Ohio State Will Play Host to SMS in Super Regional – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 2, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State will serve as the host to Southwest Missouri State in an NCAA Super Regional beginning Saturday at Bill Davis Stadium. The games will be played Saturday at 8:05 p.m., Sunday at 6:05 p.m. and Monday at 1:05 p.m., if necessary. The winner will advance to the College World Series, June 13-23 in Omaha, Neb.
Ohio State has not been to the College World Series since 1967. The Buckeyes finished as the national runner up in 1965 and claimed the national title in 1966. The last time Ohio State was this close was in 1999, the last time Bill Davis Stadium held a Super Regional. The Buckeyes played host to Cal State-Fullerton that year and won the opening game on a grand slam by Chad Ehrnsberger in the eighth inning before dropping the final two games to the Titans.
The 2003 Buckeyes improved to 44-19 overall after sweeping through the Auburn Regional beating Clemson 10-8 before taking a pair of wins against national No. 4 seed Auburn by scores of 6-2 and 9-7. Drew Anderson (So., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) was unanimously named the most outstanding player of the regional by batting .429 (6-of-14) with two doubles and four home runs. He touched 20 bases, double the amount of any other Buckeye, for a slugging percentage of 1.429. Joining him on the all-regional team were teammates Brett Garrard (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg), Cody Caughenbaugh (Fr., Newark, Ohio/Licking Valley) and Mike Madsen (So., Chesterland, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin).
Christian Snavely (Jr., Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) leads the Buckeyes with a .335 batting average this season. He leads the team with 16 home runs, 54 RBI, 58 walks, 131 total bases, a slugging percentage of .675 and an on-base percentage of .483. Steve Caravati (So., Dover, Ohio/Dover) is hitting .330, while Anderson, the team’s leading hitter with 76 hits is third on the team with a .314 batting average. Josh Newman (Jr., Wheelersburg, Ohio/Wheelersburg) picked up the win against Clemson to improve to 8-5 on the year. He has 65 strikeouts in 91 2/3 innings with an ERA of 4.12. Madsen improved to 8-1 by beating Auburn Saturday, while Matt Davis (So., Mason, Ohio/William Mason) picked up three saves at the Auburn Regional to increase his record to 14 saves. SMS, playing as a No. 3 regional seed like the Buckeyes, won the Lincoln Regional to earn their first-ever super regional berth. The Bears opened the Lincoln Regional with an 8-3 victory Friday over second-seeded Coastal Carolina before beating top-seeded Nebraska 4-2 Saturday to advance to the regional final. Nebraska needed two wins to claim the regional championship. The Cornhuskers won the first game 9-5, but SMS claimed the championship with a 7-0 shutout in the second game, getting a complete game from right-handed pitcher Bob Zimmermann, who beat the Buckeyes earlier in the year.
Zimmerman is 5-3 with a 4.20 ERA. He has 84 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings to lead the Bears’ pitching staff, which has a 4.12 ERA collectively. Chad Mulholland, who pitched the final two innings against Ohio State on March 2, is 10-3 on the year with a 2.73 ERA. He has 108 strikeouts in 105 2/3 innings. At the plate, Dant’e Brikley leads the everyday starters with a .344 batting average. He has a team-high 89 hits, 17 doubles and 63 runs. Tony Piazza has 14 home runs and a slugging percentage of .570 to lead the Bears.
SMS won an earlier meeting between the schools 18-3 in Beaumont, Texas, the third game of the season. That weekend marked the first time Ohio State had played outdoors after being forced to practice inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center the last week of January and the entire month of February. That was the only previous meeting in the history of the schools.
Tickets for the Columbus Super Regional maybe purchased online at www.hangonsloopy.com, by phone at 1-800-GO-BUCKS, or in person at the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office at the Southeast corner of the Jerome Schottenstein Center. General admission tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and youth. To alleviate long lines at Will Call, individuals may want to make their purchase on the Internet, so their seat location is loaded directly on their credit card, similar to electronic ticketing. Ohio State students may have their seat location loaded directly to their student ID card.
NCAA Columbus Super Regional (All Times EDT)
Saturday, June 7
Ohio State vs. SMS, 8:05 p.m.
Sunday, June 8
Ohio State vs. SMS, 6:05 p.m.
Monday, June 9
Ohio State vs. SMS, 1:05 p.m., if necessary
