Caravati and Rabin Selected to Captain 2005 OSU Baseball Team – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Nov. 10, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior outfielders Steve Caravati and Mike Rabin will serve as co-captains for the 2005 baseball team head coach Bob Todd announced Wednesday. The two were selected by a team vote following the conclusion of the team’s fall practice season.
Caravati (Sr., Dover, Ohio/Dover), the Big Ten Player of the Year, led all Big Ten batters in the 2004 with a .391 batting average and finished second in conference games with a .407 batting average. One of three Buckeyes to start all 61 games, Caravati set a school record with 92 hits, while hitting 17 doubles, nine home runs and batted in 52 RBI. A member of the ABCA All-Midwest Regional team, the leftfielder had a .587 slugging percentage and a .447 on-base percentage. A third-team All-American as selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America, he scored 46 runs and was 8-for-10 in stolen bases. Caravati is the first player to repeat as team captain since Nate Smith served as captain in 2002 and 2003 and just the eighth player to repeat as captain since the program started in 1881.
Rabin (Sr., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East), the Buckeyes’ centerfielder, batted .272 with 62 hits and knocked in 27 runs in 2004. He stole 8-of-11 bases last season and had five outfield assists in 2004 before finishing with a .987 fielding percentage. Like Caravati, he was one of three players to start all 61 games the team played in 2004.
“Steve is a tremendous leader,” Todd said. “This is the second year in a row he has been elected one of our team captains. To be a two-time captain is a tremendous honor. Mike is a fifth-year senior and it was evident last spring and all fall that he was emerging as a leader. The players respect his character and work ethic and both are players that will represent the leadership of the team in a positive and first-class manner.”
The Buckeyes, which finished 36-25 overall and 19-12 in a second-place Big Ten season in 2004, open the 2005 season Feb. 25-27 at the Wiregrass Classic in Dothan, Ala., against Middle Tennessee, Troy and Iowa. The home opener is not until the 19th game of the season, March 30 against Toledo.
