Brown, Prenger, Smith and Snavely Named Baseball Team Captains – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 27, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team began practice Monday in the hitting cages at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Head Coach Bob Todd also announced that senior pitchers Kyle Brown, Greg Prenger and Nate Smith, as well as infielder/outfielder Christian Snavely will share captain duties for the 2003 Buckeyes. All captains were selected by a vote of the team at the conclusion of fall practice in October.
Smith, a right-handed pitcher from Bryan, Ohio, pitched to a 6-1 record and a 3.12 ERA on his way to First Team All-Big Ten honors in 2002. Prenger, a right-handed pitcher from Harpster, Ohio, was a Third Team All-Big Ten selection in 2001, but missed last season because of injury. He was 5-2 with a 3.59 ERA in 72.2 innings that season. Brown, a right-handed pitcher who hails from Washington Court House, Ohio, made seven appearances a year ago recording 14 strikeouts in only 12 innings of action.
Snavely, a junior from Defiance, Ohio, will likely make the move from second base to the outfield. He is the top returning hitter after boasting a .360 average in 2002, a year in which he was named Second Team All-Big Ten. He was tied for the team lead with 81 hits. He had 13 doubles, a team-best five triples and added 10 home runs while knocking in 46 runs. His 134 total bases also were best on the team.
Ohio State, which enters the season ranked 25th by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, begins it schedule playing five of its first six games against teams that played in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. The regular season slate gets underway Feb. 28 when the Buckeyes meet Lamar, Oklahoma and Southwest Missouri State at the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic in Beaumont, Texas.
