Central Florida, South Florida and Stetson. The two Sunday games will be played at 2:05 p.m. and 45 minutes following the conclusion of that game, if necessary. The bracket for the South Bend Regional is at the bottom of this page. A complete bracket of the 64-team field is later in this release.
Tickets for the South Bend Regional are available by calling the Notre Dame Athletics Ticket Office at (574) 631-7356 and are available in regional packages or on an individual game basis. In the regional package, reserved adult tickets are $32 while general admission seats are $24. Reserved tickets for each game are $8, while general admission tickets are $6.
About Ohio State
The Buckeyes won the Big Ten Tournament Saturday as a second seed with a 6-3 victory over top-seed Minnesota to earn the Big Ten’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State finished the season with a 36-18-1 overall record and an 18-11 mark in the Big Ten. OSU has won 13 of its last 18 games. Rightfielder Doug Deeds, a second-team All-Big Ten honoree, leads the team with a .383 batting average and 12 home runs. Second baseman Christian Snavely, who was also a second-team all-conference selection, is second on the team with a .371 batting average and leads the team with 76 hits, including 13 doubles, five triples and eight home runs. First-team All-Big Ten first baseman Nick Swisher has a team-high 50 RBI and is third on the team with a .359 batting average. As a team, the Buckeyes are batting .309. The Buckeye pitching staff has a 4.27 ERA and is led by first-team All-Big Ten selections Nate Smith and Scott Lewis. Smith has a 6-0 record and a 2.54 ERA, but did not pitch last week in the conference tournament. Lewis, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, is 7-2 with a 2.71 ERA after getting the Big Ten Tournament-clinching victory on Saturday. E.J. Laratta, who got the win over Northwestern last Friday, is 8-4 with a 4.82 ERA and Josh Newman, a second-team All-Big Ten selection, is 8-5 with a 4.08 ERA.
This is the school’s 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the ninth, including three in the last four seasons, under coach Bob Todd, who is in his 15th year at Ohio State.
OSU at the NCAA Tourney
Ohio State made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1951. Since that time, the Buckeyes have qualified for the tournament 14 times. In the past 15 seasons under head coach Bob Todd, OSU has earned berths into the tournament, eight times. The Buckeyes were in the tournament last season, serving as hosts to the Columbus Regional, which featured Mississippi State, Delaware and Kent State. The Buckeyes lost their first two games, to Delaware and Kent State, to make an early exit from the festivities at Bill Davis Stadium. OSU carries a 24-22 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio State at the CWS
Thirty-six years ago, the Ohio State Buckeyes ruled college baseball. OSU defeated Oklahoma State, 8-2, and won the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The following year, in 1967, the Buckeyes returned to Omaha and were eliminated in two games. Since that time, OSU has never made it back to the College World Series. Ohio State has appeared a total of four times at the CWS (1951, 1965, 1966 and 1967). The Buckeyes have compiled a 9-7 record with one national championship (1966) and one runner-up finish (1965).
Buckeyes Were Close in 1999
In 1999, the NCAA Tournament returned to Columbus, this time at Bill Davis Stadium. It ended a 35-year absence after the last tournament was played at old Trautman Field in 1966.
The nation took notice as the Buckeyes used their home filed advantage to help propel themselves to the Columbus Regional Championship. After wins over Bowling Green and Mississippi State, OSU took home its first regional title in 32 years with a 10-7 victory over the Bulldogs.
The following weekend, the Buckeyes played host to the NCAA Columbus Super Regional, a three-game showdown vs. Cal State-Fullerton, the winner of the South Bend Regional. After winning game one 10-7 courtesy of an eighth inning grand slam, the Buckeyes lost the final two games and the Titans advanced to the College World Series.
About Notre Dame
Notre Dame won the Big East Tournament with a 3-2 10-inning victory over Rutgers on Saturday to earn that conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Irish are 44-15 overall after finishing 18-8 to win the Big East regular season title. The Irish have won 10 of their last 11 games, including a stretch of nine straight victories. At one point this season Notre Dame had won 16 in a row and has won 35 of its last 40 games of the season after opening the year 9-10.
Centerfielder Steve Stanley leads the Irish with a .442 batting average. He has 102 hits and 31 RBI. Leftfielder Brian Stavisky has a .397 average with 42 RBI and six home runs, while catcher Paul O’Toole has 10 home runs to pace the team. Third baseman Andrew Bushey has a team-best 51 RBI. The team has a .312 batting average with 43 home runs. The pitching staff has an ERA of 3.41 and is led by J.P. Gagne, who has a 2.79 ERA in 80 2/3 innings with 57 strikeouts. Grant Johnson has 74 strikeouts to pace the team.
Against the Fighting Irish
Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Ohio State 24-18 though the Buckeyes won the last meeting 5-4 in 2000. The two schools first played in 1902, a 7-0 decision claimed by the Irish. OSU coach Bob Todd is 3-0 vs. Notre Dame. The other two wins came in the 1991 season when the Buckeyes won 6-1 and 12-11 Feb. 23-24.
The Last Meeting with Irish
E.J. Laratta got his first win of the 2000 season with a 5-4 seven-inning compete game performance. Ohio State trailed 4-0 before scoring five runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Laratta struck out four and walked one while giving up the four runs, three earned, on a total of seven hits. The only other current Buckeyes to play in that game in Millington, Tenn., at USA Baseball Stadium, were Nick Swisher and Joe Wilkins. Swisher was 1-for-3, while Wilkins, the designated hitter, went 0-for-3.
About South Alabama
South Alabama lost 20-9 to New Mexico State in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game, but finished the year with a 41-17 overall mark to draw an at-large bid and make its second straight NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed. The Jaguars were the top seed at the 2001 Clemson Regional. Jansen Rayborn leads South Alabama with a .358 batting average, though Ryan Mulhern is on his heels with a .356 average, 77 hits and 62 RBI. The Jaguar pitching staff has an ERA of 4.76, led by Sam Smith, who is 8-1 with a 3.36 ERA and 109 strikeouts.
Against the Jaguars
Ohio State leads the all-time series against South Alabama 2-1, but the schools have not met since 1993 when the Jaguars handed the Buckeyes a 13-5 setback. That was the only meeting involving Bob Todd and South Alabama. The two earlier meetings between the schools went the way of the Buckeyes in a 10-2 and 8-6 doubleheader sweep on March 21, 1976. Coincidentally, Ohio State also played Notre Dame (though the exact location of those games is not in the OSU record book) on that Spring Break trip that also included stops at Alabama, LSU and New Orleans.
About Kent State
Kent State rounds out the field earning the automatic bid from the Mid-American Conference with a 13-4 victory over Ball State to win the conference tournament. The Golden Flashes participated in the Columbus Regional in 2001 eliminating host Ohio State with a 9-8 victory. Kent State is 37-20 overall and was 18-8 in the MAC. Phil LeCascio leads the Flashes with a .387 batting average. Chris Welsch is second on the team with a .342 average, but leads the team with 78 hits and 18 doubles. Pat O’Brien has 17 home runs to lead Kent State, which is batting .318 as a team. Dirk Hayhurst is 8-3 with a 2.84 ERA and has 92 strikeouts to lead a staff that owns a 5.06 ERA.
Against the Golden Flashes
Ohio State leads the all-time series with Kent State 32-13 though the Golden Flashes won 9-8 to eliminate the Buckeyes from the 2001 Columbus Regional a year ago. OSU coach Bob Todd is 4-3 vs. his former team. In Todd’s first two seasons at Ohio State, the teams split a doubleheaders each season before the Buckeyes won 7-4 in 1990 and 5-2 in 1996 before last year’s defeat.
Last Year vs. Kent State
Kent State leftfielder Eric O’Brien hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning to break a tie ballgame and give the Golden Flashes a 9-8 win in game three of the NCAA Baseball Columbus Regional. With the loss, No. 2-seed Ohio State was eliminated from the tournament. The Buckeyes ended the season with a record of 43-18. Doug Deeds finished the game 4-for-5 with three RBI and scored three runs. Other current Buckeyes that played in the game included Doug Dendinger, who was 1-for-3, Nick Swisher, who was 0-for-4, Christian Snavely, who was 1-for-3, Joe Wilkins, who was 1-for-4, Lance Rolston, who was 1-for-1 in a pinch hit role, and Brett Garrard, who was 0-for-2.
Ohio State/Kent State Ties
Ohio State coach Bob Todd spent four season (1984-87) as the Kent State head coach and amassed a record of 124-82, including a mark of 41-15 in 1986. His teams finished eighth, third, second and fifth, respectively, in league play ending a string of 16 consecutive last-place finishes by the Golden Flashes.
Pat Bangtson, the Buckeye pitching coach, pitched for Todd and the Golden Flashes from 1984-87 and won Mid-American Conference first-team selection as a senior. He was 8-5 with a 3.11 ERA that season and struck out 74 in 95 1/3 innings. He was 26-17 and entered this season as the schools’ all-time record holder in victories (26) and innings pitched (313 2/3).
In the Rankings
Ohio State popped back into the polls this week and is ranked 30th by Collegiate Baseball. The Buckeyes are also receiving votes in the USA Today Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll.
As for the opposition, South Alabama is ranked 20th by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball and 21st by Baseball Weekly/ESPN. Notre Dame is ranked 16th by Baseball America and Baseball Weekly/ESPN and 17th by Collegiate Baseball. Kent State is unranked.
The Broadcast
WOSU Radio (820 AM) and www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com will air all post season games involving Ohio State with the tandem of Herb Howenstine and Frank Fraas calling the action. The broadcast will also be available at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
Buckeyes Win Big Ten Tournament
Ohio State claimed a 6-3 victory over Minnesota May 25 at Minnesota’s Siebert Field to win the school’s sixth Big Ten Tournament Championship and earn the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Minnesota, which won the Big Ten regular season championship, beat Northwestern 11-5 Saturday afternoon to advance to the championship game against the Buckeyes and needed two wins against Ohio State if they were going to repeat as tournament champions after winning the 2001 tournament at Ohio State’s Bill Davis Stadium.
Ohio State took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Nick Swisher drew a lead off walk on four pitches and then moved to third on a double to left-centerfield by Joe Wilkins. Swisher scored on a ground out by Drew Anderson and then Wilkins scored on a ball hit off the tip of Gopher centerfielder Sam Steidl’s glove, which went as an error.
Minnesota capitalized on a Buckeye error in the top of the third inning to get on the board. David Roach doubled with one out and then Steidl hit a ball to shallow centerfield that went under the glove of OSU centerfielder Mike Rabin. That error allowed Steidl to reach second and scored Roach to make the score 2-1. Gopher designated hitter Ben Pattee tied the game 2-2 in the top of the fourth with his third home run of the season.
But after that both teams hit the ball directly at the defense. Ohio State went down in order in the third and had walks in both the fourth and fifth innings, but that was all the Buckeyes could get against Gopher starter Jeff Moen until the sixth inning. After the Minnesota home run in the fourth inning, OSU starter Scott Lewis sat down 13 straight Gophers.
The Buckeyes took a 3-2 lead in the sixth on the 12th home run of the season by Doug Deeds. Doug Dendinger doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch with just one out, but the Buckeyes could not get him across the plate. After a walk to Wilkins, Minnesota pulled Moen and brought in Tim Theis, who promptly struck out Anderson before getting pinch hitter Terry Pettorini to ground out.
A run of insurance was provided in the seventh by Rabin, who had a two-out double to left centerfield. He was then knocked in by Deeds, who hit a bloop single over the outstretched arm of Gopher shortstop Scott Welch. The run gave Ohio State a two-run advantage, 4-2. The Buckeyes added a pair of runs in the eighth before the Gophers got their final run in the top of the ninth inning.
Lewis pitched a complete game in giving up the three runs on just six hits. He struck out six and walked two in improving to 7-2 on the year. Moen got the loss to drop to 0-2.
Offensively for the Buckeyes, Deeds finished 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI. He was the only Ohio State player with multiple hits as the team only had nine hits. Ben Patte led the Gophers with a 2-for-4 effort with two RBI.
Buckeyes Advance to Final After Beating Northwestern
Ohio State starter E.J. Laratta pitched his fifth complete game of his career and the 14th of his career in leading the Buckeyes to a 5-2 victory over Northwestern Friday night to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game Saturday.
Laratta went all nine innings and gave up the two Northwestern runs on nine hits. He struck out three Wildcats and walked one on 112 pitches in improving to 8-4 on the year. James Happ pitched 6 2/3 innings for the Wildcats in getting the loss to drop to 3-2. All five Buckeyes runs were his responsibility courtesy of 13 hits.
Ohio State led 2-1 going into the sixth inning, but back-to-back home runs by Doug Dendinger and Terry Pettorini extended the lead to 5-1 and all but sealed the game.
All nine Buckeye starters had at least one hit in accounting for the 14 hits. Rabin, Deeds, Wilkins, Drew Anderson and Pettorini each had a pair of hits, but only Dendinger had multiple RBI.
Walk-off Homer Lifts OSU Over Hoosiers in 10 Innings
A walk-off home run by Joe Wilkins in the bottom of the 10th inning gave Ohio State an 11-10 victory over Indiana in the second-seeded Buckeyes’ opening game of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday at Minnesota’s Siebert Field.
With two outs in the bottom of the 10th, Wilkins took a 1-2 offering from Indiana reliever Ryan Smith and launched it to left-centerfield. The ball hit a tree and bounced back onto the field. There was some doubt as to whether it was a home run, but that was cleared up after the second base pointed over his head to signal a home run. Wilkins had struck out on three pitches against Smith in the ninth inning.
Doug Dendinger had tied the game 10-10 in the ninth inning on a two-run, two out double. Nick Swisher was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and then after Wilkins’ strikeout, Drew Anderson walked to put runners at first and second. Dendinger turned on a fastball and sent it to the wall in right-centerfield.
Matt Davis pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the Buckeyes giving up just one hit against eight batters.
Dendinger finished 3-for-5 for the Buckeyes with three RBI. Wilkins also finished 3-for-5, scored three runs with a pair of RBI. Ohio State had four home runs in the game as Swisher, Anderson and Terry Pettorini joined Wilkins in going yard.
Wilkins Named Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player
Ohio State catcher Joe Wilkins was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Big Ten Tournament won by the Buckeyes Saturday with a 6-3 victory over top-seed Minnesota.
Wilkins, also honored on the All-Tournament team behind the plate, batted .545 (6-for-11) with three RBI, four runs scored and a sacrifice fly. He had a double and a triple in addition to his walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning in the 11-10 victory over Indiana on Thursday.
Six Buckeyes Named to Big Ten All-Tournament Team
Catcher Joe Wilkins, voted the Most Outstanding Player at the Big Ten Tournament, was also named to the All-Tournament team. He was joined on that team by fellow Buckeyes Drew Anderson at third base, Doug Dendinger and Doug Deeds in the outfield, and E.J. Laratta and Scott Lewis on the mound.
Anderson went 5-for-12 (.417) from the plate with three RBI, a team-high five runs and a home run in the tournament. Dendinger finished the tournament 5-for-14 (.357) with a team-best five RBI, but the biggest hit of the tournament was a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth against Indiana that sent the game to extra innings. His homer in the sixth inning against Northwestern broke a 2-2 tie and sparked the Buckeyes to a 5-2 victory. Deeds batted 5-for-13 (.385) with a double, a homer and two RBI and scored three times.
Laratta and Lewis each pitched complete games in picking up wins in the tournament. Laratta allowed two runs, both earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts in the 5-2 win over Northwestern. Lewis pitched his first nine-inning complete game giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits with six strikeouts and a pair of walks in the Big Ten Championship clinching victory.
Big Ten All-Tournament Team
Catcher:
Joe Wilkins, OSU
First Base:
Brad Carlson, IOWA
Second Base:
Luke Appert, MINN
Third Base:
Drew Anderson, OSU
Shortstop:
Eric Blakeley, IND
Outfielders:
Doug Dendinger, OSU
Doug Deeds, OSU
Bob Malek, MSU
Designated Hitter:
Ben Pattee, MINN
Pitchers:
E.J. Laratta, OSU
Scott Lewis, OSU
Gabe Ribas, NWU
Most Outstanding Player:
Joe Wilkins, OSU
Scott Lewis Named Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Ohio State’s Scott Lewis was honored as the Freshman of the Year May 21 when the All-Big Ten Baseball Teams and individual honors were announced.
The lefthanded pitcher finished the regular season with a 6-2 record and a 2.80 ERA. He had a team-high 75 strikeouts with just 27 walks in 74 innings.
Lewis continued a strong tradition of Big Ten Freshman of the Year selections from Ohio State, as the lefthanded pitcher is the fourth straight Buckeye to earn that distinction, joining current teammates Doug Deeds (2001), Nick Swisher (2000) and E.J. Laratta (1999). Overall, Ohio State boasts seven Freshman of the Year winners in the award’s 15-year history and is the only program to feature consecutive winners.
Three Buckeyes Named First Team All-Big Ten
First baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher, and pitchers Nate Smith and Scott Lewis were all selected to the All-Big Ten first team.
Swisher was a repeat first team honoree, having also earned first-team honors at first base last year as a sophomore. The junior was the 1999 Big Ten Freshman of the year as a third-team selection to the All-Big Ten team. He played a majority of this season in centerfield but moved to first base May 8 against Miami (Ohio). Swisher has played every game since then at first base, providing leadership to the Buckeye infield. He finished the regular season with a .367 batting average, eight home runs and 47 RBI, while sporting a fielding percentage of .973. His .639 slugging percentage was the best on the team. Swisher also hit .372 in league games with six homers and 27 RBI.
The first-team honors received by Smith marked the first appearance by the junior righthander on any of the All-Big Ten teams. He was 6-0 during the regular season and had a 2.54 ERA, while holding opposing batters to a .216 average. He had 55 strikeouts and 15 walks during the regular season in 60 1/3 innings. In Big Ten action, he was 4-0 with a 2.98 ERA. The lefthanded Lewis led the Buckeyes in strikeouts during the regular season with 75 in 74 innings. The freshman was 6-2 with a 2.80 ERA.
Five Other Receive All-Big Ten Recognition
In addition to the three first-team selections by the Buckeyes, four players earned second-team status, while another player garnered third-team kudos.
Second baseman Christian Snavely, rightfielder Doug Deeds, catcher Joe Wilkins and lefthanded pitcher Josh Newman were selected to the second team, while righthanded reliever Brandon Steen was named to the third team.
Both Deeds and Snavely led the Buckeyes in batting during the regular season with .383 batting averages. Snavely, a sophomore, had 74 hits, including 12 doubles, five triples and eight home runs with 39 RBI. Deeds, also a sophomore, led the team with 11 home runs before post-season play and had 43 RBI on 69 hits. Wilkins made a great field commander for the Buckeyes behind the plate and finished the regular season with a .310 average and a fielding percentage of .977. Wilkins had 39 RBI and advanced runners by sacrifice five times. Newman had a team-high eight wins vs. five losses in the regular season to go with a 3.73 ERA. His 82 innings was tops on the team. He had 65 strikeouts.
Brandon Steen made the third team as a reliever. He had 20 appearances during the regular season with seven saves. The senior had 29 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings.
Minnesota Claims Big Ten Regular Season with Split
Minnesota fought back from a 5-3 deficit to tie the game in the sixth and then scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take an 8-5 victory over Ohio State in the second game of Sunday doubleheader to clinch the Big Ten regular season title.
With the victory, Minnesota improved to 18-10 in conference play, while dropping Ohio State to 18-11 with the loss. The Gophers, who played one fewer league game than the Buckeyes because of rain, clinched the Big Ten title by one half of a game.
In the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, Ohio State left little doubt handing Minnesota a 9-2 loss to make the fourth and final game of the series a true championship game. The Buckeyes benefited from three walks and two hits in take a 6-0 lead in the fourth. Minnesota scored a run in the top of the fifth, but Ohio State got it right back and then some in the bottom half, scoring three more times to go up 9-1.
On Saturday, Ohio State scored 10 runs in the fourth inning to take a 13-3 decision over Minnesota in the Big Ten series opener Saturday at Bill Davis Stadium. A three-run home run by Doug Deeds broke a 3-3 tie. But that was not all the scoring for OSU in the inning as it would score 10 times on only seven hits with the aid of an error.
In Saturday’s second game, Minnesota starter C.J. Woodrow struck out seven Buckeyes in getting his fifth consecutive complete game Big Ten victory, this time a 4-0 shutout over Ohio State in the second game of a doubleheader last Saturday at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeyes mustered only five hits in the game against Woodrow, who improved to 8-4 with the victory. He had one walk in the game, but allowed only six Ohio State baserunners.
Todd Posts 600th OSU Win
With the 14-0 two-hit shutout victory by the Buckeyes over Cleveland State on May 15, Ohio State coach Bob Todd won his 600th game at Ohio State. Todd now has a 605-296-2 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 729-378-2 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)
Bucks Have 17 Triples
Christian Snavely and Drew Anderson each tripled in Saturday’s 13-3 victory over Minnesota the last week of the regular season to bring the season’s triple total to 17. Only seven other Buckeye teams have had more in a season.
Snavely now has five triples for the year, which ties him for the sixth best season in school history. Anderson’s four triples tie him for the 14th best season. Steve Caravatti had six triples a year ago, one off the OSU season record set by Dale Hampshire in 1959.
Laratta Picks Up No. 34
Senior pitcher E.J. Laratta picked up his 34th career victory with his complete game victory over Northwestern last Friday in the Big Ten Tournament.
The 34 wins by Laratta are the second most in school history, just two victories shy of Justin Fry’s 36 wins from 1995-99. His 375 1/3 innings are also the second most in school annals. He has 233 career strikeouts, which ranks 10th, while his 59 appearances since 1999 rank 12th.
He has started 14 games this season and boasts an 8-4 record after getting the win over the Wildcats last week. His next start, which will come this weekend in South Bend will be his 15th start of the year, which equals the school record shared six ways. The last person to start 15 games in a season was Kevin Goodrum just last year.
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 70 games in his four seasons at Ohio State after making a brief appearance against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament. That appearance moved him into third place all-time in the career record book in front of Dennis Pachner (1992-94). He is nine saves away from second most all time and is still 26 appearances away from Cory Cox’s (1998-01) record 96.
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.
No. 33 Has 34 Home Runs
Nick Swisher, who wears No. 33 for the Buckeyes at first base, had a two-run home run against Indiana at the Big Ten Tournament to give him 34 home runs in his three year career. That ties him for fifth in school history with Alex Eckelman (1994-97) and Mike Lockwood (1997-99).
Swisher finished the tournament knocking in three runs to stretch his career RBI total to 154. That total ranks ninth in school history, two behind Eckelman’s 156 and four behind Jason Trott’s 158 in seventh.
Anderson Streak Now Eight
The longest current hit streak is eight straight by Drew Anderson, the freshman third baseman from Brownsburg, Ind. Anderson was selected to the Big Ten All-Tournament last week in Minneapolis, Minn.
The hit streak began on May 15 when Anderson had three hits against Cleveland State. He was 5-for-12 in the four-game series against Minnesota to close out the regular season at Bill Davis Stadium, with two hits in the opening game of the series. He then had two hits each against Indiana and Northwestern and had a base hit in the Big Ten Tournament championship game vs. Minnesota.
Anderson Steals 17 Bases
Drew Anderson leads the Buckeyes with 17 stolen bases this season (on 22 attempts). He was a perfect 2-for-2 last week in the Big Ten Tournament. As a team Ohio State has 70 stolen bases, which is equals the sixth most steals in a season. Both the 1994 and 1999 teams also had 70 steals. Last year’s team set the standard with 96 stolen bases.
Swisher Streak Reached 19
The longest hit 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.
Hit Parade
Christian Snavely and Doug Deeds are accounting for 26.5 of Ohio State’s hits this season. Snavely has 76 hits and Deeds has 74 for 150 combined hits. The team has 561 hits this season. Snavely’s 76 hits are tied for 21st most in a season, while Deeds’ 74 are tied for 26th. Both have a shot to crack the top 10 with a good weekend at the South Bend Regional. Mike Estep (1995) and Scott Meadows (1988) each had 80 in a season, which is ninth place on the list.
Dendinger is Walks Leader
Doug Dendinger became Ohio State’s all-time walks leader at Michigan State when he was intentionally walked in the second game of the series. He passed Greg Mohler who had 136 walks between 1981-84. Dendinger now has 140 career walks despite not walking at the Big Ten Tournament. He had five hits at the tournament, but none bigger than a two-RBI double to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth that set up Joe Wilkins’ game-winning home run in the 10th. Dendinger finished the tournament with five RBI.
Dendinger’s 45 walks this season leads the Big Ten and equals the fourth 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.
Buckeye Bases on Balls
A total of four Buckeyes have more than 30 walks this season. Heading the list is Doug Dendinger, who has reached base via walk 45 times. Nick Swisher has 39, Doug Deeds has 38 and Christian Snavely has walked 33 times. The 259 walks by Ohio State this season are the eighth most in school history. The team walked 285 times in 2001, which is fourth. The all-time walk mark is 321 held by the 1982 team, which celebrated its 20 year reunion at Bill Davis Stadium the final weekend of the regular season.
Bucks Pitch Eight Shutouts
The 14-0 shutout against Cleveland State on May 15 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 Scholar Athletes for Baseball Named
Five Buckeyes currently on the active baseball roster have been named OSU Scholar Athletes. A group of 366 student-athletes were recognized at the annual awards banquet on May 22 by The Ohio State University, the Athletic Council and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. The following individuals have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better since the end of the winter quarter of their freshman year. Four players also were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team, which was announced Wednesday: Doug Deeds, Josh Newman, Terry Pettorini and Brandon Steen.
Name Class College/School Award Doug Deeds Junior Business Third Paul Farinacci Freshman UG Student Academic Srvs. First Josh Newman Sophomore Humanities Second Terry Pettorini Junior Social & Behavioral Sciences Third Brandon Steen Senior Biological Sciences Fourth
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 May 9.
The Buckeye sometime-designated hitter carries a 3.40 GPA in political science. On the field, Pettorini has a .253 batting average having played in 32 games, with 26 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.
Remembering Taylor
The Ohio State baseball team is wearing a black circle patch with a white No. 27 on its right sleeve to remember former Buckeye baseball All-American Fred Taylor. Taylor, who passed away Jan. 6, 2002 after a long illness, was the first baseball All-American from Ohio State in 1950. The former first baseman is probably more recognized as coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team from 1959-76. Five of his teams earned NCAA Tournament berths (1960, ’61, ’62, ’68 and ’71) with four of those advancing to the Final Four (1960, ’61, ’62 and ’68). His 1960 team won the National Championship. The Buckeyes also made history under Taylor by winning an unmatched five-consecutive Big Ten titles (1960-64).
