Ohio State to Play Three Games at Kennel Club Classic – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 11, 2005
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OHIO STATE
(2-3; 0-0 Big Ten)
at
KENNEL CLUB CLASSIC
March 11-12, 2005
Jacksonville, Fla.
Fri., March 11 at North Florida @ 1 p.m.
Sat., March 12 vs. Bradley* @ 3 p.m.
Sat., March 12 vs. Rider* @ 7 p.m.
* at Jacksonville University
SERIES MEETINGS
North Florida (14-6): Series tied 2-2
last game: North Florida, 8-0, March 5, 2004
Bradley (7-2): Bradley leads 1-0
last game: Bradley, 8-1, March 18, 1995
Rider (0-4): Ohio State leads 4-1
last game: Ohio State, 8-3, March 20, 2004
OHIO STATE RADIO/INTERNET
None
OHIO STATE PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS UNF 6 Mike Madsen, R 1-1, 4.50 ERA, 8K, 10.0IP BUK 39 Trent Luyster, L 1-1, 4.91 ERA, 5K, 11.0IP RID 36 Dan DeLucia, L 0-1, 1.50 ERA, 2K, 6.0IP
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State heads to Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend hoping it can carry a little big of confidence it gained last weekend at the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C. The Buckeyes will play at North Florida on Friday before playing Bradley and Rider Saturday at Jacksonville University.
After losing 4-3 to No. 7 Georgia last Friday, Ohio State upset No. 4 North Carolina with a 2-1 victory, but then lost 3-0 to an Arizona State team that had already played 20 games compared to only four for the Buckeyes. Ohio State played the two Top 10 opponents even, but the three-run loss to the Sun Devils proved to be the difference on the weekend, as the Buckeyes were outscored 8-5. But even that score was a bit skewed since ASU scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Buckeye pitching had a 2.88 ERA at the Keith LeClair Classic, led by Trent Luyster, who allowed only one run on seven hits in six innings in the upset win over the Tar Heels. Wes Schirtzinger led the Buckeye offense last weekend in going 4-for-12 with one RBI. Ronnie Bourquin and Jedidiah Stephen each had three hits for the weekend though Bourquin delivered three of the team’s five runs.
The Buckeyes will play at North Florida, which is 12-6 on the year, Friday at 1 p.m. and then Saturday will play Bradley (6-2) at 3 p.m. and Rider (0-4) at 7 p.m. Both of those games will be at Jacksonville University.
ABOUT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are 2-3 on the season after going 1-2 last weekend in North Carolina. Four of Ohio State’s first five games have been against teams that played in the NCAA tournament last season. The Buckeyes are 2-2 against those teams, beating Middle Tennessee and North Carolina with losses to Georgia and Arizona State. The Scarlet and Gray will four more games against such opponents. Minnesota went 1-2 in the NCAA Fullerton Regional. The teams will close out the regular season May 20-22 with a four-game series at Bill Davis Stadium.
Cody Caughenbaugh continues to lead the team with a .400 batting average. He has six hits with two doubles and has two RBI. Jacob Howell, the 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, has a .316 batting average with six hits, a triple and one RBI. Wes Schirtzinger, who had four hits at the Keith LeClair Classic, has five hits on the season and two RBI.
Mike Madsen and Trent Luyster are both 1-1 in a pair of starts for the Buckeye pitching staff. Madsen has struck out eight batters in 10 innings and has a 4.50 ERA, while Luyster, the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for his win over North Carolina, has struck out five batters in 11.0 innings to go with a 4.91 ERA. After having his first schedule start rained out the opening weekend of the season against Iowa, Dan DeLucia made his 2005 debut against Arizona State. He gave up one run on seven hits with four strikeouts in six innings. Despite getting the loss in the 3-0 shutout, DeLucia has a 1.50 ERA. Reliever Rory Meister has made two appearances for the Buckeyes and has yet to allow a run on one hit in 2.1 innings. The OSU pitching staff ranks fourth in the Big Ten with its 3.86 ERA.
The Buckeyes are coached by Bob Todd, who is 688-358-2 in his 18th season at Ohio State. Now in his 22nd year as a college coach, his teams are 812-429-2. Todd has guided the Buckeyes to 10 appearances in the NCAA tournament, twice hosting super regionals.
ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA
The Ospreys are 14-6 overall after a pair of midweek victories over Belmont and Campbell. North Florida, currently a Division II school, will become a Division I school when it joins the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2006. UNF has won all six games it has played in the Kennel Club Classic with two wins over Western Michigan, a win over Brown, a win over Michigan State and the wins over Belmont and Campbell. UNF has outscored the opposition 55-26 in those games.
North Florida is batting .290 as a team with 19 home runs and is outscoring opponents 132-83 in 20 games. Brooks West has a .444 batting average, though he has played in only nine games. Of players with at least 12 appearances, Jon Skorupski has a .351 batting average and leads the team with 26 hits, five doubles, five home runs and 19 RBI. Jonathan Hodach and James Belyea are batting .333.
Kyle Aylor has made five starts and is 3-0 with a 2.92 ERA in 24.2 innings. He leads the team with 27 strikeouts against eight walks. Ryan Amason is 1-0 with a 2.05 ERA in six appearances (five starts) totalling 26.1 innings. He has 24 strikeouts and eight walks. Reliever Colin Fender is 4-0 in seven appearances (one start), has 22 strikeouts in 18.2 innings. Josh Papelbon is 1-1 with six saves in 23.1 innings. He has 14 strikeouts in 21 innings and has a 0.39 ERA. The UNF pitching staff has a 3.10 ERA with 172 strikeouts in 183.0 innings.
Now in his 17th season at North Florida Dusty Rhodes has a 682-276 record and has guided the Ospreys to 14 NCAA tournament berths and four appearances in the Division II College World Series.
AGAINST THE OSPREY
Ohio State and North Florida have split four games in the all-time series. The squads met last year, an 8-0 shutout by the Osprey.
March 17, 1996 – Ohio State 16, at N. Florida 5
March 3, 2001 – at N. Florida 14, Ohio State 10
March 1, 2002 – Ohio State 3, at N. Florida 0
March 5, 2004 – at N. Florida 8, Ohio State 0
LAST YEAR VS. NORTH FLORIDA
North Florida pitcher Travis Stanton pitched a two-hit, complete game 8-0 shutout of Ohio State at Harmon Stadium March 5, 2004. The Buckeyes struggled on defense committing four errors, while the Ospreys looked brilliant defensively.
Stanton allowed only two hits while recording six strikeouts and walks. He retired 11 batters in a row at one point and then ended the game sitting down the final nine batters following Drew Anderson’s second hit of the game, which led off the seventh inning. Anderson had the only hits for the Buckeyes in a 2-for-4 effort. Ohio State pitcher Josh Newman did not pitch poorly until giving up five runs in the eighth inning. He had allowed only four hits the first seven innings of the game. He finished with seven runs on six hits. He walked four and struck out three.
ABOUT BRADLEY
Bradley is off to a 7-2 start and has won seven traight games heading into the Kennel Club Classic after an 8-2 win over St. Louis Wednesday night. The Braves opened with a doubleheader loss to Murray State, but then beat IPFW, Eastern Kentucky (twice) and Southeast Missouri State (three times).
Paul Rice, who was the Missouri Valley Player of the Week last week after going 10-for-12 at the plate, led Bradley with a .552 batting average heading into Wednesday night’s game at St. Louis. He had 16 hits in eight games and had one home run with six RBI. Brad Canada was batting .435 with 10 hits, including four doubles, and had four RBI. Joe Napoli led to the team with seven RBI to go with his .333 batting average from four singles and four doubles. The team was batting .285 with an average of 8.5 hits per game. It is outscoring opponents 41-18.
Brandon Magee led the pitching staff with 15 strikeouts. He had a 2-1 and a 2.66 ERA in 20.1 innings. Collin Walker was 2-0 with a team-best 2.57 ERA and had stuck out 13 batters against two walks in 14.0 innings. Brian Spielmann was 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA and had 13 strikeouts. Bradley had a 2.47 team ERA and was holding batters to a .248 batting average.
Dewey Kalmer is in his 26th season at Bradley. He has a school record of 737-672-4 and combined with 11 season at his alma mater, Quincy College, he is 927-814-5 in his 37th season as a college coach.
AGAINST THE BRAVES
Bradley won the only meeting between the schools, claiming an 8-1 victory, March 18, 1995, in Fort Myers, Fla.
1March 18, 1995 – Bradley 8, Ohio State 1
1 – Fort Myers, Fla.
ABOUT RIDER
The Broncs are 0-4 on the year after opening the season Feb. 25-27 at the imichotels.com Inn-vitational in Conway, S.C. Rider lost twice to Pittsuburgh and twice to Coastal Carolina. The team was to play Army last weekend and Delaware on Wednesday, but the games were cancelled because of poor weather.
Tom Letizia leads the Broncs with a .364 batting average. He has four hits with a triple and two RBI. Charles Van Schaick is batting .300. The team is batting .205 through its four games. On the mound, the team has a 12.41 ERA with 15 strikeouts and 22 walks through 29.0 innings. Mike Dyszel is 0-0 in one start and has not allowed an earned run in 4.0 innings. Others to start include Joe Moronese, Justin Roszkowski and Erik Holck. Evan Garcia leads the staff with five strikeouts.
Rider is coached by Barry Davis, who is 0-4 in his first season at Rider after replacing longtime coach Sonny Pittaro, who retired after last season and was recently inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame. Davis is 471-2000 in his 16th season as a college coach.
AGAINST THE BRONCS
Ohio State leads the all-time series with Rider 4-1 after beating the Broncs 8-3 last year on the team’s spring break trip in Boca Raton, Fla. The first-ever meeting came in the 1991 NCAA Midwest Regional in Wichita, Kan., a game won by the Buckeyes 7-4.
1May 24, 1991 – Ohio State 7, Rider 4*
2Feb. 24, 1995 – Ohio State 13, Rider 12
2Feb. 26, 1995 – Rider 4, Ohio State 2
3March 19, 1999 – Ohio State 9, Rider 1
4March 20, 2004 – Ohio State 8, Rider 3
1 – NCAA Midwest Regional, Wichita, Kan.; 2 – Mobile, Ala.; 3 – Homestead, Fla.; 4 – Boca Raton, Fla.
LAST YEAR VS. RIDER
Ohio State scored four runs in the fourth inning to overcome a 3-1 deficit and hand Rider an 8-3 loss March 20, 2004 at Florida Atlantic University Field in Boca Raton, Fla.
Jedidiah Stephen and Derek Kinnear provided two hits apiece as the Scarlet and Gray out-hit the Broncs 11-4. Those four hits came off Josh Newman, who won the 27th victory of his career.
Rider built a 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning, but Ohio State came up big in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring four runs on five hits and two Rider errors to take a 5-3 lead. The Buckeyes took a three-run lead in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single by Stephen that scored Drew Anderson. Two more Buckeyes crossed the plate in the eighth inning for the final 8-3 margin of victory.
Newman pitched six innings, allowing all three runs on four hits. He struck out seven for the second straight game and did not give up a walk. Trey Fausnaugh came on to start the seventh inning and retired nine of 10 batters.
OSU FALLS TO NO. 7 GEORGIA 4-3
Ohio State put the first run on the scoreboard, but Georgia countered with a three-run home run in the third and a solo shot in the fifth and held on to down the Buckeyes 4-3 March 4 at the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C.
Georgia had taken a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning and kept Ohio State bats quiet until the eighth inning when it had three hits on reliever Joshua Fields. Jedidiah Stephen delivered Ronnie Bouquin and Matt Angle with a double down the left-field line to close within the one-run final.
Buckeye starter Mike Madsen kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard until the bottom of the third inning. Already with a pair of strikeouts in the game, he struck out the first two batters of the inning, but walked the next two before giving up his first home run of the season, a towering shot by Georgia catcher Derek Smith over the fence in right field to lift Georgia to a 3-1 lead.
Will Startup gave up a double to Bourquin to start the third, but retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced. Those two hits came off the bats of Jason Zoeller, who singled in the top of the fourth, and Jacob Howell, who singled in the seventh.
BUCKEYES UPSET NO. 4 UNC, 2-1
Ohio State made the two runs in scored in the first inning hold up in a 2-1 upset of No. 4 North Carolina Saturday at the Keith LeClair Classic. The Buckeyes took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and never surrendered it.
Wes Schirtzinger singled deep in the hole at second base and Ronnie Bourquin followed with a walk. Jedidiah Stephen delivered Schirtzinger with a single down the right-field line and then Cody Caughenbaugh flew out to center, scoring Bourquin on the sac fly.
OSU starter Trent Luyster kept the Tar Heels off the scoreboard until the seventh inning. He gave up two hits in the first inning and a third in the fourth inning before UNC had three hits in the sixth. Luyster retired batters in order in the second and fifth innings and would have in the third except for a throwing error by Stephen, the Buckeye shortstop.
Seth Williams led off the seventh with a double down the left-field line and that chased Luyster out of the game, giving way to Rory Meister, who got a fly out and then walked a batter before Chase Younts pulled UNC within a 2-1 score with a single to right-center field to score Williams.
Trey Fausnaugh came in and got Jay Cox to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to preserve a one-run lead for the Buckeyes. Then the rain came. The teams sat in their dugouts for 67 minutes before resuming play in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Tar Heel starter Daniel Bard did not return after the rain delay, though Fausnaugh did. Neither team had a hit after the delay.
Luyster improved to 1-1, while the Buckeyes gave Bard his first defeat against two wins. Fausnaugh picked up his first save of the season in his second appearance. Fausnaugh allowed one run on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout in six innings. The Buckeyes had five hits in the game and committed one error compared to eight hits by eight different Tar Heels and one error.
EXPERIENCE PAYS FOR ARIZONA STATE IN 3-0 WIN
Arizona State, who was playing its 21st game of the season, scored the only run it needed in the bottom of the fifth and added two more runs in the eighth to down Ohio State a 3-0 in a duel between pitchers Sunday in the final game for each team at the Keith LeClair Classic.
Each starting pitcher – Ohio State’s Dan DeLucia and Arizona State’s Pat Bresnehan – pitched great games from the opening pitch, but it was Bresnehan who had the timely offense to pick up his first victory of the season. He scattered five hits, walked two and struck out four in six innings. He gave way to reliever Brett Bordes, who allowed only one Buckeye hit in the final three innings.
For DeLucia, he allowed seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in his six-inning start. The difference was the run in the fifth. DeLucia, who got the loss, allowed four hits in the first four innings, but Arizona State scored its first run on three hits, including a one-out double by Andrew Romine, that got things started. Vinny Biancamano delivered a pinch-hit single to left to move Romine to third and then after a pop up by J.J. Sferra, Travis Buck’s bunt scored Romine.
Ohio State could not turn three Sun Devil errors, including two in the first inning, into any offense threat. The Buckeyes left 11 base runners, including six in scoring position, half of which reached third base. Buckeye pitching and defense stranded eight ASU base runners.
Buck and Tuffy Gosewisch joined Ohio State’s Cody Caughenbaugh as the only batters of the game with multiple hits. Each had two hits and Caughenbaugh and Buck were the only two with extra-base hits. Arizona State out-hit the Buckeyes 8-6 with five hits coming in two innings.
LUYSTER NAMED BIG TEN PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Ohio State senior pitcher Trent Luyster was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after leading the Buckeyes to a 2-1 victory over No. 4 North Carolina Saturday at the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C. Luyster allowed only one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. The senior lefthander from Flushing, Ohio (Harrison Central) struck out four batters while producing only one walk to boost Ohio State to its first win over a top 25 opponent since 2003, when OSU defeated Clemson and Auburn during NCAA regional play. Luyster, who returned to Ohio State after being drafted by the Chicago Cubs last year, is the first Buckeyes hurler to be honored this season.
WIN VS. UNC THE 200TH SINCE 2000
The 2-1 Ohio State victory over North Carolina was the 200th win since the 2000 season. The Buckeyes have a record of 200-110-1, the best in the Big Ten. During that time, Ohio State has made three trips to the NCAA tournament, including a super regional appearance in 2003 after sweeping through the NCAA Auburn Regional with wins over Clemson and Auburn. The Buckeyes also have the best record in the Big Ten since 1990, with a record of 623-292-2.
CARAVATI SIDELINED BY HAMSTRING
Fifth-year senior co-captain Steve Caravati cheered on his team from the dugout last weekend in North Carolina as he continued to rehab from a pulled left hamstring he sustained during the season opener vs. Middle Tennessee. Caravati, the 2004 Big Ten Player of the Year, returned to practice this week and is scheduled to return this weekend in the three games in Jacksonville. With a .238 batting average on the year, including a .200 average last weekend, the Buckeyes missed his offensive contributions. Caravati had 92 hits and 52 RBI a season ago. Wes Schirtzinger has been playing right field in his absence and is 5-for-16 (.313) with two RBI.
STARTING STREAK SNAPPED
When fifth-year senior co-captain Mike Rabin started last Friday’s game against Georgia it was his 166th straight start for the Buckeyes. Then when he did not start against North Carolina the streak came to an end. Rabin played 61 games last season, all 65 games as a sophomore and the final 37 games of his freshman year. In all, Rabin has started 173 of his 186 games and owns a .288 career batting average. In its preseason publication, Baseball America said Rabin is the best defensive outfielder in the Big Ten. Rabin had five outfield assists last season and already has one this season.
HIT STREAKS
Wes Schirtzinger and Jedidiah Stephen are riding four-game hit streaks heading into the Kennel Club Classic this weekend in Jacksonville. With a hit in his next game, Schirtzinger would break a tie for his career long, while Stephen would need hits in his next four games to break his career long hit streak of seven, which he did twice last season.
Steve Caravati ended the 2004 season with hit in his last six games and had a hit against Middle Tennessee, the only game he has played this season. That also gives him hits in his last seven games.
BUCKEYE RECORD BOOK
Steve Caravati ranks ninth with his .356 career battingaverage. His 198 hits tie him for 20th, while his 556 at batsbarely miss the school’s Top 25 list. The fifth-year seniorco-captain from Dover, Ohio (Dover) is tied for seventh with ninetriples and his 21 career home runs are tied for 21st. Caravati hasbatted in 137 runs during his career, including 52 RBI last season.He needs 44 to move into second place all-time at Ohio State. DanSeimetz (1995-98) holds the school record with 236 RBI. Mike Rabinhas 636 career at bats, which is the 19th most of any player inschool history. The OSU record is 823, set by Mark Carek (1995-98).Rabin needs 188 at bats to break that record. He had 234 at bats asa sophomore and 228 last year, so that is one record to watch. His35 steals are the 35th most in school history. With 18 careervictories, Mike Madsen is tied for 5039 win percentage (18-6) ranks12th in school history. With five innings in his last start againstGeorgia, Madsen has now pitched 178.2 innings, making him eligibleto be ranked among several career stat categories. With a minimumof 175.0 career innings pitched, he ranks seventh in fewest hitsallowed (185), fourth in fewest bases on balls (75), eighth infewest runs (97) and sixth in fewest earned runs allowed (85).
BUCKEYES OPEN SEASON 1-1
Ohio State opened the 2005 season with an 8-4 victory over Middle Tennessee Feb. 25, but lost its second game of the season, falling to Troy, 6-4, the next day. A third game at the Wiregrass Baseball Classic in Dothan, Ala., against Iowa was rained out.
Leading 2-1 against Middle Tennessee through 6 1/2 innings, Ohio State scored six runs in the bottom of the inning on its way to an 8-4 victory over Middle Tennessee. Jacob Howell, who finished 3-for-4 in the game, led off with a triple before back-to-back walks by Mike Rabin and Steve Caravati loaded the bases. Adam Schneider delivered a pinch-hit double to left-center field to score Rabin and Caravati to give Ohio State a 5-1 advantage. Jason Zoeller walked to load the bases and Paul Farinacci doubled to left-center field to clear the bases and build the Buckeye lead to 8-1.
Middle Tennessee added a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth to close within four runs. Buckeye starting pitcher Mike Madsen retired the first six batters of the game, including three strikeouts in the first inning.
Troy’s Blake Green launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a 2-2 tie as Troy held on to down Ohio State, 6-4. Troy relied on the arm hometown standout Landon Brazell, a fifth-year Troy senior from Dothan, who came up just short of going the distance for the Trojans. He allowed four runs on nine hits, threw 127 pitches and faced three batters in the ninth inning before giving way to Ryan Ramsey, who recorded the final three outs of the game. Ohio State got to Brazell for two unearned runs in the ninth. Trent Luyster was tagged with the loss after pitching 5.0 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Rain washed out the final day of the Wiregrass Baseball Classic at Northcutt Field. Ohio State was scheduled to play a non-conference game vs. Iowa last Sunday, but steady rain coming off of the Gulf of Mexico forced the cancellation of game.
75TH SEASON OPENING VICTORY
With the win over Middle Tennessee Feb. 25, Bob Todd’s Buckeyes are 10-8 in season openers. Now in the 122nd year of Ohio State baseball, the Buckeyes are 75-45-2 (.623) in season openers.
FAUSNAUGH ON NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST
Ohio State sophomore pitcher Trey Fausnaugh is one of 30 players who have been named to the initial watch list for the inaugural National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, the association announced Feb. 23. The award will be given annually to the top relief pitcher in Division I.
Fausnaugh, a 2004 Third Team All-Big Ten selection from Circleville, Ohio (Westfall), led the conference with 32 appearances, all in relief. He also led the league with nine saves and was second in the conference with 18 games finished. Fausnaugh’s nine saves and 32 appearances equaled the third most in a season by an Ohio State pitcher. He finished 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 46.1 innings.
From the list of finalists, which will be announced June 1, the NCBWA’s All-America Committee will select a winner. The first annual winner will be announced on June 8, two days prior to the beginning of NCAA super regional action.
2005 SEASON OUTLOOK
The goals are simple. Ohio State has finished second in the Big Ten each of the last three seasons since winning its 14th conference championship in 2001, the sixth title since 1991. All three years the Buckeyes were edged by Minnesota in the final weekend of the regular season. Twice the Scarlet and Gray fought back to win the Big Ten tournament and the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. But even that was missing last year when the team sat out postseason for the first time since 2000.
In 2005, Ohio State believes it has what it takes to get back to the top of the league standings and back to the NCAA tournament, where it has ventured 16 times in school history and 10 times under 18th-year head coach Bob Todd.
“When people talk about Ohio State baseball, they realize we have developed a quality baseball program,” Todd said. “I know the goals of our players every year are to contend for the Big Ten championship, play in the NCAA tournament and earn the right to go to Omaha.”
Ohio State is only two seasons removed from making its most recent push to the College World Series. The Buckeyes came within two victories of securing a berth in the pinnacle of the sport in 2003. Todd’s 1999 team was within one victory of getting to Omaha and his 1992 and 1993 teams finished second in the old eight-team regional format.
The Buckeyes plan on making it back to the tournament this season. Since 1991, when Todd’s fourth Ohio State team made it to the postseason, after an eight-year absence, his teams have not missed out on the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons.
Winning the Big Ten will be a tall order, just like every other season. The Buckeyes will have to face a much-improved Michigan team in Ann Arbor in late April and will play host to Minnesota the last week of the regular season at Bill Davis Stadium. Preseason prognosticators have said any of these three teams could make a run at the 2005 Big Ten Championship.
THE SCHEDULE
Ohio State is in the midst of a 16-game road trip to open the season before its home opener in Columbus March 30, when it will begin its ninth season at Bill Davis Stadium. The 2005 has taken the Buckeyes to the Wiregrass Classic in Dothan, Ala., and the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C. The roadtrip continues this weekend in Jacksonville before it concludes March 17-26 with a eight-game spring break trip to Bradenton, Fla.
Toledo is the first of six Wednesday non-conference opponents. That game on March 30 begins at 2 p.m. and should give people in Columbus a good reason for not returning to the office after lunch. All but one of the remaining six midweek games will be played at 6:35 p.m. The exception is May 4 when the Buckeyes will welcome students from Columbus Public Schools to a rare noon first pitch against Cleveland State. Oakland, Malone, Eastern Michigan and Miami (Ohio) are the other Wednesday opponents.
In the Big Ten schedule, Ohio State will play host to Purdue, Michigan State, Indiana and Minnesota. The series with the Gophers, the first time in Columbus since the 2002 season, will close out the regular season. The conference race has come down between the two schools the last weekend of the regular season each of the last three seasons. The Buckeyes open league play at Illinois April 1-3 and then have to go to Michigan, Penn State and Northwestern. The Big Ten tournament will again be played in the home stadium of the regular season champion.
NCAA regional play is June 3-6, followed by super regional action June 10-13. The College World Series will be played June 17-27 in Omaha, Neb.
2005 TEAM CAPTAINS
The Buckeyes elected two fellow teammates to serve as team captains for the 2005 season: senior outfielders Steve Caravati and Mike Rabin. Caravati also was a captain during the 2004 campaign.
THE NEWCOMERS
Ten freshmen join the Buckeyes this season, half of which are pitchers. In addition to Luebke, a left-handed pitcher, and Barker, a right-handed pitcher, Todd also welcomes in righty Dan McCauley (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) and lefties Aaron Pikkarainen (Gahanna, Ohio/Gahanna) and Matthew Selhorst (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles). Josh Hula (Castalia, Ohio/Margaretta) joins Eric Fryer as the two new catchers, while Fryer’s high school teammate Michael Arp and Kyle Dyar, who is from Newark, Ohio (Newark) are the additions in the infield. Matt Angle (Whitehall-Yearling) is the lone addition in the outfield.
Steve Caravati CLAIMED SEVERAL HONORS IN 2004
Ohio State outfielder Steve Caravati was the 2004 Big Ten Player of the Year, as selected by the 10 league coaches. As a junior, Caravati led all Big Ten batters in the regular season 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 for the Buckeyes, Caravati set a school record with 92 hits, while hitting 17 doubles, nine home runs and batted in 52 RBI. He had a .587 slugging percentage and a .447 on-base percentage. He scored 46 runs and was 8-for-10 in stolen bases. In the Big Ten, he had 46 hits with 10 doubles, one triple and four home runs, while batting in 30 runs. The leftfielder had a slugging percentage of .619 and an on-base percentage of .481 in conference games. Caravati is the third Buckeye to be named the Big Ten Player of the Year, joining Dan Seimetz in 1997 and Jonathan Sweet, who shared the award in 1994. Caravati can become just the third player in conference history to earn the distinction twice and just the first player not to share the honor since Barry Larkin, the Big Ten’s player of the year in 1984 and 1985.
HOWELL NAMED BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR, FROSH ALL-AMERICAN
Ohio State outfielder Jacob Howell was the 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, as selected by the 10 league coaches and later was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, as selected by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
In his redshirt-freshman season, Howell had the second highest batting average for Ohio State during the regular season at .336, though it was his batting average in Big Ten games that caught the attention of league coaches. In the 31 conference games, the native of Ashland, Ohio (Ashland), batted .380, the sixth-best average in the league. In his 61 games, that included 58 starts, he had 81 hits with five doubles, four triples and two home runs while knocking in 27 runs and scoring another 41. The Buckeye rightfielder was 11-for-15 in stolen bases and led the team with seven sacrifice hits with another three sac flies.
Howell is the eighth Ohio State athlete to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and the fifth in the last six years. He joins previous winners Scott Lewis (2002), Doug Deeds (2001), Nick Swisher (2000), E.J. Laratta (1999), Dan Seimetz (1995), Matt Beaumont (1992) and Scott Klingenbeck (1990).
FOUR OF SIX ALL-BIG TEN BUCKEYES RETURN IN 2005
Ohio State returns four of its six players who earned All-Big Ten honors in 2004. Those include first-team selection Steve Caravati, second-team selection Jacob Howell and a pair of third-team selections in Mike Madsen and Trey Fausnaugh. Madsen tied for the league lead with nine wins and went 5-1 against the Big Ten. Madsen had 59 strikeouts and a 4.83 ERA in 87.2 innings to go with his 9-4 record. Fausnaugh led the team with nine saves in 32 relief appearances. His nine saves lead the Big Ten and equal the third most in school history, while his 32 ranked third.
TODD HAS 812 CAREER WINS
Ohio State head coach Bob Todd won the 800th victory of his career in the 3-1 victory over Penn State on May 8, 2004. Todd, who is the winningest coach in school history, boasts a career record of 812-429-2 (.654). Now in his 18th season with the Buckeyes, Todd has never had a losing season and has won at least 36 games 14 times. Todd coached his first game at Ohio State in 1988, a 16-2 win over Louisville on Feb. 27.
TODD CLOSING IN ON 700 AT OSU
Now in his 18th season as skipper of the Buckeyes, head coach Bob Todd needs only 14 victories for his 700th win at the school. Todd’s record at Ohio State is 687-356-2 (.658). Add his four-year record of 124-82 from Kent State (1984-87) and the 22nd-year career head coach has a 811-427-2 (.655) record. Those victories rank him 24th nationally among active coaches, and by win percentage, Todd ranks 19th nationally.
Todd’s Milestone Career Victories
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 22, 1992 vs. Ohio (16-2)
400 – May 14, 1994 vs. Purdue (8-7)
500 – March 30, 1997 at Michigan St. (4-0)
600 – May 5, 1999 vs. Oakland (11-9)
700 – March 17, 2002 vs. Detroit (7-2)
800 – May 8, 2004 vs. Penn State (3-1)
Todd’s Milestone Ohio State Wins
1 – Feb. 27, 1988 vs. Louisville (16-2)
100 – Feb. 22, 1991 vs. Dartmouth (14-7)
200 – March 28, 1993 vs. Cleveland St. (9-5)
300 – April 13, 1995 at Wright State (16-6)
400 – May 16, 1997 at Michigan (9-2)
*480 – May 8, 1999 vs. Michigan St. (11-1)
500 – March 22, 2000 vs. Florida Int’l (2-0)
600 – May 19, 2002 vs. Minnesota (9-2)
*became the winningest coach in Ohio State history
Todd’s Milestone 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)
300 – April 2, 2004 vs. Illinois (5-1)
How the Big Ten Coaches Rank Nationally* Rankings by Percentage Rk. Coach, School Yrs. Record Pct. 19. Bob Todd, OSU 21 810-421-2 .655 22. Bob Morgan, IND 29 1,044-556-6 .652 40. Richard Jones, ILL 38 1,209-729-5 .624 43. Rich Maloney, MICH 9 320-197-1 .619 44. John Anderson, MIN 23 838-518-3 .618
Rankings by Victories Rk. Coach, School Yrs. Record Pct. 8. Richard Jones, ILL 38 1,209-729-5 .624 11. Bob Morgan, IND 29 1,044-556-6 .652 22. John Anderson, MIN 23 838-518-3 .618 24. Bob Todd, OSU 21 810-421-2 .655 * figures entering the 2005 season with minimum of five-year career. Only Top 50 coaches ranked nationally.
Bob Todd WAS THE FASTEST TO 300 BIG TEN WINS
With a 5-1 victory over Illinois April 2, 2004, Ohio State coach Bob Todd won his 300th career Big Ten game, becoming the second coach to ever top the number. Todd, now with 318 Big Ten victories, was the fastest to 300 wins, doing so in his 17th season. Minnesota coach John Anderson has guided the Golden Gophers to 375 and recorded his 300th conference victory during his 20th season at Minnesota in 2001.
Current Big Ten Coaching Records by Wins* Coach, School Yrs. Record Pct. John Anderson, MINN 23 375-191-0 .663 Bob Todd, OSU 17 318-163-0 .661 Bob Morgan, IND 21 236-300-1 .440 Richard Jones, ILL 14 202-191-0 .514 Paul Stevens, NW 17 201-279-1 .419 Ted Mahan, MSU 9 107-152-0 .413 Doug Schreiber, PUR 6 89-86-0 .509 Rich Maloney, MICH 2 35-27-0 .565 Jack Dahm, IOWA 1 12-20-0 .375 Robbie Wine, PSU 0 0-0-0 .000 * records entering 2005 season
2004 SEASON REVIEW
Ohio State had a chance to win the Big Ten regular season title by taking three of four games at Minnesota the final week of the regular season, but fell one game short of earning the first regular season title since the 2001 season. Instead, the Buckeyes went back to Minneapolis the following week as the second seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
After losing the opening game of the tournament, Ohio State rattled off four consecutive wins to force a second championship game against Minnesota. The Buckeyes eliminated Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan before knocking off the Gophers to force the second championship, but a bid at a third straight Big Ten tournament title, which would have been a first by a school in the conference, fell one game short as Ohio State lost to Minnesota 7-3.
That left the Buckeyes hoping for at at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, but that invitation never came and the Buckeyes were left out for the first time since the 2000 season. Nevertheless, it was a year highlighted by Steve Caravati being named Big Ten Player of the Year, the first Buckeye so honored since Dan Seimetz in 1997. He was also a third-team All-America selection by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Jacob Howell was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the eighth Ohio State rookie to win that honor. He was also named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. Six Buckeyes earned mention on the All-Big Ten teams as Caravati and Josh Newman earned first-team honors. Howell and Drew Anderson garnered second-team mention, while Trey Fausnaugh and Mike Madsen picked up third-team kudos. Cody Caughenbaugh was named a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, while a total of seven Buckeyes were named Academic All-Big Ten and 12 named as OSU Scholar-Athletes.
FOUR OHIO STATE PLAYERS SELECTED IN 2004 DRAFT
Four Buckeyes – Scott Lewis, Drew Anderson, Josh Newman and Trent Luyster – were selected in the 2004 First Year Player Draft.
Lewis was selected in the third round by the Cleveland Indians (77th overall pick), while Anderson was a 13th-round selection by the Cincinnati Reds. Newman improved his draft status by returning to Ohio State for his senior season. After getting picked in the 30th round by the Cincinnati Reds in 2003, the Colorado Rockies picked him in the 19th round in 2004. The Chicago Cubs took Luyster with a 39th-round pick.
Newman was the lone senior of the group. He finished his Ohio State career third in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts. Anderson and Lewis were early departures from the squad and while they gave up their final year of eligibility, Luyster decided to return for his senior season.
ON THE RADIO
Ohio State baseball will not be broadcast on the radio until the home opener March 30, once Buckeye women’s basketball and men’s ice hockey have concluded their respective seasons. NPR 820 (WOSU-AM) will again serve as the broadcast home for Ohio State baseball and will broadcast a total of 40 regular-season games, plus all postseason contests. Neil Sika and Paul Barnes will call the action.
UP NEXT FOR THE BUCKEYES…
Ohio State will play eight games in nine days when it travels to Florida for Spring Break 2005. The Buckeyes open the trip by playing Northern Iowa at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasaota, Fla., before playing the rest of its games at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. There the Buckeyes will play single games against Bucknell, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Illinois-Chicago, Vermont and Dartmouth and two games against Cornell. The team will have a day off on Tuesday, March 22.
