Ohio State and Eastern Michigan Meet Wednesday – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 2, 2006
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OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
27-14, 12-8 Big Ten
vs.
EASTERN MICHIGAN EAGLES
25-17, 12-6 MAC
May 3, 2006 o 6:35 p.m.
Bill Davis Stadium (Capacity: 4,450)
Columbus, Ohio
Series History: Ohio State leads 7-2
PROBABLE OSU STARTING PITCHER
45 Dan Barker (RHP)
RADIO
AM 920 WMNI
OHIOSTATEBUCKEYES.COM
GameTracker and Streaming Audio
Ohio State will play host to Eastern Michigan in its next-to-last midweek home game Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Bill Davis Stadium. The game with the Eagles is Buck-A-Brat Night. The Buckeyes lost to Cleveland State last week in a noon matinee, but rebounded to win three of four games last weekend vs. Purdue.
The Scarlet and Gray had a four-game win streak in midweek home games before the loss to the Vikings on CPS Day at Ohio State last week. There is no Wednesday game next week, but Ohio State will play host to Pittsburgh May 17 in the final non-conference tilt of the regular season.
The game will be broadcast on AM 920 WMNI. Randy Rhinehart and Frank Fraas will call the action. In addition to GameTracker, streaming audio for the game also is available at ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
BUCK-A-BRAT NIGHT
Wednesday night’s game vs. Eastern Michigan is Johnsonville Buck-A-Brat Night at Bill Davis Stadium and at Buckeye Field for the softball team’s doubleheader vs. Oakland.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State improved to 27-14 overall and 12-8 in the conference after winning the first three games of the Purdue series before missing the sweep with a one-run loss Sunday in the finale. The Buckeyes won 10-5 Friday and swept the doubleheader Saturday by scores of 4-0 and 4-1. Purdue won game four, 7-6, after stopping a late rally. The Buckeyes scored three in the eighth and another in the ninth and had runners at second and third when the game ended.
Ronnie Bourquin led the Buckeyes in the series, batting .667 at the plate with 10 hits and had five RBI and scored four runs. The junior third baseman had a slugging percentage of .733 and an on-base percentage of .688. Matt Angle also had a great weekend for the Buckeyes with nine hits, including two doubles, and a .643 batting average. He knocked in three runs and scored five times. Jedidiah Stephen was 7-for-14 with a pair of doubles and one home run that yielded six of the team’s 23 runs in the series. Bourquin overtook Purdue’s Mitch Hilligoss for the Big Ten batting lead in the head-to-head matchup. Bourquin is batting .426 and leads the Big Ten with 69 hits and 50 RBI. Eric Fryer is batting .393, while Angle is batting .378. Stephen is batting .370 and leads the team with 16 doubles and six home runs. Jacob Howell, who has missed 14 of the team’s last 20 games with a pulled hamstring is batting .421 after going 2-for-4 Friday night in his lone game of the series. The Buckeyes continue to lead the Big Ten with their .334 team batting average.
The pitching also continues to lead the Big Ten with its 3.68 ERA. Last weekend, the staff had a 3.09 ERA in the Purdue series and held the Boilermakers to a .254 batting average while the OSU offense backed it up with a .392 batting average. Cory Luebke and Jake Hale pitched complete games in the doubleheader sweep to follow Dan DeLucia’s 10-5 win in the the series opener. J.B. Shuck nearly was bailed out in the finale, but was saddled with just his second loss as a Buckeye, against six wins. He still manages a 6-2 record to go with a conference-best 1.57 ERA. He also leads the team with 48 strikeouts.
The Buckeyes were flawless in the field in the first three games against Purdue, but committed two errors, both in the first inning, of the finale. Ohio State is tied for seventh in fielding with a .959 percentage, though in the 20 Big Ten games, the percentage swells to .966, fourth best in the league.
BOURQUIN RECEIVES CONFERENCE LAURELS
In a five-game homestand last week, Ronnie Bourquin batted .706 (12-for-17) with seven RBI and five runs scored. He touched 16 bases for a .941 slugging percentage and added four walks for an on-base percentage of .762, while posting three of four stolen bases. After a 2-for-2 performance against Cleveland State earlier in the week, the Buckeye junior third baseman batted .667 (10-for-15) in the 3-1 series win over Purdue with five RBI and four runs scored. He had multiple hits in four of the five games last week and is currently riding a career-long 11-game hit streak. Bourquin now leads all conference batters with a .426 batting average, up from .393 before the week started.
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 last Thursday.
Bourquin, a junior from Canton, Ohio (Canton South), leads the Big Ten with a .426 batting average, 69 hits and 50 RBI. The Buckeyes’ third baseman has 12 doubles, two triples and four home runs for a slugging percentage of .599. Shuck, a true freshman from Galion, Ohio (Galion), owns the best ERA in the Big Ten at 1.59 and is 6-2 in his rookie campaign. He has 48 strikeouts in 63.0 innings and has started nine of his 10 appearances with one complete game. Shuck, who is listed on the watch list as a DH/Athlete, also has made 22 starts at either first base or in the outfield and has a .294 batting average with 25 hits and 15 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.
WMNI ADDS GAME
The new broadcast home of Ohio State baseball AM 920 WMNI has added a game to its schedule this weekend when the Buckeyes play at Michigan State. The station was to broadcast only the third and fourth games of the series, but now will do the last three games against Michigan State, meaning both games of the Saturday doubleheader and the series finale on Sunday will be broadcast. Only game one Friday at 2:05 p.m. will not be on the air.
ABOUT EASTERN MICHIGAN
The Eagles completed a sweep of Northern Illinois Sunday with a 6-4 victory to improve to 25-17 overall and 12-6 in the Mid-American Conference. Eastern Michigan won 9-8 in the series opener and then 7-3 in game two. Before coming to Columbus for Wednesday’s game, the Eagles will play host to a doubleheader vs. Wayne State Tuesday in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Eastern Michigan was batting .271 entering that game and was led by Steve Bradshaw, who boasts a .378 batting average in his 40 games. He leads the team with 46 hits, 14 doubles, 29 runs and 35 RBI. Josh Ivan is batting .313 with 41 hits, including 12 doubles and two triples. The Eagules have a 4.48 ERA and limit opposing batters to a .267 batting average. Jeff Fischer is 7-3 to lead his team and has a 2.03 in 13 appearances (nine starts). He has 79 strikeouts in 84.1 innings. George Biddle has a 5-4 record. Jeff Davis and Kevin Wammes each have four saves. Eastern had not named a starter as of Monday.
Roger Coryell (Eastern Michigan, 1971) is 510-566-2 in his 20th season at his alma mater and as a college coach.
AGAINST THE EAGLES
Ohio State leads the all-time series with Eastern Michigan 7-2 after winning 10-3 and 3-2 in a doubleheader last year at Bill Davis Stadium. The Eagles had won 2-1 in 2004 for just the second time in the series. It was their first win since a 10-7 triumph in 2001. The series dates back to 1992, a 13-10 Buckeye victory.
Ohio State vs. Eastern Michigan (OSU leads 7-2)
| Date | W/L | Score | Site |
| 4/15/1992 | W | 13-10 | H |
| 3/14/1997 | W | 4-1 | H |
| 4/12/2000 | W | 9-1 | H |
| 5/2/2001 | L | 10-7 | H |
| 3/15/2003 | W | 4-2 | H |
| 3/15/2003 | W | 15-7 | H |
| 3/31/2004 | L | 2-1 | H |
| 4/27/2005 | W | 10-3 | H |
| 4/27/2005 | W | 3-2 | H |
LAST YEAR VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN
Jedidiah Stephen was 4-for-5 and batted in six runs to lead the Buckeyes to a midweek, non-conference doubleheader sweep over Eastern Michigan April 27, 2005 at Bill Davis Stadium. Stephen was 2-for-2 with a five RBI in game one with an infield single, a sacrifice fly and a home run in game one and then went 2-for-3 with one RBI and a stolen base in game two.
In the first game, Ohio State scored three runs in the fourth and added six runs in the fifth as it cruised to a 10-3 victory over the Eagles. Cory Luebke started the game, but yielded to Mike Madsen, who pitched two innings and picked up the victory The Buckeye pounded out 11 hits to score 10 runs. Mike Rabin was 3-for-3 in his second straight three-hit game and third in his last five games. Steve Caravati and Jason Zoeller each went 2-for-3. In game two, Ohio State rallied from a two-run deficit to score the final three runs of the game, including the game winning run on a bases-loaded walk by Paul Farinacci. Ohio State had five hits to Eastern Michigan’s four, but left 13 base runners in the game, taking benefit from eight walks and one hit batsman. Trey Fausnaugh picked up the win.
LAST WEDNESDAY
Cleveland State used two costly Ohio State errors in a five-run second inning on its way to a 7-5 victory to spoil a noon matinee last Wednesday in front of 4,016 fans at Bill Davis Stadium. Ronnie Bourquin homered for the Buckeyes in the fifth inning and his teammates got two more runs in the sixth to pull within one run, but the comeback bid fell short when Cleveland State added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
AT HOME ON WEDNESDAY
With the 7-5 loss to Cleveland State Wednesday, Ohio State fell to 4-1 in non-conference home games. The lone blemish followed victories over Toledo (8-5), Miami (9-2), Central Michigan (8-5) and Oakland (8-2). The Buckeyes have hit .322 in the five games and are led by Eric Fryer, who is a monstrous 13-for-20 (.650) with nine runs scored. He was 4-for-4 vs. Toledo, 3-for-4 vs. Miami, 1-for-4 vs. Central Michigan, 3-for-4 vs. Oakland and was 2-for-4 with two RBI in the loss to Cleveland State. Ronnie Bourquin is batting 8-for-18 (.444), while Jonathan Zizzo is 6-for-15 (.400). Bourquin and Jedidiah Stephen each have seven RBI and account for the three home runs. Stephen has two to Bourquin’s one. Dan Barker is 3-1, while Josh Barrera is 1-0 with a victory over Oakland.
IN THE BIG TEN
Ohio State could have picked up one game on league-leading Northwestern and Michigan if it could have completed the sweep of Purdue Sunday at Bill Davis Stadium. With the 7-6 loss, the Buckeyes slipped to 12-8 in the Big Ten remained two games back in third place. The Wildcats and Wolverines are 14-6. Ohio State has a two-game advantage on Illinois, which is fourth at 10-10. Purdue, Michigan State, Minnesota and Penn State all are tied for fifth at 9-11, while Indiana and Iowa are tied for ninth at 7-13. When Ohio State plays Michigan State this weekend at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing, Mich., Iowa will travel to Indiana. Other games feature Minnesota at Northwestern, Penn State at Purdue and Michigan at Illinois.
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
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 heads back on the road for the last time during the 2006 regular season this weekend when it travels to Lansing, Mich., for a four-game Big Ten series vs. Michigan State at Oldsmobile Park. The Buckeyes and Spartans meet at 2:05 p.m. Friday and continue the series with a doubleheader Saturday at 5:05 p.m. The series concludes Sunday with a single game at 1:05 p.m. AM 920 WMNI will broadcast the final three games of the series. After the trip to Michigan State, the Buckeyes will play their final nine games at home.
