Baseball Buckeyes Host Minnesota in Rivalry Weekend – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2006
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OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
31-15, 15-9 Big Ten
vs.
MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS
24-23, 11-13 Big Ten
May 12-14, 2006
Bill Davis Stadium (Capacity: 4,450)
Columbus, Ohio
Friday, May 12: 6:35 p.m.
Saturday, May 13 (DH): 1:35 p.m.
Sunday, May 14: 1:05 p.m.
Series History: Tied 70-70-2
Last Meeting: May 29, 2005; Ohio State 14-6
PROBABLE OSU STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: Dan DeLucia (LHP)
Saturday: Cory Luebke (LHP) and Jake Hale (RHP)
Sunday: J.B. Shuck (LHP)
RADIO
Games 1, 3 & 4 on AM 920 WMNI
OHIOSTATEBUCKEYES.COM
GameTracker and Streaming Audio & Video
Ohio State will play host to Minnesota in a four-game Big Ten series this weekend at Bill Davis Stadium. Unlike each of the last four years when the teams met the final week of the regular season, the series this year comes a week earlier. The Buckeyes will close the regular season next week at home against Penn State, while the Golden Gophers return to Minneapolis to close the regular season vs. Indiana at the Metrodome.
Neither Ohio State nor Minnesota plays a midweek non-conference game this week. The Buckeyes improved to 31-15 overall and 15-9 in the Big Ten after beating Michigan State three times in four games. Ohio State won the first three games of the series to move into a tie for first place in the Big Ten, but a loss Sunday kept the Buckeyes one game behind league leaders Northwestern and Michigan. Minnesota helped the Buckeyes pick up a game in the standings last week by virtue of splitting its four-game series at Northwestern. Illinois also split its home series vs. Michigan. The Wildcats and Wolverines continue to lead the Big Ten with 16-8 records. Ohio State is third with its 15-9 record. Illinois is fourth at 12-12. The Gophers are tied with Purdue and Penn State for fifth with an 11-13 record. Ohio State and Minnesota will open their series Friday with a single game at 6:35 p.m. and will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1:35 p.m. before concluding the series Sunday with a single game at 1:05 p.m. Games one, three and four of the series will be broadcast in Columbus on AM 920 WMNI. Randy Rhinehart and Frank Fraas will have the call. In addition to GameTracker, streaming audio for the three games also will available at ohiostatebuckeyes.com, which also will have streaming video for games one and four.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State is 31-15 overall and has the most wins and best winning percentage (.674) of any team in the Big Ten. For the second straight weekend, the Buckeyes were looking for a sweep on Sunday after winning the first three games of the series. Last weekend, the Scarlet and Gray beat Michigan State 16-2 in the opener and then swept the doubleheader 12-3 and 6-4 before the Spartans won the finale 5-2 and prevent the Buckeyes from staying in a first-place tie in the conference standings. Ohio State has won 11 of its last 15 games.
J.B. Shuck was the leading Ohio State batter at Michigan State. He had a team-best nine hits and batted .500 for the series. He had two doubles and a triple, drove in two runs and scored seven times. Shuck had two hits in the opening game of the series and followed up with three hits in each game of the doubleheader. He also had a double in the final game. Matt Angle also was .500 against the Spartans. He was 8-for-16 and drove in six runs while scoring seven times. Angle drove in four RBI with two hits a sacrifice fly in the 16-2 win, had five hits between the two games of the doubleheader and added a hit on Sunday.
Ronnie Bourquin continues to pace the conference with a .425 batting average. The average is ranked 14th nationally. With nine games to play, Bourquin already has more hits (76) than the leading hitter a season ago. Mike Rabin finished the year with 66 hits. Bourquin’s 54 RBI already has equaled Paul Farinacci’s team-high from last season. Eric Fryer also is batting above .400, checking in at .402 with 68 hits and 48 RBI. The Buckeyes are hitting a collective .341 after batting .417 at Michigan State. Nationally, only Jackson State, at .362, has a better batting average.
Dan DeLucia, Cory Luebke and Josh Barrera picked up pitching wins in Lansing. DeLucia won his eighth game of the year, a total that leads the Big Ten. He is 8-2 on the year and has a 3.72 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 82.1 innings pitched. The win was the 17th of his career. Luebke won the second game of the series to improve to 6-4, while Barrera picked up a relief victory in game three to improve to 3-1. Against Minnesota, Ohio State is expected to go with a rotation of DeLucia, Luebke, Jake Hale and Shuck, the same rotation it has used in each of the last five conference series.
THE BIG TEN RACE
After conference doubleheaders last Saturday, Ohio State had moved into a first-place tie with Northwestern and Michigan. As any coach of any school in the Big Ten will say, it is hard to sweep a series and even tougher to sweep on the road. The Buckeyes won the first three games of their series at Michigan State, but could not clinch the series finale and thus slipped back into third place after the Wildcats and Wolverines posted game-four victories. Northwestern and Michigan each are 16-8, while the Buckeyes are one game back at 15-9 with eight conference games remaining. Illinois is fourth with a 12-12 record while Minnesota, Penn State and Purdue are tied for fifth with 11-13 marks. This weekend, Minnesota is at Ohio State, Michigan is at Penn State, Illinois is at Indiana, Michigan State is at Northwestern and Purdue is at Iowa.
ABOUT MINNESOTA
The Golden Gophers are 24-23 overall and 10-11 in the conference after splitting last weekend’s series at first-place Northwestern. Minnesota won the opener 15-3 last Friday. Each team won 1-0 games on Saturday and the Wildcats followed with a 9-8 victory in game four. The Gophers only series win this season has come against Iowa, while they have split with Michigan State, Penn State and last week vs. Northwestern. Minnesota has lost series to Michigan and Illinois.
Andy Hunter leads the Gophers with his .344 batting average, 56 hits, five home runs and 36 RBI. He is the only everyday player with a batting average above .300 on a team with a .278 batting average, which ranks eighth in the Big Ten. Kyle Baran is batting .295, while Mike Mee is batting .290 with a team best 42 runs scored. He is second on the team with 52 hits, 14 doubles and 31 RBI.
The Golden Gophers rank third in the Big Ten with a 4.22 ERA, led by Cole DeVries, who is 5-2 with a 2.40 ERA. He has a team-best 56 strikeouts in 71.1 innings. Brian Bull is 4-4 with a 3.14 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 66.0 innings, while Dustin Brabender is second on the team with 49 strikeouts. He is 3-5 with a 4.66 ERA. DeVries is slated to get the ball Friday. He will be followed by Brabender and Bull Saturday. Either Josh Oslin or Tyler Oakes could get the start in the series finale. Oslin is 0-0 with a 2.33 ERA and 18 strikeouts in two starts totaling 19.1 innings while Oakes is 1-3 with a 7.20 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 30.0 innings.
John Anderson (Minnesota, 1977) is 895-570-3 in his 25th season coaching his alma mater and as a college coach.
TODD, ANDERSON ONLY 300-GAME WINNERS
Ohio State head coach Bob Todd and Minnesota coach John Anderson are the only coaches ever to win 300 Big Ten games. Anderson has a conference record of 403-209 in his 25th season coaching the Gophers, while Todd is 350-184 in his 19th season in Columbus. Anderson has a career record of 895-570-3 (.611), while Todd is 881-461-2 (.656) in his 23rd season as a college head coach. Each coach has been named Big Ten coach of the year four times. Todd was the first four-time winner, while Anderson was the first to earn the honor three straight seasons.
AGAINST THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
The series between Ohio State and Minnesota is knotted a 70-70-2 all time. The Buckeyes evened the series by winning five of seven meetings a year ago, including three of four during the regular season. Ohio State was 2-1 against the Gophers in last year’s Big Ten tournament. Barring a rainout, by the end of this weekend these teams will have played 28 times since 2002, which will be the most meetings in the last five years between any two NCAA Division I schools. Ohio State has won 13 of the 24 games since 2002, including six games in Big Ten tournament play. With the five wins last year, OSU head coach Bob Todd now has a winning record against Minnesota. In his previous 18 seasons, Todd is 36-34-1.
OSU vs. MINN Since 2000 (OSU leads 19-14)
| 4/7/2000 | W | 6-3 | A |
| 4/8/2000 | W | 7-3 | A |
| 4/8/2000 | L | 13-5 | A |
| 4/9/2000 | L | 7-1 | A |
| 4/27/2001 | W | 7-2 | H |
| 4/28/2001 | W | 4-3 | H |
| 4/28/2001 | W | 5-3 | H |
| 4/29/2001 | W | 5-1 | H |
| 5/20/2001 | L | 6-5 | 1H |
| 5/18/2002 | W | 13-3 | H |
| 5/18/2002 | L | 4-0 | H |
| 5/19/2002 | W | 9-2 | H |
| 5/19/2002 | L | 8-5 | H |
| 5/25/2002 | W | 6-3 | 2A |
| 5/16/2003 | L | 9-2 | A |
| 5/17/2003 | L | 5-2 | A |
| 5/17/2003 | W | 5-1 | A |
| 5/18/2003 | L | 5-4 | A |
| 5/24/2003 | L | 5-4 | 2A |
| 5/25/2003 | W | 10-8 | 2A |
| 5/25/2003 | W | 17-10 | 2A |
| 5/21/2004 | L | 13-1 | A |
| 5/22/2004 | W | 10-6 | A |
| 5/22/2004 | L | 7-2 | A |
| 5/29/2004 | W | 3-2 | 2A |
| 5/30/2004 | L | 7-3 | 2A |
| 5/20/2005 | L | 9-3 | H |
| 5/21/2005 | W | 2-1 | H |
| 5/21/2005 | W | 3-2 | H |
| 5/22/2005 | W | 6-5 | H |
| 5/27/2005 | W | 15-6 | 3N |
| 5/28/2005 | L | 4-3 | 3N |
| 5/29/2005 | W | 14-6 | 3N |
1-Big Ten Tournament, Columbus, Ohio
2-Big Ten Tournament, Minneapolis, Minn.
3-Big Ten Tournament, Champaign, Ill.
VS. GOPHERS DURING 2005 REGULAR SEASON
The Buckeyes opened their series with Minnesota by losing 9-3, but rebounded to win the final three games of the series all by one-run margins. Ohio State rebounded in game two to win 2-1 before winning 3-2 to sweep the doubleheader. The Buckeyes claimed their second ever series win vs. the Gophers with a 6-5 victory in the finale. All three wins came in the team’s final at bat. In game one, Minnesota stormed out to a 7-1 lead through 2 1/2 innings and then rode the arm of Matt Loberg to a 9-3 complete game victory. In the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game, the score was tied 1-1, but Paul Farinacci singled to left field to score Wes Schirtzinger to lift Ohio State to a 2-1 victory. There was even more heroics in the nightcap. Farinacci tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh before Mike Rabin delivered the winning run, pushing a suicide squeeze bunt down the first-base line to beat Minnesota 3-2 in game three. It was going to be hard to follow the two wins from Saturday, but the Buckeyes did it again breaking a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning with a single by Eric Fryer that scored Jason Zoeller to give Ohio State a 6-5 victory and the first series win over Minnesota since 2001. Rory Meister picked up all three wins in the series. Fryer was the offensive leader in the series, going 8-for-12 (.667) with eight singles and one RBI. Farinacci finished 5-for-12 (.417) with three RBI to build his team lead to 48 RBI on the year. Zoeller also finished with five hits, going 5-for-14 (.357).
VS. GOPHERS IN 2005 BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
The Buckeyes moved on to the championship game of the Big Ten tournament by beating Minnesota 15-6. Ohio State had to fight back from a 6-3 hole to tie the game and then erupted for nine runs in the bottom of the seventh. Steve Caravati was a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI and scored four times. The Buckeyes were within two outs of celebrating a Big Ten tournament championship when Rory Meister walked his third batter in the bottom of the ninth before Joe Maciej worked the count full before lifting a ball over the right-field fence and give Minnesota a 4-3 victory to force a second championship game. Minnesota and Ohio State would play for the tournament championship for the fourth straight season in a winner-take-all matchup on Sunday. The Buckeyes jumped out to an 11-1 lead through four innings and then cruised to a 14-6 victory for their seventh Big Ten tournament championship and the third in four years.
BIG TEN SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA
Ohio State and Minnesota have met only 12 years since the Big Ten went to playing four-game series beginning with the 1981 season. The teams did not meet in Big Ten play from 1981 through 1989 and have not met four times since Minnesota swept Ohio State in 1990. The Buckeyes got their sweep of the Gophers in 2001. Last year was the only other series win by Ohio State. Minnesota has four series wins, including 3-1 victories in 1991, 1992 and most recently in 2003. The Gophers also won a rain-shortened series 2-1 in 2004, but the teams have split the other five meetings.
Big Ten Series History vs. Minnesota
| Ohio State | 4-0 | 2001 |
| Ohio State | 3-1 | 2005 |
| Split | 2-2 | 2002, 2000, 1997, 1996, 1993 |
| Minnesota | 2-1 | 2004 |
| Minnesota | 3-1 | 2003, 1992, 1991 |
| Minnesota | 4-0 | 1990 |
23 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS SINCE 1991
In the last 15 years, either Ohio State or Minnesota has won a Big Ten championship every year with the exception of one season. Since 1991, the schools have won 23 of 30 possible championships between the regular-season and tournament. Of those 23, Ohio State has won 14 times. The only time the Buckeyes or Gophers did not win either championship was 1996 when Penn State won the regular season and Indiana won the Big Ten tournament.
| Year | Regular Season | Tournament |
| 2005 | Illinois | Ohio State |
| 2004 | Minnesota | Minnesota |
| 2003 | Minnesota | Ohio State |
| 2002 | Minnesota | Ohio State |
| 2001 | Ohio State | Minnesota |
| 2000 | Minnesota | Illinois |
| 1999 | Ohio State | Michigan |
| 1998 | Illinois | Minnesota |
| 1997 | Michigan | Ohio State |
| 1996 | Penn State | Indiana |
| 1995 | Ohio State | Ohio State |
| 1994 | Ohio State | Ohio State |
| 1993 | Ohio State | Minnesota |
| 1992 | Ohio State | Minnesota |
| 1991 | Ohio State | Ohio State |
NOTING THE MICHIGAN STATE SERIES
Ohio State scored 28 runs on 38 hits in the first two games ofthe series and had double-digit hits in all four games. TheBuckeyes outscored the Spartans 36-14 and out hit them 63-42. The20 hits in game two were the most by the Buckeyes since poundingout a season-high 22 hits in a 17-10 victory over Lehigh in thefirst game of a doubleheader on March 10. Jason Zoeller and JustinMiller each had three hits in game one. Matt Angle drove in fourRBI. Dan DeLucia won his eighth game of the year and the 17th gameof his career. Every Buckeye had a hit in game two. J.B. Shuck,Angle, Ronnie Bourquin and Zoeller each had three hits. Zoeller hithis fourth home run of the year. Shuck added three hits, includinga triple, in the second game of the doubleheader to finish the daywith six hits. Jedidiah Stephen drove in one and Wes Schirtzingerdrove in two more to break a 3-3 tie on the way to a 6-4 win. JoshBarrera picked up the win, his first in the Big Ten. In game four,for the first time this season, Shuck started the game on the moundand also took his turn at the plate. His double to lead off thegame was his only hit of the contest. He was chased out of the gamein the bottom of the second after giving up two runs in each of thefirst two innings. Shuck led the Buckeyes with nine hits in batting.500 at Michigan State. Angle also batted .500 with eight hits, sixRBI and seven runs scored. Ohio State hit .417 in the series.
BIG TEN STATS
Ohio State continues to lead the Big Ten with a .341 batting average and a 3.65 ERA. Michigan State is second with a .325 batting average, followed by Illinois at .321. Purdue and Michigan are tied for fourth at .304. The Buckeyes have the only ERA less than 3.00 and their .961 fielding percentage now is tied for fourth in the league.
Ronnie Bourquin continues to set the standard among all Big Ten batters. He is batting .425 while Eric Fryer’s .402 average is second in the league. Purdue’s Mitch Hilligoss is third with a .400 batting average and Michigan State’s Ryan Basham is fourth at .392. Matt Angle is fifth with a .379 batting average. Bourrquin’s 76 hits also lead the conference. Fryer has 68 to rank third, while Angle has 67 to tie for fourth. Angle has scored a league best 56 runs. Bourquin has scored 46 runs, the fourth most in the Big Ten. Bourquin and Fryer rank 1-2 in RBI. Bourquin has driven in 54, while Fryer has driven in 48. Four Buckeyes also rank in the Top 5 of total bases. Jedidiah Stephen is tied for the lead with Hilligoss with 107, while Bourquin is third with 104 and Fryer is fifth with 99. Angle’s 22 stolen bases are the second most in the Big Ten.
Despite allowing a season-high four earned runs at Michigan State, J.B. Shuck continues to own the conference’s best ERA at 2.10. No other Buckeye cracks the Top 10 list in ERA, though Dan DeLucia has won eight games, two more than any other Big Ten pitcher. He has pitched 82.1 innings, also the highest figure. Rory Meister leads with 22 games finished and his 23 relief appearances is one off the lead. His five saves this season trail Iowa’s Tim Gudex (eight) and Illinois’ Matt Whitmore (six), though Whitmore has moved into a starting role with the Illini.
TWO FRESHMEN PART OF STARTING STAFF
Ohio State has two freshmen who have become part of the four-man starting rotation the team uses in Big Ten play. Rookies Jake Hale and J.B. Shuck are the game three and four respective starters. Hale is 3-3 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten action, while Shuck is 6-3 overall and 3-3 in conference play. Shuck leads the Big Ten with his 2.10 ERA, which ranks 36th nationally. Never in head coach Bob Todd’s 23 years as a college head coach, has he had two freshmen as part of the starting rotation.
HOWELL HAS MISSED SIGNIFICANT ACTION
Junior left fielder Jacob Howell has played in just five of the team’s last 24 games after pulling his hamstring in the first inning of the Miami (Ohio) game April 5. He returned the opening game at Indiana (April 21) after a 10-game absence. He did rested the hamstring April 26 vs. Cleveland State and then returned to the lineup in the series opener vs. Purdue. He reinjured his hamstring in that game and has missed the last eight games. Howell is not just any other player. The 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American owns a .421 batting average in the 27 games he has played this season. He has 45 hits with four doubles, four triples and one home run. In his absence, J.B. Shuck, Michael Arp and Jonathan Zizzo have made starts in left field.
SELHORST ALSO OUT
Ohio State redshirt freshman pitcher Matthew Selhorst had Tommy John surgery April 27 to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his left arm. Selhorst was called into the Central Michigan game April 12, but did not throw a pitch after an injury in the bullpen. Dr. James Andrews preformed the surgery in Alabama. Selhorst is hoping for a full recovery and to come back stronger than before. He had made just one official appearance this season, allowing four runs (one earned) on seven hits in two innings at then-No. 1 Florida Feb. 25. He also made an unofficial relief appearance in the exhibition game vs. Aoyama Gakuin (Japan) on March 3.
ANGLE HAS 22 STOLEN BASES
Buckeye center fielder Matt Angle stole a base in the opening game of the Michigan State series which was his 22nd stolen base of this season, That moved him into a seventh place tie on the school’s season list with Mike Durant (1991) and Don Polaski (1970). He needs two more to tie Ken Peters’ 1964 total of 24. The school record is 35 set by Mike Harris in 2001. Angle is 22-for-26 this season and is 35-for-42 in his career. His season total is tied for fourth in the Big Ten. Indiana’s Reggie Watson is the conference leader with 31. This year, Ohio State is 54-for-69. Jacob Howell is a perfect 8-for-8, while Wes Schirtzinger is 7-for-9.
BUCKEYES HAVE 23 TRIPLES
Ohio State has 23 triples this season, which is tied for the second most in school history with the 1966 national championship team. The 1991 team holds the record with 25 three-baggers. At Michigan State, the Buckeyes had triples from J.B. Shuck and Eric Fryer. Fryer and Jacob Howell lead this year’s team with four triples each, while Jedidiah Stephen and Adam Schneider each have three. Shuck, Ronnie Bourquin, Jason Zoeller each have two. The other players also have triples.
HOWELL HAS 10 CAREER TRIPLES
With four triples this season, left-fielder Jacob Howell has 10 career triples and is tied for sixth in school history. Steve Caravati tied Drew Anderson for the all-time record last year with 13. Howell also had four triples as a freshman and had two triples last year.
STEPHEN PACES OSU WITH SEVEN HOMERS Jedidiah Stephen homered for the seventh time this season May 3 vs. Eastern Michigan. Stephen’s seven home runs this season are the most by a Buckeye and account for more than 1/3 of the team’s home run production (20). After Jason Zoeller homered in game two at Michigan State, he joined Ronnie Bourquin and Eric Fryer with four home runs this season. With seven homers this season, Stephen now has 25 for his career, which gives him the 18th most by a Buckeye. He trails Steve Caravati (2001-05), Doug Deeds (2001-02) and Matt Middleton (1996-99) by one for 15th on the all-time list.
STEPHEN CLIMBING OTHER CAREER LISTS
Shortstop Jedidiah Stephen has started to climb other career lists this season, his last as a Buckeye. He is 15th with 646 career at bats and is tied for 22nd with 197 career hits. He has 43 doubles to tie for 11th in addition to being tied for 11th with eight career triples and 18th with 25 home runs. He also has 136 RBI to rank 20th.
BUCKEYES FIND EARLY GAME SUCCESS
Ohio State has found success this season by building early leads against opponents. The Buckeyes have scored more than twice as many runs as their opponents in the first four innings of games this year, 166-80. That was evident last week when the Buckeyes outscored Michigan State a combined 20-8 in the first four innings of that series. Ohio State has a 52-25 edge in the first, a 47-18 edge in the third and a 47-18 edge in the fourth. The inning with the biggest run differential, however, is the sixth when Ohio State is outscoring opponents 67-20.
DELUCIA MOVES INTO CAREER RANKINGS
Dan DeLucia has pitched 223.0 career innings, which ranks 22nd all-time. When he topped 175 career innings on the team’s spring break trip, he reached the stat minimum for several career pitching stats. DeLucia has allowed 222 hits, the 15th lowest total by a Buckeye. He has walked just 63 batters, which is fourth fewest by an Ohio State pitcher. He has allowed 116 runs (10th lowest) and 100 earned runs (13th lowest). DeLucia is 17-10 with a 4.04 ERA and 133 strikeouts, though this year he is 8-2 with a 3.72 ERA and 54 strikeouts. He has a chance to become the first 10-game winner at Ohio State since the 1999 season when Justin Fry won 11 games and E.J. Laratta won 10.
FAUSNAUGH CLIMBING APPEARANCE LIST
Ohio State junior reliever Trey Fausnaugh continues to climb up the school list in career appearances. On May 3, he made his first career start in his 68th career appearance in the 5-2 victory over Eastern Michigan. Making an announced short start, Fausnaugh picked up his first win of the season (1-0) and in four innings, allowed just one run on three hits. His 68 career appearances, including 12 this year, are tied for fifth most in school history. He is tied with Kevin Goodrum (1998-2001) and Chad Hale (1991-94). The all-time record for appearances is 96 held by Cory Cox (1998-2001). His next appearance will tie him for fourth with Dennis Pachner (1992-94) and two more would tie Brandon Steen (1999-2002) for third.
OTHER BUCKEYE BANTER
Ronnie Bourquin is the team’s leading batter through the team’s46 games this season. He has a batting average of .425, the best inthe Big Ten. He also is the team’s leading batter in conferencegames with a .414 average, which ranks second to Michigan State’sRyan Basham. The team is batting .341 in all games and .339 inconference play. Jacob Howell is the team’s leading batter in the22 non-conference games (16-6) this season. He is batting .438 with32 hits, 12 RBI and 21 runs scored. Bourquin is second with a .435average, 40 hits, 29 RBI and 24 runs scored. Eric Fryer has a .432average with 35 hits, 27 RBI and 21 runs scored. The Buckeyes are11-3 at home this season and are led by Bourquin’s .490 battingaverage (25-for-51) with 16 RBI and 12 runs scored. Fryer andJedidiah Stephen also are batting better than .400 at home. Fryerhas a .482 batting average with a team-high 27 hits and has 12 RBI,while Stephen is batting .408 with 20 hits and 17 RBI. Bourquin,Fryer and Angle are batting better than .400 in the team’s last 10games. Bourquin is batting .559 with 19 hits and 11 RBI, whileAngle is batting .447 with 17 hits and nine RBI. Fryer is batting.432 with 16 hits, eight RBI and 12 runs scored. Stephen has 11 RBIin the last 10 games. In the 31 wins this season, the team isbatting .366 and is led by Fryer’s .435 batting average. Bourquinis second with a .433 batting average. Conversely, in the 14losses, Ohio State is batting just .288. Bourquin is batting .407,while Matt Angle is batting .350. Ohio State is 23-13 and batting.343 during the day, compared to 8-2 and .332 at night. Bourquinleads the team with 23 multiple hit games, including nine of thelast 15 games. Five others, including Angle, Fryer, Stephen,Howell, Jason Zoeller and Wes Schirtzinger also have multiple hitsin at least 11 games. Bourquin and Fryer each have 15 multiple-RBIgames. Stephen has 11. The team’s longest hit streak belongs isshared by Fryer and Justin Miller. Each has at least one hit in hislast seven games. The longest hit streak of the year was byBourquin, who hit in 14 straight games before seeing the streak getsnapped in game three at Michigan State. It was the longest streakof his career. He has a hit in all but eight of the 46 games he hasplayed. Fryer is batting .425 vs. left-handed pitchers and .395 vs.righties. Bourquin is batting .448 with runners on base and .470with runners in scoring position. Howell is batting .500 withrunners in scoring position. Fryer is the team’s leading two-outhitter. He is batting .468 (29-for-62) with two out and has drivenin 27 runs in the situation. Stephen has 19 two-out RBI, whileBourquin has 17. With a runner at third and at least two outs,Bourquin and Fryer each have driven in 14 RBI. Bourquin has donethat in 21 opportunities while Fryer has done it in 19 chances. In29 of the team’s 46 games, the Buckeyes have pounded outdouble-digit totals in hits, including a season-high 22 in thefirst game vs. Lehigh on March 10. The team had seven consecutivegames with 16 hits or more from March 5-20. Ohio State has had atleast 10 hits in five of the last six games. The Buckeyes havescored at least 10 runs 13 times this season.
BOURQUIN AND SHUCK NAMED TO DICK HOWSER TROPHY WATCH LIST
Ohio State players Ronnie Bourquin and J.B. Shuck are among the 64 candidates who appear on the watch list for the Dick Howser Trophy, given to the top player in collegiate baseball, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, in conjunction with the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, announced May 4.
Bourquin, a junior from Canton, Ohio (Canton South), leads the Big Ten with a .425 batting average, 76 hits and 54 RBI. The Buckeyes’ third baseman has 12 doubles, two triples and four home runs for a slugging percentage of .581. Shuck, a true freshman from Galion, Ohio (Galion), owns the best ERA in the Big Ten at 2.10 and is 6-3 in his rookie campaign. He has 49 strikeouts in 64.1 innings and has started 10 of his 11 appearances with one complete game. Shuck, who is listed on the watch list as a DH/Athlete, also has made 26 starts at first base, in the outfield or as the team’s DH and has a .333 batting average with 35 hits and 17 RBI.
The membership of the NCBWA will choose the Dick Howser Trophy based on three rounds of voting. The 2006 winner will be announced at the College World Series in Omaha on Friday, June 16, at 10:30 a.m. EDT. The Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former Florida State University All-American shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987, is regarded by many as college baseball’s most prestigious award.
NCBWA membership includes writers, broadcasters and publicists. Designed to promote and publicize college baseball, it is the sport’s only college media-related organization, founded in 1962.
DUO ALSO ADDED TO WALLACE WATCH
Ronnie Bourquin and J.B. Shuck also have been added to the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, which is another player of the year award, presented by the College Baseball Foundation.
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.
STEVE ARLIN APPEARED ON FIRST EVER COLLEGE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME BALLOT
Former Ohio State pitcher Steve Arlin was one of 22 former players who appear on the 2006 ballot for induction into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. A total of 46 all-time collegiate baseball greats, which also included 12 former coaches and 12 veteran candidates, appeared on the ballot earlier this month for the first-ever Hall of Fame induction class this summer. The five former players chosen for the class include Bob Horner of Arizona State, Robin Ventura of Oklahoma State, Dave Winfield of Minnesota, Will Clark of Mississippi State and Brooks Kieschnick of Texas.
Arlin helped lead the Buckeyes to back-to-back appearances at the College World Series in 1965 and 1966. He not only is considered the top pitcher in Ohio State baseball history, but he also is regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the College World Series. In the 1965, facing elimination against Washington State, Arlin struck out a CWS-record 20 batters in a 15-inning 1-0 victory by Ohio State. The next year, the Buckeyes won the National Championship with Arlin on the mound in five of the team’s six games, twice beating top-seeded Southern California.
With a two-year record of 24-3 with the Buckeyes, Arlin held OSU marks for victories and strikeouts (294) until 1999 and his .889 win percentage is the best in school history. He led the nation in strikeouts as a sophomore with 165 and went 13-2 that year in leading the Buckeyes to a second-place finish at the 1965 College World Series. The next year he went 11-1 and helped Ohio State claim the championship.
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 180-70 (.720) 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).
BUCKEYES LED BIG TEN IN 2005 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.
ALL-ACCESS PASS THE KEY TO ONLINE AUDIO, VIDEO COVERAGE
The official web site of Ohio State athletics, ohiostatebuckeyes.com, in conjunction with College Sports Television, is offering subscription coverage for streaming audio and video of select Buckeye baseball games this spring.
For $6.95 per month, fans can receive streaming audio for a minimum of 27 regular-season baseball games that will be carried on the radio in the Columbus market at AM 920 WMNI. The station also is committed to all of Ohio State’s postseason games and those, too, would be available to subscribers of the CSTV All-Access pass. All Ohio State programming is included in the monthly subscription price, not just baseball coverage.
Remaining Games in Streaming Video
| May 12 | Fri. | Minnesota | 6:35 p.m. |
| May 14 | Sun. | Minnesota | 1:05 p.m. |
| May 19 | Fri. | Penn State | 6:35 p.m. |
| May 21 | Sun. | Penn State | 1:05 p.m. |
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 10 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
Thursday, May 18 @ 7 p.m.
Monday, May 22 @ 7 p.m.
UP NEXT FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State will not play a midweek game next week and will return to action next weekend vs. Minnesota in a four-game Big Ten series at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeyes close the regular season by playing their last nine games at home. The Buckeyes and Gophers get underway Friday at 6:35 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 1:35 p.m. The series concludes Sunday at 1:05 p.m. After that, Ohio State will play host to Pittsburgh on May 17 before closing the season May 19-21 with a four-game series vs. Penn State.
