OSU Heads to Iowa for Opening Weekend of Big Ten Play – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 30, 2006
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OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
12-5, 0-0 Big Ten
at
IOWA HAWKEYES
10-8, 0-0 Big Ten
March 30-April 2, 2006
Duane Banks Field (Capacity: 3,000)
Iowa City, Iowa
Friday, March 31 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, April 1 (DH) 3:05 p.m.
Sunday, April 2 2:05 p.m.
Series History: Ohio State leads 58-39-1
Last Meetings: April 11-13, 2003; OSU 4-0
PROBABLE OSU STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: Dan DeLucia (LHP)
Saturday: Cory Luebke (LHP) and Jake Hale (RHP)
Sunday: J.B. Shuck (LHP)
TELEVISION/RADIO
Games 1, 3 and 4: AM 920 WMNI
ohiostatebuckeyes.com and wmni.com
GAMETRACKER
ohiostatebuckeyes.com
With an 8-5 win over Toledo in the home opener Wednesday night at Bill Davis Stadium, Ohio State has now won 10 of its last 11 games to move alone into first place of the Big Ten standings heading into the opening weekend of conference play for all 10 teams. The Buckeyes travel to Iowa for a four-game league series. It will be the first meetings between the schools since the 2003 season, when the Buckeyes swept a four-game set in Columbus.
The Buckeyes had been tied with Purdue after last weekend, but by virtue of an Ohio State win vs. Toledo and a Purdue loss to Ball State Wednesday, the Buckeyes reclaimed the driver’s seat. In other Big Ten action, Indiana is at Michigan State, Northwestern is at Michigan, Purdue is at Illinois and Penn State is at Minnesota.
Ohio State and Iowa will play a single game Friday night at 7:05 p.m., EST (6:05 p.m., CST) before returning to Duane Banks Field Saturday for a doubleheader at 3:05 p.m. The series concludes Sunday with a single game at 2:05 p.m.
Games one, three and four of the series will be broadcast on the Baseball Buckeyes new radio home, AM 920 WMNI in Columbus. Randy Rhinehart and Frank Fraas will call that action. Those three games will be available at ohiostatebuckeyes.com and on wmni.com. All four games will feature GameTracker at ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
ABOUT OHIO STATE
After starting the season 2-4, the Buckeyes have won 10 of their last 11 games to take over first place in the Big Ten all by themselves. The latest win came Wednesday afternoon when the Buckeyes ushered in the 10th season at Bill Davis Stadium with an 8-5 victory vs. Toledo. Jason Zoeller was 2-for-2 with four RBI thanks to his fourth career triple (bases loaded) and a single after getting hit in the helmet in his first at bat.
Jacob Howell overtook the team’s batting lead with a 3-for-5 day vs. the Rockets, surpassing Matt Angle, who managed to go 0-for-4 with a rare-feat. He grounded into three double plays. Despite going hitless to snap an 11-game hit streak, he still remains one of three Buckeye batters hitting better than .400. Howell is the team leader with a .444 average (32-for-72). Ronnie Bourquin is batting .440 with a team-best 33 hits (75 at bats) and 23 RBI. Angle is batting .420 (29-for-69). Eric Fryer is batting .393 and Jedidiah Stephen is batting .391. The team continues to pace the Big Ten with its .355 batting average.
On the mound, the staff sports a 3.62 ERA and has held the opposition to a .269 batting average. J.B. Shuck and Dan DeLucia each have three wins. DeLucia will make his first start in a Big Ten opener when he gets the ball Friday against Iowa. The junior is 3-1 with a 3.68 ERA and a team-best 21 strikeouts in 36.2 innings. Shuck, a freshman who started against Toledo, will return Sunday in the series finale. Shuck is 3-0 with a 1.12 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 24.0 innings. The starters for the doubleheader Saturday will be Cory Luebke and Jake Hale, though it is not clear who will pitch the first game and who will pitch the nightcap. Luebke is 2-2 with a 2.96 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 24.1 innings, while Hale is 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 16.0 innings.
ZOELLER LIFTS BUCKEYES OVER TOLEDO, 8-5
With the scored knotted at two in the bottom of the third inning, Ohio State shortstop Jason Zoeller delivered a two-out bases loaded triple and later added another RBI in the seventh to help propel the Buckeyes to an 8-5 victory over Toledo in front of 1,008 fans Wednesday in the home opener at Bill Davis Stadium.
Zoeller gave the Buckeyes a three-run lead with his first triple of the season and the fourth of his career. Eric Fryer led off the inning with a single through the left side, but the next two batters were retired. Greg Gompf, the Toledo starting pitcher, hit Jedidiah Stephen and then walked Wes Schirtzinger to load the bases. Zoeller sent a ball off the wall in right-center field to empty the bases and lift Ohio State to a 5-2 lead. Each team scored a run in the fourth, but neither team scored in the fifth or sixth. The Buckeyes extended their lead to five runs, 8-3, with a pair of runs in the seventh.
Zoeller was 2-for-2 in the game and was hit by a pitch on the helmet in the second and drew a walk in the fifth, but knocked in four RBI. Fryer was a perfect 4-for-4 and scored two runs, while Howell was 3-for-5 with one RBI. Ronnie Bourquin and Stephen also added two hits as the Buckeyes collected 14 as a team and overcame two errors. The Rockets also had 14 hits.
OSU starting pitcher J.B. Shuck struck out five in 3.0 innings of work and allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits before leaving in the fourth after putting the first two runners on base. Dan Barker pitched the next two innings and did not allow a run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts to earn the win (2-0). Gompf was tagged with the loss after allowing the first five Ohio State runs of the game on five hits.
IN HOME OPENERS
Since Bob Todd arrived to Ohio State prior to the 1988 season, the Buckeyes are 14-5 in home openers. The Scarlet and Gray have beaten Toledo each of the last two years in the home opener to improve to 7-3 all-time in openers at Bill Davis Stadium.
TWO-OUT HITTING
When Jason Zoeller cleared the bases in the third inning against Toledo with his first triple of the season, it was just another two-out hit, something the Buckeyes have had success doing recently.
“Coach has been preaching to us all year about getting hits with two out,” Zoeller said after the Toledo game. “Hearing that everyday makes you more focused. When an opportunity like that presents itself, it’s always in the back of your mind.”
For the season, Ohio State has 62 two-out hits that have driven it 55 two-out runs. Against Toledo, Jedidiah Stephen drove in the first two runs of the game with a two-out single in the first inning. A pair of two-out hits yielded another run in the fourth.
The winning run in the spring break finale against Vermont was delivered by Wes Schirtzinger with two outs. In the first Vermont game, a 14-1 victory, three runs scored with two outs. Stephen delivered the final two runs of the 6-0 win over Cornell with a two-run, two-out double in the seventh.
Ronnie Bourquin is 10-for-28 with two out and has driven in eight runs. Eric Fryer is 10-for-23 with two outs and has driven in 12 runs. Five Buckeyes have at least six two-out hits.
ABOUT IOWA
The Hawkeyes are 10-8 on the year after falling at home to Illinois State Wednesday night, 7-3. Iowa won five of its first six games to start the season, but since has gone 5-7 with a pair wins over Southern Illinois and IPFW to go with a victory vs. Notre Dame in four tries in San Antonio, Texas.
Iowa is batting .256 as a team and is lead by Travis Sweet, who leads the everyday players with a .362 batting average (25-for-69) with four doubles, 14 RBI and 14 runs scored. Kevin Hoef, who was 2-for-4 vs. Illinois State Wednesday, is batting .319 (15-for-47). Wes Freie and Nate Price each are batting .311 to round out those above .300.
On the mound, Iowa’s pitching staff owns a 4.70 ERA and is allowing the opposition to hit .256. Jeff Maitland is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA and a team-high 21 strikeouts in 27.1 innings, while closer Tim Gudex has struck out 14 while allowing no runs on just three hits in 11 appearances totalling 12.1 innings. Gudex has four saves to go with a 3-0 record. Maitland will get the ball Friday and Sweet, who also plays second base, will close out the series on Sunday. Luke O’Loughlin or Austin Seward will start the doubleheader games though the order has not been determined. Sweet is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 6.1 innings, while O’Louglin is 1-2 with a 5.95 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 19.2 innings. Seward is 1-2 with an 8.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 18.0 innings.
Jack Dahm (Creighton, 1989) is in his third season at Iowa and has led the Hawkeyes to a 58-72 record. Dahm went to Iowa from his alma mater, where he left with a 283-276 record after 10 seasons as the school’s winningest coach.
AGAINST THE HAWKEYES
Ohio State leads the all-time series 58-39-1 but has not played Iowa since 2003, when the Buckeyes swept a four-game series in Columbus. The schools did not play in 2004 and were scheduled to meet in Dothan, Ala., in a non-conference game the opening weekend of the 2005 season, but the game was rained out. Ohio State made back-to-back trips to Iowa City in 2001 and 2002 and were 3-1 against the Hawkeyes each visit. In 2002, Ohio State and Iowa played the first night game at Duane Banks Field. In the 16 meetings since 2000, Ohio State leads 12-4. Bob Todd is 27-16 vs. the Hawkeyes.
Series Since 2000, Ohio State leads 12-4:
| 3/31/2000 | W | 2-1 | H |
| 4/1/2000 | L | 4-2 | H |
| 4/1/2000 | L | 10-4 | H |
| 4/2/2000 | W | 11-1 | H |
| 3/30/2001 | W | 7-4 | A |
| 3/31/2001 | W | 8-1 | A |
| 4/1/2001 | W | 6-5 | A |
| 4/1/2001 | L | 7-1 | A |
| 4/12/2002 | W | 7-1 | A |
| 4/13/2002 | W | 2-1 | A |
| 4/13/2002 | L | 5-4 | A |
| 4/14/2002 | W | 11-1 | A |
| 4/11/2003 | W | 4-1 | H |
| 4/12/2003 | W | 6-1 | H |
| 4/12/2003 | W | 9-5 | H |
| 4/13/2003 | W | 11-10 | H |
BIG TEN SERIES HISTORY VS. IOWA
The Buckeyes and Iowa have only met 10 times in a four-game conference series since the Big Ten began playing the format in 1981. Actually, the first meeting in the format did not occur until 1990, when Iowa took three of four games against the Buckeyes. Since then Ohio State has not lost a series, winning 3-of-4 in 1991, 1997, 2001 and 2002 with a four-game sweep in 2003. The teams split in 1992, 1993, 1996 and 2000. Iowa is one of five Big Ten teams never to sweep a four-game series against Ohio State.
Big Ten Series History vs. Iowa
| Ohio State | 4-0 | 2003 |
| Ohio State | 3-1 | 2002, 2001, 1997, 1991 |
| Split | 2-2 | 2000, 1996, 1993, 1992 |
| Iowa | 3-1 | 1990 |
| Iowa | 4-0 | None |
LAST TIME VS. THE HAWKEYES
The last time Ohio State and Iowa met was April 11-13, 2003 at Bill Davis Stadium in Columbus and the series went the way of the Buckeyes as they swept all four games. The series began and ended in dramatic fashion. On Friday, Scott Lewis struck out 20 batters in nine innings as Ohio State beat Iowa 4-1. The 20 strikeouts tied the school record held by Steve Arlin, which he set in a 15-inning 1-0 victory over Washington State at the 1965 College World Series. Lewis had that total through the first five innings. He actually had a no-hitter going entering the sixth inning, giving the Buckeyes 12 innings of no-hit baseball in a two-game stretch to go with Greg Prenger’s seven innings of perfection against Oakland in a midweek contest. Both pitchers earned national player of the week mention.
Christian Snavely homered in the first inning to put Ohio State out to an early 2-0 lead as the Buckeyes took a 6-1 victory in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday. In the Saturday’s second game, Ohio State scored five times in the bottom of the fourth inning to break a 4-4 tie on its way to a 9-5 victory. The five runs in the inning by the Buckeyes came on five hits, including four in a row. The sweep was concluded in come-from-behind fashion as Anderson knocked in five runs on three hits, including a one-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning.
IN THE BIG TEN
Wednesday when Ohio State beat Toledo and Purdue lost to Ball State, the Buckeyes overtook the top spot in the Big Ten standings. Ohio State improved to 12-5, while the Boilermakers slipped to 11-6 and into a second-place tie with Illinois. The two teams meet this weekend in Champaign, Ill. Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota each have 10 wins, though when Big Ten play commences Friday, overall records will be an afterthought.
Ohio State continues to lead the league in batting (.355) and pitching (3.62) through 17 games this season. In conference stats released Tuesday, Matt Angle (.446), Ronnie Bourquin (.443) and Jacob Howell (.433) sat 1-2-3 in individual batting while Jedidiah Stephen ranked ninth (.385). Bourquin led the Big Ten with 31 hits, while Angle (27) and Howell (21) had scored the most runs. Eric Fryer had knocked in a league-leading 23 doubles with Stephen’s 10 doubles and Howell’s three triples were the league standard.
J.B. Shuck owned the conference’s lowest ERA. He is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 21.0 innings pitched. Cory Luebke’s 2.96 ERA ranks 10th. Shuck’s .162 batting average against is second in the league.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT 11 STRAIGHT?
Getting a hit in an 11th straight game must be a curse for Ohio State batters this season. First it was Jedidiah Stephen, who had a hit in his first 10 games this season to go with a hit in the season-ending loss to St. John’s in last year’s NCAA tournament. Then it was Matt Angle, who had a hit in 11 straight games beginning March 5 vs. Western Michigan and continuing until Wednesday against Toledo. Angle was 0-for-4 and grounded into three double plays.
Who is up next? That will remain to be seen, but Jason Zoeller, who came up big against Toledo with four RBI, including a bases loaded triple, has a hit in his last 10 games. His streak also dates back to the March 5 Western Michigan game, however, the Buckeyes second baseman missed the final two games of the spring break trip. No one else has a hit streak of longer than four.
THREE BUCKEYES GET FIVE HITS FOUR TIMES
It was too bad the Buckeyes did not have a game this past Sunday. Every Sunday in March, a Buckeye has had five hits. Against Western Michigan March 6 in Jacksonville, center fielder Matt Angle had a hit in his first five at bats before grounding out in the ninth. A week later, facing Bethune-Cookman in Clearwater, Angle again started 5-for-5 but grounded into a fielder’s choice. Against UMass, March 19 in Bradenton, third baseman Ronnie Bourquin was 5-for-6 with five RBI and four runs scored. Those two are not the only players who have tallied five hits in a game. The day after Bourquin got five hits against UMass, left fielder Jacob Howell was 5-for-5 with three RBI and four runs scored against Cornell.
MILESTONES
The game against Florida marked the 1,300th game of Bob Todd’s career, which is in its 23rd season in 2006. He coached his 1,100th game at Ohio State, where he has coached since 1988, in the Buckeyes’ eighth game of the year, a 13-6 victory over Lehigh in the second game of a doubleheader on March 10. Todd owns a career record of 862-451-2 and is 738-369-2 at Ohio State.
Ohio State has played 3,590 games since it began playing baseball in 1881. The 3,600th game in school history will be played against Central Michigan April 12th at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeyes are 2,165-1,387-38 all time.
HIGH-POWERED OFFENSE
The Buckeyes have really turned it on at the plate in the last 11 games to up their batting average to a Big Ten best .355. The next closest team, Illinois, has a batting average of .318. During the 11-game stretch, in which Ohio State has won 10 games, the Buckeyes have hit .392 and have outscored their opponents 109-45, that is an average of 9.9 to 4.1. Ohio State is averaging 14.4 hits to 8.2 hits per game during the stretch. For the season, Ohio State has outscored the opposition 209-135 or 13.1 to 8.7. In the first six games of the season, the Buckeyes were 2-4 and were outscored 36-35.
BUCKEYES FIND EARLY GAME SUCCESS
Ohio State has managed to build early leads against its opponents. Through the first four innings, the Buckeyes have outscored their opposition 74-28, including a margin of 26-10 in the first inning. Only six times this season has an opponents scored in the first inning and in the last 11 games an opponent has scored just three runs in that opening stanza. The sixth inning also has been particularly potent for the Buckeyes, which have outscored opponents 26-5.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR
The Buckeyes were 13-4 through 17 games last year and beat Toledo in the home opener to run their win streak to 10 straight games. Ohio State well remembers what happened next as it lost its next six games, including an 0-5 start in Big Ten play thanks to a sweep by Illinois the opening weekend of conference action. Ohio State overcame its worst Big Ten start since 1936 to win the conference tournament and advance to an NCAA regional for the 11th time under head coach Bob Todd.
DELUCIA TOPS 175 CAREER INNINGS
Ohio State junior left-handed pitcher Dan DeLucia made two appearances for the Buckeyes on spring break and picked up a pair of victories. In the team’s first game in Bradenton, he tossed a three-hit, complete game, 14-0 shutout of Massachusetts. In the Buckeyes’ final game of the trip, against Vermont, he pitched five innings of the 6-5 win. With 14.0 innings last week, DeLucia now has 177.1 career innings, which makes him eligible for several career rankings. He has allowed 171 hits, the fifth lowest total by a Buckeye. He has walked just 54 batters, which is the third fewest by an Ohio State pitcher. He has allowed 94 runs (seventh lowest) and 84 earned runs (sixth lowest). DeLucia is 12-9 with a 4.11 ERA and an even 100 strikeouts, though this year he is 3-1 with a 3.68 ERA and a team-best 21 strikeouts.
BUCKEYES GO 5-1 ON SPRING BREAK
The Buckeyes won 5-of-6 games on their annual spring break trip last week in Bradenton, Fla., March 19-24 Ohio State opened the trip with a 14-0 victory vs. Massachusetts and then beat Cornell 12-4 before falling 7-1 to Illinois-Chicago. The Buckeyes rebounded to beat Cornell 6-0 and won two games vs. Vermont (14-1 and 6-5).
The Scarlet and Gray batted .335 in the six games and were led by Jacob Howell, who batted .571 in the six games. He was 12-for-21 with one double, two triples and a sacrifice bunt for five RBI and nine runs scored. He also drew three walks and was hit by one pitch with only two strikeouts. He added two stolen bases. Matt Angle hit .435 and scored 11 runs on the trip and Eric Fryer hit .421 and batted in 10 runs. Ronnie Bourquin was one of three with more than 10 hits. The Buckeye third baseman batted in 10 runs and scored eight times.
On the hill in Bradenton, Dan DeLucia was 2-0 while J.B. Shuck, Jake Hale and Josh Barrera also earned wins. DeLucia pitched a three-hit, complete game, 14-0 shutout vs. UMass in the opener of the spring break trip and then closed the week with a 6-5 victory vs. Vermont. Shuck combined with Dan Barker for the team’s other shutout win of the week. Each kept Cornell off the scoreboard and allowed two hits. Hale picked up his first win as a Buckeye in the 12-4 win vs. Cornell, while Barrera claimed his first win in the 14-1 victory vs. Vermont. Cory Luebke was the losing pitcher vs. Illinois-Chicago. As a pitching staff, Ohio State had a 2.77 ERA and held opposing batters to a .211 average.
HOWELL LEADS BUCKEYES IN BRADENTON
Jacob Howell had nine straight hits to start the week and batted .571 in six games last week, going 12-for-21 with five RBI and nine runs scored as the Buckeyes won five games. He had a slugging percentage of .810 and an on-base percentage of .640.
Howell actually had a hit in 10 straight at bats going back to the team’s win over Bethune-Cookman March 12. He was 2-for-5 in that game with a single in his last at bat. He was 3-for-3 with a walk vs. UMass, 5-for-5 vs. Cornell and then was 1-for-3 vs. Illinois-Chicago with a hit in his first at bat. With the walk vs. UMass, he actually reached base 11 straight times, which was two off the 1934 school record of 13. Howell is third on the team with a .433 batting average.
DELUCIA, HALE HONORED NATIONALLY
Dan DeLucia and Jake Hale were named to the College Baseball Foundation Weekly Honor Roll March 21 after combining to allow just seven hits in two games last week against UMass and Cornell. Delucia allowed only three hits in a nine-inning complete-game shutout, 14-0, over the Minutemen March 19. The junior did not allow the first hit until the fifth inning, and threw 106 pitches to pick up his second win of the season. The in the team’s next game, Hale, a freshman, picked up his first career win, allowing only two runs on three hits, with five strikeouts, as he combined with two relievers to limit the Big Red to only four hits in a, 12-4, victory.
BOURQUIN SHARES BIG TEN HONORS
Ohio State third baseman Ronnie Bourquin was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week March 20 after going 5-for-6 in the Buckeyes’ lone game of the week, a 14-0 win over Massachusetts March 19. Bourquin started the game with five straight singles before a fly out in his last visit to the plate. He drove in five runs and scored twice. Bourquin, a junior from Canton, Ohio (Canton South), ran his hit streak to a career-long eight games and upped his batting average to .520 through the first 11 games of the season.
BUCKEYES PERFECT IN CLEARWATER
Ohio State won all four games they played at the College Baseball Spring Classic at Jack Russell Stadium March 10-12 in Clearwater, Fla. Ohio State took both ends of a doubleheader vs. Lehigh, winning 17-10 and 13-6, before beating Northern Iowa 9-6 and Bethune-Cookman 9-1. In the four games, the Scarlet and Gray scored 48 runs on 73 hits, batting .468 for the week.
OSU center fielder Matt Angle batted .647 in going 11-for-17 with seven RBI and nine runs scored. He was 5-for-6 for the second straight Sunday, getting hits in his first five at bats in games against Western Michigan and Bethune-Cookman. He also had two sacrifice flies and a sac bunt last week and was 3-for-4 in the stolen base department. Angle did not have the only hot bat for the Buckeyes. Shortstop Jedidiah Stephen was 10-for-17 with four RBI and seven runs scored. Four of his 10 hits were doubles and he was able to match his career-best hit streak in a 1-for-5 day against Bethune-Cookman, his 11th straight game with at least one hit. Four other players batted better than .400, including Wes Schirtzinger (.571), Ronnie Bourquin (.474), Jacob Howell (.474) and Jason Zoeller (.417).
ANGLE NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ohio State center fielder Matt Angle was named the Big Ten Player of the Week March 14 after going 11-for-17 as the Buckeyes to four wins on their trip to Clearwater, Fla., March 10-12. Angle, a sophomore from Whitehall, Ohio (Whitehall-Yearling), hit .647 with seven RBI and scored nine runs and had a hit in his first five at bats vs. Bethune-Cookman, including a triple in the sixth, before ending the streak with a fielder’s choice in the top of the ninth. It was his second straight Sunday to go 5-for-6 (also hits in first five at bats) March 5 in a 12-11 loss to Western Michigan in Jacksonville, Fla. In the four games in Clearwater, Angle had a .765 slugging percentage and a .619 on-base percentage. He also had a pair of sacrifice flies and a sac bunt. He was 3-for-4 on stolen bases and had 15 putouts.
KENNEL CLUB CLASSIC REWIND
Ohio State went 1-2 in the three games at the Kennel Club Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., March 4-6. After an exhibition loss to Aoyama Gakuin, a Japanese college team, the Buckeyes beat UNC Greensboro 12-2. The next day at Jacksonville, Ohio State took a 3-1 lead in the top of the ninth, only to lose 4-3 in the bottom of the inning. In the weekend finale, Western Michigan held off a Buckeye comeback bid for a 12-11 victory.
Jedidiah Stephen, Ronnie Bourquin and Eric Fryer led the Buckeyes, each going 6-for-14 (.429). Fryer had six RBI and scored three times, while Stephen had four RBI and one runs scored and Bourquin had four RBI and scored four times. Ohio State hit .314 in Jacksonville and outscored the opposition 38-30. Cory Luebke got the lone victory for the pitching staff, going seven innings against UNC Greensboro, allowing one unearned run on five hits with eight strikeouts. Dan DeLucia was in line to get a win at Jacksonville, but the bullpen let a two-run lead slip by in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ohio State slipped to 2-4 after the first two tournaments.
LUEBKE EARNS WEEKLY HONOR
Ohio State left-handed pitcher Cory Luebke was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week March 7 after getting his first win of the season March 4 vs. UNC Greensboro. Luebke struck out eight batters in the 12-2 victory over the Spartans at the Kennel Club Classic in Jacksonville, Fla. The strikeout total for the sophomore from Maria Stein, Ohio (Marion Local), was one off his career high of nine against UW-Milwaukee last year. Against UNCG, Luebke allowed only one unearned run on five hits, while walking just one batter.
AT FLORIDA’S PEPSI BASEBALL CLASSIC
Ohio State went 1-2 at the Pepsi Baseball Classic at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Feb. 24-26. The Buckeyes suffered setbacks to Wake Forest, losing 6-2 on Friday, and to No. 1 Florida, 10-3 on Saturday. The Buckeyes earned their first win of the season, getting by No. 12 Missouri on the arm of rookie pitcher J.B. Shuck, who struck out six Tigers and allowed one run on three hits in seven innings.
Junior third baseman Ronnie Bourquin led Ohio State in the three games in Gainesville, batting .545 (6-for-11). Bourquin was 4-for-5 against top-ranked Florida and was 2-for-3 in the season opener against Wake Forest, which went on to win the tournament after getting by the Gators 4-0 on Sunday. Junior outfielder Jacob Howell and Jedidiah Stephen each added five hits in the three games. Howell batted .417 with a pair of RBI and one runs scored, while Stephen batted .385 with three doubles and one RBI. As a team Ohio State batted .260.
The lone pitching victory came off Shuck, a lefty, who was making his first collegiate start. Shuck, who pinch hit against Wake Forest and started at first base against Florida, took to the hill against the Tigers and lasted seven innings, recording six strikeouts and allowing one run on three hits. Ohio State pitching struggled in the first two games, walking 11 batters, including eight against Florida. Cory Luebke, who started against the Gators, walked five batters, but allowed only two runs on three hits. Luebke walked on 17 batters all of last year, a season in which he earned Freshman All-American honors. Dan DeLucia got the loss against Wake Forest after allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out four batters, but walked three.
TWO BUCKEYES TABBED TO TEAM
Junior third baseman Ronnie Bourquin and junior outfielder Jacob Howell were named to the all-tournament team of the Pepsi Baseball Classic following Wake Forest’s win over Florida in the final game Sunday. Bourquin batted .545 in the three games, leading Ohio State with six hits. He was 4-for-5 in the loss at Florida. Howell had five hits and knocked in two runs.
SHUCKS ATTAINS NATIONAL ACCLAIM
Ohio State freshman left-handed pitcher J.B. Shuck was named to the College Baseball Foundation Honor Roll Feb. 28 after leading the Buckeyes to a 4-2 upset victory over then-No. 12 Missouri. Making his first career start, Shuck allowed only one run on three hits with seven strikeouts, as the Buckeyes pounded out 11 hits to win their first win of the season at the Pepsi Baseball Classic at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. Shuck, a freshman from Galion, Ohio, made his Buckeye debut Friday against Wake Forest with a pinch hit in the eighth inning and then made his first start as a Buckeye Saturday vs. Florida as the starting first baseman. In his seven-inning outing against Missouri, he allowed one run on three hits, struck out six batters, and allowed one walk in his first pitching start as a Buckeye. The honor marks the first time an Ohio State player has appeared on the second-year list.
IN SEASON OPENERS
With the loss to Wake Forest in the season opener, Bob Todd’s Buckeyes are 10-9 in season openers. Now in the 123rd year of Ohio State baseball, the Buckeyes are 75-46-2 (.618) in season openers.
BUCKEYES ELECT THREE CAPTAINS
Junior left-handed pitcher Dan DeLucia, junior outfielder Jacob Howell and senior short stop Jedidiah Stephen will serve as tri-captains for the 2006 baseball team.
DeLucia, a third-team All-Big Ten pick last season, led the Buckeyes with a 2.92 ERA, 95.2 innings pitched and 55 strikeouts to go with a 6-5 record in 15 starts. Howell was a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2004 and made 31 starts in 39 games last season after missing 12 games because of a shoulder injury. Howell ended up batting .270 with 31 hits and 16 RBI in 2005 after batting .336 in 58 starts as a freshman. Stephen is one of three seniors on the squad. Stephen batted .305 last season with 52 hits, including 13 doubles, two triples and five home runs to go along with 46 RBI, the second best on the team.
In addition to their on-field exploits, all three captains have excelled in the classroom as well. DeLucia is a two-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree in 2005, while Howell is a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. Stephen has been named an Academic All-Big Ten selection and an OSU Scholar-Athlete each of the last two years.
TWO BUCKEYES TAKEN IN 2005 DRAFT
Ohio State senior right-handed pitcher Mike Madsen and senior left-handed pitcher Trent Luyster were the only two Buckeyes selected during Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft in 2005. Madsen was selected in the 21st round by the Oakland Athletics as the 21st player of the round and the 641st player taken in the draft. Luyster was selected in the 30th round by the Toronto Blue Jays as the sixth player taken in the round and the 896th player overall.
OSU coach Bob Todd has had 64 players sign professional baseball contracts, including 13 players since the 2000 season. Current Oakland A’s outfielder Nick Swisher, the 16th overall selection in 2002, is the only current major leaguer.
OSU AMONG BEST ALL-TIME CWS TEAMS
Ohio State has been named one of the top College World Series teams of all-time in a story that appeared in the Omaha World-Herald last summer. Ohio State was listed No. 22 in the Top 25 rankings. The Buckeyes have made four appearances in the College World Series, winning the national championship in 1966 after a runner-up finish in 1965. Southern California was ranked as the top CWS team of all time.
As for Ohio State, the World-Herald said, “(Steve) Arlin was selected as one of the two pitchers on the CWS’ 50-year anniversary team for his work in the 1965 and 1966 tournaments. Arlin still holds the CWS career record for ERA (0.96), and his four victories and 47 innings pitched are tied for the all-time lead. In leading the Buckeyes to the 1966 title, Arlin finished all five of their wins – two on complete games. His most memorable performance might have come the year before, when he pitched a 15-inning, 1-0 victory over Washington State after lasting just one-third of an inning in his first CWS start against Arizona State.”
The 1966 national championship is the last won by a team in the Big Ten.
BUCKEYES HAVE 15 TRUE FRESHMEN
Ohio State welcomed 15 true freshmen to the roster this season. Six players are pitchers: Taylor Barnes, Josh Barrera, Eric Best, Jake Hale, Brad Hays and Jake Weber; three are catchers: Shawn Forsythe, Justin Miller and Nick Steponovich; four are infielders: Matt Curran, Seth Sanders, J.B. Shuck (also a pitcher) and Ben Toussant; and two are outfielders: Chris Griffin and Zach Hurley.
Add to that a group of three red-shirt freshmen – pitcher Matthew Selhorst, catcher Josh Hula and infielder Michael Arp – and the Buckeyes have 18 players who have not played college baseball before this season. Ohio State is believed to be among the national leaders in number of freshmen on 2006 rosters. Arkansas and Auburn also have 15 true freshmen on their rosters.
But as many new faces on the Ohio State roster, the total is not as high as it was in 1993 when Todd welcomed 19 true freshmen and another four redshirt freshmen for a total of 23 freshmen. The Buckeyes went 44-19 overall and 19-9 to finish atop the Big Ten regular season standings.
2006 SCHEDULE
The Buckeyes’ first 16 games all were played in the state of Florida. Ohio State, which played games in Gainesville, Jacksonville, Clearwater and Bradenton to start the season, did not play a home game until March 29 against Toledo. Joining the Rockets in non-conference action at Bill Davis Stadium will be Miami (Ohio), Central Michigan, Oakland, Cleveland State, Eastern Michigan and Pittsburgh. Big Ten play opens March 31 at Iowa. Other conference road trips are to Michigan, Indiana and Michigan State, while Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State all visit Columbus. The Big Ten tournament will be played May 24-28 in the home stadium of the regular season champion.
TODD WINNINGEST COACH IN BIG TEN
Now in his 19th season at Ohio State, Bob Todd is entering his 23rd season as a college head coach, including four years at Kent State. Entering the year, he owned a career record of 850-446-2. His win percentage of .656 is the top winning percentage by a current Big Ten coach and ranks 20th nationally among active coaches. In all-time victories, Todd trails Minnesota coach John Anderson by 21 wins. Anderson is 871-547-3 in 24 seasons.
Todd is the winningest coach in Ohio State history and has never had a losing season. His 40 wins in 2005 marked the 10th time he has won at least 40 games. He has won 50 games twice including in 1991 when the Buckeyes won a school record 52 games. Todd coached his first game at Ohio State in 1988, a 16-2 win over Louisville on Feb. 27. Every one of his Ohio State recruits has been a part of a championship team, either as part of six regular-season championships or as part of seven Big Ten tournament championships.
10TH SEASON AT BILL DAVIS STADIUM
This year marks the 10th season of Ohio State baseball at Bill Davis Stadium. One of the best college baseball stadiums has been quite an advantage for the Buckeyes, who have a 169-67 (.716) overall record there. The venue has played host to two Big Ten tournament championships (1999 and 2001), two regional championships (1999 and 2001) and two super regional championships (1999 and 2003).
Ohio State will play 23 games at Bill Davis Stadium in 2006. Toledo was the first of seven home midweek opponents, which also include Miami (Ohio), Central Michigan, Oakland, Cleveland State, Eastern Michigan and Pittsburgh. Defending Big Ten champion Illinois will be the first of four conference opponents to visit Bill Davis Stadium when it comes to Columbus next weekend. The Scarlet and Gray also will welcome Purdue in late April and close the season with back-to-back home weekends against Minnesota and Penn State.
“Bill Davis Stadium has been ranked as one of the best college baseball stadiums in the country and I think Ohio State fans have done a great job creating an extremely positive atmosphere,” Todd said. “I can’t believe it is the 10th season.”
BUCKEYES LEAD BIG TEN IN ATTENDANCE
Ohio State baseball led the Big Ten in attendance in 2005 by welcoming an average of 2,570 in 18 home dates at Bill Davis Stadium, NCAA attendance figures released last November revealed.
The Buckeyes welcomed a total of 46,266 fans to Columbus last season which was the 36th best overall figure in the NCAA. The 2,570 average ranked 23rd among NCAA institutions.
No other Big Ten team ranked in the Top 50 either in total or average attendance. Notre Dame averaged 1,991 fans to rank 28th and drew a total of 43,798 fans for the season to rank 38th. No school in the Mid-American Conference or other Ohio school cracked the Top 50. LSU led in both categories, drawing a total of 270,300 fans over 36 dates for an average of 7,508. The Buckeyes’ drew a season-high crowd of 5,128 for the doubleheader against Minnesota the final series of the regular season. That weekend, Ohio State drew 10,876 fans over three dates, outdistancing previous weekends of 7,782 vs. Indiana, 7,370 vs. Purdue and 6,839 vs. Michigan State.
OHIO STATE BASEBALL ON WMNI-AM IN 2006
Ohio State baseball games will be broadcast this season on WMNI Radio (920 AM), Gene Smith, Ohio State athletics director, announced March 9. The station will carry a minimum of 27 regular-season games and any postseason games the team could play in 2006, including the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
Games one, three and four of six Big Ten series – Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State – as well as two games of the series at Indiana and Michigan State will be available on WMNI. The station also will carry five home midweek evening games against Miami (Ohio), Central Michigan, Oakland, Eastern Michigan and Pittsburgh.
The WMNI broadcast schedule begins Friday, March 31 at 7:05 p.m. when the team opens a four-game series at Iowa, and continues through the regular season, which ends Sunday, May 21 against Penn State. Any postseason games the team would qualify for also would be carried by the station.
WMNI has a long-standing history of sports coverage since it went on the air in 1958 and that has included Ohio State basketball, football, men’s hockey and now baseball.
In addition, the complete WMNI broadcast inventory of OSU baseball games also will be available on the Internet at the official web site of the Ohio State athletics, ohiostatebuckeys.com.
Bob Todd RADIO SHOW
The Bob Todd weekly radio show, hosted by Skip Mosic on WBNS Radio 1460 The Fan, will run each week for the next eight weeks with the final program broadcast on Monday, May 22. The nights of the show vary this year because of station conflicts with either Columbus Blue Jackets or Cleveland Indians broadcasts. Six shows will be broadcast on Monday with two shows each on Tuesday and Thursday. Each of the remaining 30-minute shows will begin at 7 p.m. To participate, dial (614) 821-1460.
Bob Todd Radio Show Remaining Schedule
Tuesday, April 4 @ 7 p.m.
Monday, April 10 @ 7 p.m.
Monday, April 17 @ 7 p.m.
Monday, April 24 @ 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 2 @ 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 11 @ 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 18 @ 7 p.m.
Monday, May 22 @ 7 p.m.
UP NEXT FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State returns to Bill Davis Stadium Wednesday, when it will welcome the Miami RedHawks in team’s third game of the season against a team from the Mid-American Conference. The Buckeyes are 1-1, beating Toledo after a loss to Western Michigan. The game between Ohio State and Miami begins and 6:35 p.m. and will be broadcast on AM 920 WMNI.
