Baseball to Dance at Mardi Gras Ball – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 6, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
No. 30 Ohio State Buckeyes (1-2, 0-0 Big Ten)
at Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic
University of Louisiana-Lafayette
Lafayette, La.
Friday, March 7: Louisiana-Lafayette (5-11)
7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m., CST)
Saturday, March 8: McNeese State (11-9)
3 p.m. (2 p.m., CST)
Sunday, March 9: Wichita State (11-1)
1 p.m. (Noon, CST)
all rankings by NCBWA
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After opening the 2003 season 1-2 last weekend at the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic, Ohio State now returns to the South, this time to Louisiana to celebrate an early spring tradition at the Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic in Lafayette, La., March 7-9.
The Buckeyes, which slipped to No. 30 in the NCBWA poll after following a win over Lamar with losses to Oklahoma and Southwest Missouri State, will meet Louisiana-Lafayette Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The action continues Saturday when the Buckeyes take on McNeese State at 3 p.m. and concludes Sunday with a 1 p.m. affair with No. 24 Wichita State.
All three opponents from last weekend had played in the 2002 NCAA Tournament and this week, two of the three opponents advanced to postseason a year ago. Both Louisiana-Lafayette and Wichita State participated in the field of 64 in 2002. ULL was at the Baton Rouge Regional, where it went 2-2, while Wichita State hosted a regional of its own and went 1-2. McNeese State is traditionally a contender in the Southland Conference and last participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2000.
While Ohio State has played only three games this season, the opposition in this round-robin tournament has played a collective 48 games. Louisiana-Lafayette is 5-11, while McNeese State is 11-6. Wichita State is 11-1 and ranked No. 24 in the current NCBWA poll.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State is 1-2 after going 1-2 last weekend at the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic in Beaumont, Texas. The Buckeyes beat Lamar 5-3 before falling 5-1 to Oklahoma and 18-3 to Southwest Missouri State.
The Scarlet and Gray got a solid effort from opening night starter Scott Lewis, who recorded 11 strikeouts in 7.0 innings in getting the victory. He walked just one batter and held the opposition to a .192 batting average. It was his ninth straight win dating back to last season when he lost his first two outings and then won his final eight decisions. The team ERA of 8.31 is a little misleading thanks to a 10-run ninth inning by SMS last Sunday.
The Buckeyes struggled at the plate against three outstanding starting pitchers. OSU coach Bob Todd said he expects all three to go in the Top 5 rounds of the June draft with SMS starter Bob Zimmerman, who he coached in 2001 on Team USA, a likely first-round pick. Brett Garrard and Steve Caravati led the team in the three games last weekend, both hitting .364 in 4-for-11 efforts. Each had one RBI and one of Garrard’s hits was a lead-off triple that set up a run in the win over Lamar. The team is hitting .225 as a unit. Freshman Jedidiah Stephen knocked in two RBI in a 2-for-5 performance last weekend. Fellow freshman Wes Schirtzinger also had a pair of hits in his first collegiate action.
AGAINST LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
Ohio State and Louisiana-Lafayette have met just twice before on the baseball diamond with each team taking one victory. OSU won the last meeting by a 10-3 score on Feb. 25, 2001. That meeting came a year after the Ragin’ Cajuns’ fourth place finish at the College World Series. The only other meeting went the way of Southwestern Louisiana, as the school was formerly known until 2000. USL claimed an 8-1 victory in Lafayette in 1989, the second year of head coach Bob Todd.
ABOUT THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS
Louisiana-Lafayette fell to a 5-11 Wednesday night with an 11-4 loss at Tulane. The Ragin’ Cajuns were swept last weekend in a three-game series at Houston. Earlier this season, Louisiana-Lafayette took two of three games against Southwest Texas and Troy State. The other lone win came against Southeastern Louisiana. ULL was 0-3 (Alabama, Texas A&M and Baylor) at the Houston Astros College Classic, Feb. 14-16, an event the Buckeyes will participate in to open next season.
As a team, the Ragin’ Cajuns are batting .216 and are led by Corey Coles who is hitting .339. Of his 20 hits, five are for extra bases (two doubles, two triples and a home run). Four ULL pitchers are 1-2 on the season, but Jordy Templet owns the best ERA. In 26 innings, his ERA is 2.42. He has struck out a team-high 17 batters and is holding opponents to a .206 average.
AGAINST MCNEESE STATE
This will be the fourth-ever meeting between the Buckeyes and Cowboys, which last met in 1998 when Ohio State took a 12-3 decision in Lake Charles, La. That game was the first of a three-game tournament that also included Louisiana Tech and Iowa State. McNeese State won the other two meetings, winning 14-13 in 1996 and 7-4 in 1992.
ABOUT THE COWBOYS
McNeese State improved to 11-6 by taking two mid-week contests at Mississippi. The Cowboys, which handed Ole Miss 9-8 and 4-3 losses, opened with four straight wins, including a three-game sweep of Delaware State. Southern handed McNeese its first loss and then Southern Miss took two of three from the Cowboys. After beating Louisiana Tech, the Cowboys took two of three against Arkansas State and then lost to Georgia and Oral Roberts before getting by South Alabama.
The Cowboys were batting .314 entering the series at Mississippi and were led by Dooley Prince who was batting .400 with 24 hits and nine RBI. Three other batters were also hitting better than .351, including Tommy Eubanks, who had a team-best 22 RBI.
The Buckeyes are expected to encounter right-handed pitcher Rusty Begnand, who is 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. McNeese pitchers had a combined ERA of 4.82 going into its five games this week. The Cowboys are expected to toss John Doerfler against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday, but have not identified a potential starter for Friday’s game vs. Wichita State.
AGAINST WICHITA STATE
Wichita State leads the all-time series vs. Ohio State by a margin of 3-1. The Shockers claimed a 6-5 victory the last time the two teams met, which was also in Lafayette on Feb. 24, 2001. The other three meetings came in the 1993 NCAA Atlantic Regional in Atlanta, Ga. The Shockers won 14-5 in the opening round of the tournament, but OSU followed that up with an 8-6 win on the final day of the regional to put a trip to the College World Series on the line in the double-elimination tournament. That championship game went the way of the Shockers by a 5-3 score.
ABOUT THE SHOCKERS
Wichita State is ranked No. 24 in the current NCBWA poll after sprinting out to an 11-1 start. The Shockers swept a seven-game series at Hawaii-Hilo and the took two of three at Hawaii before returning to Kansas where they claimed both ends of a doubleheader against Iowa.
Wichita State, which has won its last four games, has four players batting better than .405 and a team batting average of .340. Brandon Green owns a .458 batting average on a team-best 22 hits, including four doubles. Nick McCoola is just behind, hitting .455. Mark Johnson (.433) and Cody Clark (.405) are also above .400.
On the mound, WSU owns a team ERA of 2.79 paced by Mike Pelfrey who has yet to give up an earned run in 18.0 innings. He has 12 strikeouts and has allowed only one walk while giving up 12 hits in getting to 2-0. He is also holding opposing batters to a .188 batting average. Steve Uhlmansiek is also 2-0 nad has a team-high 16 strikeouts, though he has allowed 11 walks in 13.2 innings.
Shockers coach Gene Stephenson and OSU coach Bob Todd both attended Missouri. Stephenson, an ABCA All-American in 1968, graduated from Missouri later that year and then served the following season as a graduate assistant baseball coach. Todd was a 1971 graduate of Missouri and began his coaching career at the high school level that year before becoming an assistant coach at his alma mater in 1973.
SMS TAKES 18-3 WIN OVER BUCKS
Southwest Missouri State scored three times in the third inning and then added solo runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh and scored twice in the eighth and 10 times in the ninth en route to an 18-3 win over Ohio State March 2 in the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic in Beaumont, Texas.
Jedidiah Stephen’s single in the bottom of the fourth inning scored Terry Pettorini and Wes Schirtzinger to pull the Buckeyes within 3-2, that was as close as it got as OSU starting pitcher Nate Smith lasted only 4.2 innings.
The Bears touched up Buckeye relievers for 15 runs in the final five innings, including a 10-run ninth inning.
Bob Zimmerman, who got the win for SMS to move to 1-1 on the year. In 7.0 innings he gave up all three OSU runs on seven hits. He struck out six and walked two. Smith fell to 0-1 giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks in 4.2 innings.
Ohio State managed a run in the eighth inning to make the score 8-3 thanks to an infield hit by Schirtzinger that scored Steve Caravati.
OKLAHOMA HANDS OSU FIRST LOSS
Oklahoma capitalized on solid hitting, an Ohio State error and a pair of balks in getting past the Buckeyes 5-1 at the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic March 1 in Beaumont, Texas.
A home run by Jay Yaconetti in the fifth gave the Sooners a 5-0 lead. Ohio State finally got on the board in the sixth inning after designated hitter Paul Farinacci doubled to left-centerfield to lead off the inning. Jedidiah Stephen, who entered the game in the bottom of the second inning for an injured Terry Pettorini, hit a shot through the right side to move Farinacci to third. He scored on a fielder’s choice by Brett Garrard.
OSU starter Josh Newman left the game after the fifth inning after giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts. He was replaced by Kyle Brown, who after walking the first batter he faced, struck out the side. He gave up one hit against the eight batters he faced before being replaced in the eighth inning by Trent Luyster.
In all, the Sooners had 10 hits paced by Willits, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Cornejo was 2-for-3 and scored twice. Buddy Blair picked up the victory to improve to 1-1 on the season. He struck out six batters with one walk while allowing five Buckeye hits.
Newman was saddled with the loss for the Buckeyes.
BUCKEYES OPEN 2003 WITH WIN
Scott Lewis struck out 11 batters and Ohio State banged out 10 hits in 5-3 opening night win over Lamar Feb. 28 at the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic in Beaumont, Texas.
The sophomore, who was 8-2 with 91 strikeouts last season in earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, struck out three in the first inning, struck out a pair in the fourth and seventh innings. He picked up his ninth win as a Buckeye and has now won his last nine decisions after losing his first two games as a collegian.
Lewis remained strong into the seventh inning, getting his 10th and 11th strikeouts of the game. The strikeout total was one off his career high of 12 last year vs. Purdue. He gave up just one run on five hits while walking just one. Leading 5-1, Lewis was replaced at the start of the eighth inning by Mike Madsen, who gave up two runs in the ninth inning.
Lamar took an early 1-0 lead, but Ohio State responded to go up 3-1 in the top of the second inning. With the bases loaded, Derek Kinnear singled through the right side to score Terry Pettorini and Brett Garrard. A sacrifice fly by Drew Anderson scored Doug Larason.
Lead-off triples in the fifth and sixth inning by Brownsburg, Ind. boys Anderson and Garrard, respectively, led directly to the Buckeyes’ fourth and fifth runs of the game. Garrard was 2-for-4 at the plate and scored twice. Mike Rabin also had a pair of hits for the Buckeyes in five at bats.
Lamar ace Josh Gray was pegged with his first loss of the season in four outings. He fell to 3-1 after giving up all five runs (three earned) on all 10 Ohio State hits. Three other Cardinals pitchers went the final 2.1 innings after Gray was lifted in the seventh.
IN SEASON OPENERS
With the 5-3 victory last Friday at Lamar, he Buckeyes improved to 9-7 in season openers under Bob Todd, who took over the program prior to the 1988 season. The victory in the season opener was the second consecutive opening day win for the Buckeyes, who defeated UAB 2-0 last season in Starkville, Miss. In 120 years of Ohio State baseball, the Buckeyes are 74-44-2 (.625) in season openers.
FIRST OUTDOOR ACTION FOR OSU
Last Friday’s game at Lamar was the first time this season Ohio State hits the diamond, literally. Not only was the game in Beaumont, Texas the first competition of 2003 for the Buckeyes, but the game also marked the first time this season Ohio State had been outside, period.
Ohio State began practicing Jan. 27 and saw nearly 27 inches of snow fall in Columbus February. That total included almost 16 inches Feb. 14-17. This winter has been the fourth-snowiest in Columbus with a little more than four feet (49 inches) of wintry precipitation.
The snow and cold has forced the Scarlet and Gray to rehearse inside the spacious Woody Hayes Athletic Center on artificial turf. Practicing in the WHAC in February is not out of the norm for the Buckeyes, but the unusual amount of snow prevented Ohio State from taking batting practice outside. Columbus received only 10 inches of snow in the winter of 2002.
Ohio State is scheduled to play its home opener March 14 in a doubleheader against Detroit and Eastern Michigan.
2003 OUTLOOK:
PITCHING TO BE STRENGTH
The mound will be the strength of the Buckeyes in 2003 as they return a pair of eight-game winners and another who did not lose a game until his final outing of the year. Preseason All-America pick Scott Lewis, who earned the distinction as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was a first-team all-league selection last season, led the team in ERA (2.84) and in strikeouts (91). He was 8-2 on the year, winning his last eight decisions.
Also back are right-handed pitcher Nate Smith, a First Team All-Big Ten selection, and left-handed pitcher Josh Newman, who earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors. Smith went 6-1 with a 3.12 ERA as the Buckeyes’ fourth starter and Newman finished 8-4 with a 4.47 ERA in a team-high 94.2 innings.
AT THE PLATE
At the plate and in the field, junior Christian Snavely is the top returnee. With a batting average of .360, the second team all-conference selection is at the top among returning players and had 81 hits in 2002, the most of the team. He had a team-high five triples and added 13 doubles and 10 home runs. He is expected to move from second base and his athleticism will allow him to play in the outfield or in the infield at first or third.
Sophomore Drew Anderson and junior Brett Garrard anchored the left side of the infield, but Anderson, who had 37 RBI and made the Big Ten All-Tournament Team, will move to second base in place of Snavely.
Joining sophomore Mike Rabin in the outfield will be sophomore Steve Caravati. Caravati, a Big Ten All-Tournament selection in 2001 who batted .346 for the year, but missed the 2002 season because of an elbow injury, will take over in centerfield. Rabin, who batted .391 for the year, was a clutch performer at the plate in Big Ten games, when he had a .373 batting average.
THE CAPTAINS
Senior pitchers Kyle Brown, Greg Prenger and Nate Smith, as well as junior 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.
BUCKEYES REACHED NO. 22
Ohio State is ranked 30th in the most recent National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll. The Buckeyes were ranked 25th by the organization in its preseason poll. OSU, which was ranked 29th in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, fell one spot to No. 30 in the Feb. 24 poll, but are now unranked in the 30-team poll. The Buckeyes previously were receiving votes in the USA Today Sports Weekly/ESPN coaches poll, formerly known as the USA Today Baseball Weekly/ESPN poll. Baseball America picked Ohio State to finish 35th in its preseason poll, which consisted of 50 teams. The newspaper ranks only 25 teams in the regular season and does not have the Buckeyes ranked this week.
LEWIS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Left-handed pitcher Scott Lewis received preseason mention as a Third Team Preseason All-American as selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Lewis, the 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year was a First Team All-Big Ten selection and finished the year with an 8-2 record and a team-best 2.84 ERA. Lewis finished the year with a Buckeye-best 91 strikeouts in 92.0 innings and was named to the all-tournament teams at the Big Ten Tournament and at the South Bend Regional.
SIX ALL-BIG TEN SELECTIONS RETURN
Ohio State will be aided by the return of six All-Big Ten selections. Nate Smith and Scott Lewis were First Team All-Big Ten honorees last season, while Christian Snavely and Josh Newman garnered second team mention. Add Steve Caravati, a second team selection in 2001 and Greg Prenger, a third team honors recipient from 2001, and the Buckeyes will be bolstered by a total of six former all-conference selections.
WHICH FRESHMAN WILL STEP UP THIS YEAR?
For the past four years and seven years since the inception of the award in 1988, Ohio State has been the home of the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. No other school has had more than two recipients.
Last year for the Buckeyes, it was left-handed pitcher Scott Lewis. Other previous winners include: Doug Deeds (2001), Nick Swisher (2000), E.J. Laratta (1999), Dan Seimetz (1995), Matt Beaumont (1992) and Scott Klingenbeck (1990).
Ohio State welcomes nine freshmen for the 2003 season: pitchers Doug Carpenter and Trey Fausnaugh, catchers Phillip Mattingly and Greg Uland, infielders Kris Moorman, Wes Schirtzinger and Jedidiah Stephen, and outfielders Jacob Howell and Drew Thomas.
SCARLET AND GRAY WORLD SERIES
Team Gray defeated Team Scarlet 5-1 in game three to win the Scarlet and Gray World Series at Bill Davis Stadium, 2-1. The Gray squad took a 2-1 victory in the opener, but dropped a 2-1 decision to the Scarlet in the second game.
For the series, Paul Farinacci of Team Gray, went 5-for-9 with a pair of runs batted in. Four other players had four hits apiece, including Christian Snavely, who had a home run and double in the first game of the series. Derek Kinnear, Drew Anderson and Doug Larason also had four hits in the series.
Scott Lewis earned the win in the opening game for the Gray team. He struck out seven batters in 6.0 innings. In Game 2, Kyle Brown evened the series after going the distance. He scattered six hits with two strikeouts. Freshman Doug Carpenter got the decisive win for the Gray in Game 3. In 6.0 innings, he allowed five hits, the solo Scarlet run and recorded three strikeouts.
LAST SEASON
Ohio State might not have won the 2002 Big Ten regular season championship, but the Buckeyes got the better end of the deal when they qualified for their 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. That reward came when Ohio State claimed the Big Ten Tournament Championship May 25 at Minnesota’s Siebert Field with a 6-3 victory over the Golden Gophers, which had won the regular season championship by .22 percentage points in front of the Buckeyes the final weekend of the regular season at Bill Davis Stadium in Columbus.
OSU was the only team from the conference to earn a bid to NCAA Tournament. Ohio State drew the third seed at the South Bend Regional, but lost its first-round game to second-seeded Notre Dame before bouncing back to win elimination games over Kent State, the fourth seed, and top-seeded South Alabama. Notre Dame beat the Buckeyes to advance to the Super Regional and ultimately the College World Series.
Along the way, several Buckeyes picked up honors. Eight OSU players were named to the All-Big Ten teams, including Nick Swisher, Scott Lewis and Nate Smith, which all three garnered first-team honors. Lewis was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year (the fourth straight such honoree from Ohio State) and Joe Wilkins was voted the Most Outstanding Player at the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes landed six on the 12-member all-tournament team. Additionally, Lewis was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.
DRAFTED BUCKEYES
Three Buckeyes were selected in the 2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft, including first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher, who was the 16th overall selection by the Oakland Athletics. He is the highest draft selection in OSU history. Additionally, outfielder Doug Deeds was taken in the ninth round by the Minnesota Twins and right-handed pitcher E.J. Laratta was taken in the 26th round by the San Diego Padres. Catcher Joe Wilkins signed a free agent contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
OHIO STATE TO RETIRE JERSEYS
This season, Ohio State will retire the baseball jerseys of players Fred Taylor and Steve Arlin and player and coach Marty Karow. The three jerseys will be the first retired in the Ohio State baseball program.
Taylor (1947-50) is best remembered as the head coach of Ohio State’s golden era of basketball after his teams made four Final Four appearances and won the 1960 NCAA Championship. However, Taylor wore No. 27 as a baseball player and became the school’s first baseball All-American in 1950.
Arlin (1965-66) is considered the top pitcher in Ohio State baseball history after posting a record of 24-3 in two his two years as a Buckeye. He held OSU marks for victories and strikeouts (294) until 1999 and his .889 winning percentage is the best in school history. He led the nation in strikeouts as a sophomore with 165. Arlin wore No. 22.
Karow (player 1925-27 and coach 1951-75) began his coaching career in 1951 and retired as the winningest coach in the history of the program in 1975 with 478 victories. Karow, who wore No. 13, guided the Buckeyes to a Big Ten championship and an appearance in the College World Series in his first season, but his career did not reach its peak until the mid-1960s when the team made three straight appearances in Omaha in 1965, 1966 and 1967. The 1966 season marked the only National Championship in school history.
BUCKEYES BEGIN 120TH SEASON
2003 marks the 120th season of Ohio State baseball, which first took to the field in 1880, though did not play any games in 1887, 1908 and 1910. Ohio State won its 2,000th game last season and entered this season with an overall record of 2,032-1,306-4, a win percentage of .607.
The Buckeyes have been to the NCAA Tournament of 15 times, four of which have ended with a trip to the College World Series. After finishing second in 1965, Ohio State won the 1966 CWS, its only national championship in baseball. Other appearances in the CWS were in 1951 and 1967. In the NCAA Tournament, OSU is 35-31 (.530)
In Big Ten play, the Buckeyes own a 751-561-2 record, a win percentage of .572. A total of 15 times, Ohio State has won the regular Big Ten title and another six times has won the Big Ten Tournament, including last season when it won the tournament championship at Minnesota.
NEXT WEEK
Ohio State returns to Columbus next weekend for a pair of doubleheaders against Eastern Michigan and Detroit, March 14-15 at Bill Davis Stadium. Those games will be the only four homes games in the Buckeyes first 23 games of the season. Ohio State opened with six games in the South and then travel to Bradenton, Fla. for nine games in nine days, March 21-29. After playing Vermont and Eastern Kentucky and Illinois in a three-game non-conference series, the Buckeyes will open Big Ten play with a four-game Big Ten series against Northwestern in Bradenton. The road swing doesn’t end there as OSU will travel to University Park, Pa. for a four-game set at Penn State, April 4-6.
