Buckeyes Welcome Ball State Wednesday For A Doubleheader And Indiana Friday-Sunday For A Big Ten Series – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2007
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OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
18-9, 4-6 Big Ten
vs.
BALL STATE CARDINALS
14-20, 4-8 MAC
April 18, 2007 o 3:05 p.m. (DH)
Bill Davis Stadium (Capacity: 4,450)
Columbus, Ohio
Series History:
Ohio State leads 10-3
Last Meeting:
April 17, 1971 (DH); OSU 7-6 and 4-1
SERIES HISTORY (13 GAMES)
| 5/5/1964 | W | 6-4 | H |
| 4/16/1965 | W | 6-0 | H |
| 4/17/1965 | L | 6-5 | H |
| 4/17/1965 | W | 9-1 | H |
| 5/27/1965 | W | 4-0 | 1N |
| 4/17/1970 | W | 14-7 | A |
| 4/17/1970 | W | 4-3 | A |
| 4/18/1970 | L | 3-2 | A |
| 4/18/1970 | W | 7-2 | A |
| 4/16/1971 | W | 15-3 | H |
| 4/16/1971 | L | 7-2 | H |
| 4/17/1971 | W | 7-6 | H |
| 4/17/1971 | W | 4-1 | H |
1-NCAA Districts, Athens, Ohio
RADIO
AM 920 WMNI (game two)
INTERNET AUDIO
ohiostatebuckeyes.com (both games)
GAMETRACKER
ohiostatebuckeyes.com (both games)
Ohio State had a rough week last week, losing all four games of the Michigan series and had a mid-week game vs. Miami (Ohio) cancelled because of weather.
The Buckeyes came within inches of winning the Friday Michigan game, tying the game at 4-all in the ninth before losing 10-4 in 10 innings. OSU then dropped game two, 12-4, game three, 6-3, and game four, 13-3. The second game on Saturday was moved to Sunday because of inclement weather. Ohio State is 18-9 overall, 4-6 in the Big Ten.
With the addition of one Ball State game, OSU is in the midst of an 11-game homestand that started last Friday. The Buckeyes play a doubleheader against Ball State Wednesday instead of its originally scheduled single game. The game has been added because four games have already been lost this season because of inclement weather. Ohio State and Ball State were scheduled to play a single nine-inning game starting at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday, but will now play two seven-inning games starting at 3 p.m. at Bill Davis Stadium.
After the Ball State twin-bill, OSU will play host to Indiana Friday-Sunday at Bill Davis Stadium in a four-game Big Ten series.
The second Ball State game and three of four games vs. Indiana (Games 1, 3 & 4) will be broadcast on radio on AM 920 WMNI. All six games will have audio available on ohiostatebuckeyes.com and be featured on Gametracker at ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Friday’s and Sunday’s Hoosier games will also be televised live on the Columbus Sports Network.
AT BILL DAVIS STADIUM
The Buckeyes are 188-79 (.704) during the first 10-plus seasons in Bill Davis Stadium, which opened in 1997. 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 is 4-5 at Bill Davis Stadium in 2007 and will play at least 14 more games this season at home. In addition to the completed Iowa and Michigan series, two more conference opponents will visit Bill Davis Stadium this season. The Scarlet and Gray also welcome Indiana (April 20-22) and Michigan State (May 4-6). Six more non-conference games are also on-tap including a doubleheader with Ball State, single games vs. Xavier and Akron and a pair vs. North Florida. There is a chance additional games will be added to the schedule because games have been cancelled because of weather.
ABOUT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes dropped four home games vs. Michigan last weekend.
In game one Friday, a nine-inning contest, OSU battled back from 3-0 and 4-3 deficits to tie the game at four in the bottom of the ninth. Michigan third baseman Adam Abraham then twice saved the game for the Wolverines. Trailing by a run and the bases loaded, Zach Hurley hit a grounder in the hole between third and short that Abraham dived to stop and forced out the Buckeye runner at second. With runners at second and third after a Hurley steal, Ryan Dew hit a 3-2 liner that was destined for left field grass before Abraham reached up and snagged the hit to get UM out of the inning. Michigan then scored six runs in the top of the 10th for the victory. The loss seemed to demoralize the Buckeyes who then lost game two, 12-4, game three, 6-3, and game four, 13-3. Game three was moved to Sunday because of inclement weather.
The Buckeyes hit just .220 in the four-game Michigan series but Eric Fryer continued his top-of-line work by hitting .500 (6-12). J.B. Shuck only hit in three games because he pitched in game three, but was 5-9 (.556) in the series. Shuck leads OSU at the plate with a .402 average, while Fryer leads the team in RBI (26) and hits (38) and is batting .369, second on the team. Jacob Howell leads the squad in runs scored with 27.
On the hill last week, Cory Luebke pitched a solid seven innings in the Friday night game but got a no decision. The OSU pitchers, although, struggled throughout the weekend, posting a 9.27 earned run average and issued 30 walks. For the season, Cory Luebke is 4-0 with a 1.92 ERA and a team-high 47 strikeouts. Shuck is 1-1 with a 4.10 ERA and is second on the team with 26 strikeouts. Josh Barrera is 4-1 with a 4.59 ERA. Rory Meister is 2-2 and made his first career start last Sunday. Despite the loss, he has a 2.70 ERA.
For the year, Ohio State has a .326 batting average, 181 RBI and is averaging 7.2 runs per game. The Buckeyes have also been running like crazy, stealing 43 bases in 53 attempts, led by Matt Angle’s 15. On the mound, OSU has a 4.47 ERA and is holding opponents to a .269 average.
HOWELL NAMED ONE OF 30 FINALISTS FOR LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Fifth-year senior Jacob Howell was named one of 30 finalists for NCAA Division I college baseball players as candidates for the 2007 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in the all-new baseball division for players who excel on and off the field. Beginning this year, the award will be presented annually to college baseball’s outstanding senior student-athlete.
Lowe’s recently announced the addition of baseball and three other NCAA sports to the award program that originally launched in 2001-02 with basketball. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award is designed to honor the attributes of college senior student-athletes who stay in school and pursue the many rewards that a senior season can bring.
Candidates are selected based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete. While the on-the-field performance during their collegiate baseball careers is a factor in determining candidates and the eventual winner, their personal character and off-the-field achievements in the classroom and community are major areas of focus. The list of 30 nominees represents 29 different schools and 19 different conferences.
A national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in May. Those 10 players will then be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote beginning May 9 and concluding June 6. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award. The award winner and the college baseball All-Senior All-America Team will be announced this June during the 2007 NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The tribute for seniors was conceived by sportscaster Dick Enberg, who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.
INCLEMENT WEATHER CLAIMS FOUR BUCKEYE GAMES ON THE YEAR
The Buckeyes have had four games lost to inclement weather so far this year, two in Columbus and two in Champaign, Ill. Two conference games at Illinois were cancelled and two non-conference home games vs. Cleveland State vs. Miami (Ohio) were cancelled.
COLUMBUS SPORTS NETWORK (CSN) TO TELEVISE TWO INDIANA GAMES
Columbus Sports Network (CSN) will televise Friday’s and Sunday’s Hoosier games live. CSN is scheduled to televise at least two more OSU baseball games this season, May 6 vs. Michigan State and May 16 vs. North Florida. CSN is central Ohio’s first and only local sports television station and can be seen on Time Warner channel 78, WOW channel 96, Insight channels 78 and 524 and over the air on channel 32.
ABOUT BALL STATE
Ball State is 14-20 overall and 4-8 in the Mid-American Conference after losing two of three games to Kent State over the weekend. The Cardinals beat Indiana Tech, 2-1, in 10 innings last Tuesday.
As a team, Ball State is hitting .271, led by Matt Stoeklen at .319. Ryan Chenoweth leads the team with 22 RBI and Kory Benbow paces the club with seven homeruns. The Cardinals have been outscored, 253-174, by their opponents.
On the mound, the staff ERA is 5.46. The top starter for Ball State is Brenden Stines, who is 2-5 on the year with a 4.88 ERA and a team-high 10 games started and 50 strikeouts on the year. Starter Ryan Degeeter leads the Cardinals with four wins. The top reliever for BSU is Klye Heyne, who has eight saves on the year in 16 appearances. Heyne is 2-2 with a 3.05 ERA.
Greg Beals (Kent State, 1995) is 154-109 in his fifth season at Ball State and as a head coach.
AGAINST THE CARDINALS
Ohio State leads the all-time series against Ball State 10-3, but the two teams haven’t met since 1971 when they played four-games (two doubleheaders) in Columbus. The Buckeyes took three of four from the Cardinals.
Dan DeLucia OUT AFTER ELBOW SURGERY
Senior pitcher Dan DeLucia will miss the remainder of the season after left elbow surgery April 10.
BUCKEYES IN THE MIDST OF AN 11-GAME HOMESTAND
The Buckeyes are in the midst of an 11-game homestand that began April 13 and runs through April 25. After completing a four-game Michigan series, OSU plays a doubleheader vs. Ball State March 18, Indiana in a four game series March 20-22 and a single game vs. Xavier April 25.
SHUCK HITTING .402 ON THE YEAR, FRYER .369 AND .500 IN BIG TEN ACTION
Sophomore outfielder/pitcher J.B. Shuck had a 5-9 weekend vs. Michigan and is hitting .402 on the year and .385 in Big Ten play. Junior all-conference catcher Eric Fryer hit .500 over the weekend and is hitting .500 in 10 Big Ten games. Fryer is hitting .369 on the year.
MILLER HITTING STREAK ENDS AT 16
Sophomore Justin Miller had hits in the first three Michigan games before going 0-for-3 in the final game of the series to snap his 16-game hitting streak. His previous high hitting streak was nine, done as a freshman. The 16-game hitting streak was the second longest of the season for the Buckeyes, with only J.B. Shuck’s 17-game streak earlier this year lasting longer.
LUEBKE SOLID, AGAIN, DESPITE NO DECISION
Junior pitcher Cory Luebke has started three Big Ten games, has a 2.75 ERA in 19.2 innings pitched in those games with 14 strikeouts and only three walks, yet he doesn’t have a decision in conference play. The big left-hander went another solid 7.0 innings in the first game of the Michigan series but got a no decision, with OSU losing in extra innings. On the season, he is 4-0 with a 1.92 ERA.
MEISTER MAKES FIRST CAREER START AFTER 65 RELIEF APPEARANCES
After 65 relief appearances, junior pitcher Rory Meister made his first career start in game four of the Michigan series. He pitched 3.0 innings and gave up four earned runs on four hits. On the season, Meister is 2-2 with a 2.70 ERA and three saves.
TODD EARNS CAREER VICTORY 900
With a 5-3 win over Harvard on March 23 in Bradenton, Fla., Ohio State head coach Bob Todd earned his 900th career victory. The Buckeye skipper is 905-472-2 all-time, including 781-390-2 at OSU. His 905 wins rank 17th among active coaches in NCAA Division I and 47th all-time. He needs 19 victories to earn his 800th win at Ohio State.
IN THE BIG TEN RANKINGS
In all games played, Ohio State ranks third in the Big Ten inbatting with a .326 average. Michigan leads the league at .334. Onthe mound, OSU is sixth in the conference with a 4.47 earned runaverage, with Michigan on top at 3.27. The Buckeyes rank ninth inthe league in fielding. In all games, J.B. Shuck ranks fifth in theleague in hitting at .402. In Big Ten games, Eric Fryer leads theconference with a .500 average and is first in on-base percentage(.581), tied for first in caught stealing by (13) and second inhits (18). Matt Angle is fourth in stolen bases with 15 and tiedfor first in Big Ten games with six stolen bases. On the mound,Cory Luebke ranks fourth in ERA (1.92), first in strikeouts (47),second in opposing batting average (.204) and in innings pitched(56.1). Jake Hale is tied for first with six saves.
LUEBKE AND BARRERA LEAD TEAM WITH FOUR WINS EACH
Junior pitcher Cory Luebke and sophomore Josh Barrera lead the Buckeyes with four wins each. Luebke, 4-0, sports a 1.92 ERA and has 47 strikeouts on the year and 16 walks in 56.1 innings. Barrera is 4-1 with a 4.59 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 33.1 innings. In eight starts, Luebke has not gone fewer than 5.2 innings. The Maria Stein, Ohio native fired his first complete game of the year March 10 in a 10-1 win over Western Michigan. He gave up just three hits in the win. He had a season-high 11 strikeouts in a 7-2 win over Lehigh March 4. Barrera has seven appearances on the year and five starts.
HALE PACES OSU WITH SIX SAVES
Ohio State starter-turned-closer Jake Hale is tied for first in the Big Ten with six saves. The sophomore has made a team-high 13 appearances on the year and has a 6.00 earned run average. He tallied saves in games two and four of the Iowa series. He has 21 strikeouts in 21.0 innings of work.
FRYER ONE OF 27 NAMED TO COLEMAN-COMPANY JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
OSU catcher Eric Fryer is one of 27 catchers to appear on the official watch list for the 2007 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced March 15.
Fryer, a second-team All-Big Ten catcher in 2006, is batting .369 in the team’s 27 games this season and .500 in 10 Big Ten games. He has a team-high 38 hits and a team-high 26 RBI. He has scored 18 runs and has six doubles, a triple and a home run. He has committed just three errors on the year and opponents are just 18 of 31 trying to steal. One of his errors was due to a middle infielder not covering second base on a steal attempt and the runner advancing to third. Last year, Fryer played all 58 games and made 57 starts, including 43 behind the plate. He was a second-team All-Midwest Region Team as selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association and finished third on the team with a .368 batting average and 78 hits. He was second on the team with 52 RBI.
The watch list will be narrowed down to 10 semi-finalists, which will be announced May 17. Three finalists will be selected by a national voting panel and will be announced May 30, prior to the NCAA regionals and the Major League Baseball draft. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All three finalists will be brought to Wichita, Kan. and the winner will be announced at the 10th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 27.
BUCKEYES SIGN 2-YEAR DEAL WITH WMNI
Ohio State and North American Broadcasting Company have signed a two-year agreement that will put Buckeye baseball on WMNI Radio (920 AM) for 2007 and 2008, OSU announced March 21.
The station will carry 27 regular-season games over the air and on the Internet at ohiostatebuckeyes.com, and has agreed to broadcast another 11 games on an Internet-only basis, also on the school’s official web site. All OSU postseason games, including any appearances in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, will be broadcast over the air and on the Internet.
Of the eight Big Ten series the team will play, three of the four games – games one, three and four – will be broadcast on AM 920 WMNI, while game two will be offered solely on the Internet at ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
The WMNI broadcast schedule begins Friday, March 30 at 6:35 p.m. when Ohio State opens Big Ten play vs. Iowa in Columbus, and continues through the regular season, which ends Sunday, May 20 at Penn State. All postseason games the team would qualify for also would be carried by the station.
WMNI also broadcast Ohio State baseball games during the 2006 season.
Bob Todd RADIO SHOW ON 1460 THE FAN
Tune in to WBNS-AM 1460 The Fan this spring for coach Bob Todd’s weekly radio show, hosted by Skip Mosic. The show will run for 10 weeks beginning Monday (March 19) with the final program broadcast on Tuesday, May 22. The nights of the show will vary this year because of station conflicts with broadcasts of either Columbus Blue Jackets hockey or Cleveland Indians baseball. Four shows will be broadcast each on Monday and Tuesday with two shows on Thursday. The 30-minute show will begin at 8 p.m. the first week before moving to 7 p.m. the final nine weeks of the show.
Bob Todd RADIO SHOW SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 19 @ 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 24 @ 7 p.m.
Monday, April 30 @ 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 8 @ 7 p.m.
Monday, May 14 @ 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 22 @ 7 p.m.
Schedule Subject to change
FRESHMEN MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS, 11 HAVE SEEN ACTION
In 27 games this season, a total of 11 Buckeye freshmen have played.
Outfielder Ryan Dew has seen the most action, appearing in 26 games with 21 starts. He is hitting .264 on the year. Two infielders, have also seen significant action. Cory Kovanda has played in 22 games, 19 starts, and Cory Rupert has played in 14 games, with 11 starts. The other freshman field players to see action are Brian DeLucia, Ben Toussant, Zach Hurley, Chris Griffin and Nick Steponovich.
Rookie pitchers to appear are Theron Minium, Josh Edgin and Eric Best. Best is 2-1 on the year with a 3.21 ERA in 14.0 innings. Edgin and Minium each have one win and have pitched 12.2 and 13 innings, respectively.
CLIMBING CAREER APPEARANCES LADDER
Two Buckeyes are ranked among the school’s all-time leaders in career appearances. Senior Trey Fausnaugh ranks third with 72 career appearances and trails only Cory Cox, who made 96 career appearances from 1998-2001 and Andy Lee, who made 79 appearances between 1996-99. Rory Meister has made 66 career appearances, which is tied for 8th most in school history. Dan DeLucia appeared in his 47th game of his career this season, moving into a tie for 25th all-time.
CAREER RECORD BOOK
Catcher Eric Fryer ranks tied for 10th on the school’s all-timecareer batting average list at .353 and outfielder Matt Angle rankstied for 19th at.344. Jacob Howell needs just one more triple totie Steve Caravati (2001-05) and Drew Anderson (2002-04) for theschool record at 13. Howell, who had four triples last year and hastwo this year, has 12 for his career. Junior Jason Zoeller is tiedfor 11th all-time for triples with eight. Angle is fourth all-timefor stolen bases with 53, and Howell sits in 11th all-time. Howellhas moved into the top-25 all-time for career hits at 196. He needsjust four more to move into the top 20. Senior starter DanDeLucia’s 21 wins are tied for 15th, while his 265.2 career inningspitched ranks 10th. Junior Cory Luebke topped the 175-inning markwith his nine-inning complete game vs. Western Michigan March 10.That figure is when pitchers can start being included in the careerrecord book. For his career, he has pitched 212.2 innings (26thall-time) and has allowed 202 hits, 12th fewest in school history.His 58 issued walks ranks third, while his 104 runs rank eighthfewest. Of that total, 72 have been earned and that ranks fifth.Luebke’s 3.05 career ERA is fifth.
