No. 25 Ohio State faces Cleveland State Wednesday at home, at Illinois Friday-Sunday – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 3, 2007
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NO. 25 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
17-4, 3-1 Big Ten
vs.
CLEVELAND STATE VIKINGS
4-21, 2-4 Horizon
April 4, 2007 ? 6:35 p.m.
Bill Davis Stadium (Capacity: 4,450)
Columbus, Ohio
Series History:
Ohio State leads 32-7
Last Meeting:
April 26, 2006; CSU 7-5
INTERNET AUDIO
ohiostatebuckeyes.com
GAMETRACKER
ohiostatebuckeyes.com
Ohio State got off to a good start in Big Ten action, taking three out of four games from Iowa Friday-Sunday at Bill Davis Stadium. The Hawkeyes won game three of the series, snapping the Buckeyes’ 15-game winning streak. The Buckeyes have won 16 out of their last 17 games and are 17-4 overall, 3-1 in the Big Ten.
Ohio State remains home for a mid-week, non-conference game vs. Cleveland State Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Bill Davis Stadium. After the Cleveland State game, OSU travels to Illinois for its first Big Ten road action. The Buckeyes and Illini will play a single game Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET, a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 4:05 p.m. and wrap up the series with a single game Sunday at 2:05 p.m.
Wednesday’s game can be heard on ohiostatebuckeyes.com and followed on Gametracker at ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Three of the four games at Illinois (games 1, 3 & 4) will be broadcast on radio on AM 920 WMNI. Game three will have audio available on ohiostatebuckeyes.com and be featured on Gametracker at ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Frank Fraas, Marty Bannister and former OSU baseball stars Brian Mannino and Bob Spears will call the action this season. AT BILL DAVIS STADIUM
The Buckeyes are 188-75 (.715) 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 4-1 at Bill Davis Stadium in 2007 and will play 19 more games this season. Cleveland State is the second of seven home midweek opponents, which also includes Miami (Ohio), Ball State, Xavier, Akron and a pair vs. North Florida. In addition to the just-completed Iowa series, three more conference opponents will visit Bill Davis Stadium this season. The Scarlet and Gray also welcome Michigan (April 13-15), Indiana (April 20-22) and Michigan State (May 4-6).
ABOUT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes have won 16 out of their last 17 games, including three out of four from Iowa in the first Big Ten series of the year.
In addition to taking three out of four from Iowa, OSU also beat Toledo, 18-5, in a mid-week game last Wednesday for a 4-1 week. Against Iowa, the Buckeyes won games one (12-7), two (6-2) and four (16-7), losing game three (8-0).
The Buckeyes hit .404 in the five games they played last week, led by Justin Miller, who hit .526. Miller was 10-for-19 with seven RBI, six runs scored and three doubles. He is fourth on the team in hitting at .361. Senior Jason Zoeller hit .500 (8-16) with a 1.063 slugging percentage. He had two home runs, a double, a triple and 10 RBI. Zoeller is second on the team in hitting at .385. Junior Tony Kennedy also had a great week, batting .444 (8-18) with 10 RBI. J.B. Shuck leads the team in hitting at .386, but had his 17-game hitting streak snapped in the final game of the Iowa series. Eric Fryer and Shuck lead the team with 21 RBI each.
On the hill last week, freshman Eric Best earned his first two career wins, winning two relief appearances vs. Iowa. Josh Barrera and Josh Edgin also had wins and Jake Hale notched two saves. The OSU pitchers had a 5.27 earned run average over the five games, with opponent batters hitting .299. For the season, Cory Luebke is 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA and a team-high 39 strikeouts. Barrera is 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA, while Best has a 2.38 ERA. Rory Meister and Dan DeLucia also has two wins. Neither DeLucia or Meister threw last week, both nursing sore arms.
For the year, Ohio State has a .339 batting average, 157 RBI and is averaging 7.9 runs per game. The Buckeyes have also been running like crazy, stealing 36 bases in 44 attempts, led by Matt Angle’s 13. On the mound, OSU boasts a 3.59 ERA and is holding opponents to a .244 average.
ABOUT CLEVELAND STATE
The Vikings are 4-21 on the year after dropping two out of three to league foe Butler over the weekend. CSU takes on Kent State on Tuesday.
Cleveland State is batting .248 as a team and is led by John Westra’s .310 average. Westra also leads the team with 15 RBI. On the mound, the Vikings staff owns a 5.40 ERA and is allowing the opposition to hit .302. Josh Hungerman is the top starter for CSU and is 1-4 with a 3.65 ERA and 37 innings pitched. Reliever Pat McKitrick has appeared in 14 games and is 2-2 with a 2.19 ERA. Kevin Kocks (Eastern Kentucky, 1982) is in his first season at Cleveland State. He has a 13-year career mark of 473-349. The Vikings pulled off the upset at Ohio State last year, winning 7-5.
BUCKEYES UP TO NO. 25 NATIONALLY IN NCBWA POLL, JUST OUT OF TOP 25 IN USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES’ POLL
Ohio State has moved up to 25th in the April 2 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll after winning four out of five games last week. The Buckeyes entered the top-30 rankings at No. 29 for the first time on March 26. OSU has won 16 out of its last 17 games and is the fourth team receiving votes in this week’s top-25 USA Today/EPSN Coaches’ poll.
COACH 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 904-471-2 all-time, including 780-389-2 at OSU. His 900 wins rank 17th among active coaches in NCAA Division I and 47th all-time. He needs 20 victories to earn his 800th win at Ohio State.
OSU TAKES THREE OUT OF FOUR FROM IOWA
The Buckeyes started off Big Ten action by taking three out of four games from Iowa last weekend.
All-Big Ten catcher Eric Fryer led OSU at the plate, hitting .500 (8-16) against the Hawkeyes. Jason Zoeller and Tony Kennedy each drove in seven runs in the series, with Zoeller hitting two home runs. Justin Miller hit .462, Zoeller .429 and Kennedy .400. Freshman Ryan Dew his first career home run and had five RBI on the weekend.
On the mound, freshman Eric Best won two relief appearances vs. Iowa. They were his first career wins. Closer Jake Hale posted two saves and a 1.59 ERA. Josh Barrera got the other win.
IOWA SNAPS OSU WIN STREAK AT 15
The winning streak had to end at some point. After OSU won the first two games of the Iowa series to stretch its winning streak to 15 games, the Hawkeyes downed the Buckeyes, 8-0, in game two of Saturday’s double header to snap the streak. The 15-game winning streak was the team’s longest streak since a 17-game run early in the 2001 season.
BATS MOSTLY HOT VS. IOWA
Even with the Buckeyes getting shutout in game three of the Iowa series, OSU hitters pounded out 34 runs and 48 hits in the four games. Ohio State has double-digit hits in 14 of the 21 games played this season and has double-digit runs in seven of the 21 games. The Buckeyes had a season-high 21 hits and 18 runs in the 18-5 win over Toledo.
SHUCK HITTING STREAK ENDS AT 17
Sophomore outfielder/pitcher J.B. Shuck saw his 17-game hitting streak come to an end Sunday in game four of the Iowa series. He was 0-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Shuck had a hit in all 17 games he had batted this season. Prior to Sunday, he had not batted in the three previous games he started as a pitcher. For the first time this season, Shuck batted while starting the game from the mound.
BEST EARNS FIRST TWO CAREER WINS IN IOWA SERIES
Freshman pitcher Eric Best earned his first two career wins in relief action vs. Iowa. Best won games one and four of the series. He did not allow a hit in three innings, giving up one earned run.
DEW HITS FIRST CAREER HOME RUN
Freshman outfielder Ryan Dew hit his first career home run in game four of the Iowa series. Dew had an all-around great day in the final game of the series, going 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run, a double, four RBI, three runs scored and two walks. He also made a diving catch in right.
STILL STREAKING
With J.B. Shuck’s 17-game hitting streak over, another Buckeye kept his hitting streak alive. Sophomore first baseman Justin Miller had hits in all four games of the Iowa series and has now hit safely in 11 consecutive games.
FRESHMAN EDGIN EARNS FIRST CAREER WIN IN HOME OPENER
Freshman Josh Edgin earned his first career win in OSU’s home opener Wednesday vs. Toledo. He started and pitched three innings in the 18-5 win. The lefty gave up one earned run on four hits and struck out five.
FRYER ONE OF 27 NAMED TO COLEMAN-COMPANY JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
Ohio State 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 .299 in the team’s 17 games this season. He has 20 hits and paces the Buckeyes with 19 RBI. He has scored 10 runs and has four doubles, a triple and a home run. He has committed just two errors on the year and opponents are just six of 11 trying to steal. 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.
IN THE BIG TEN RANKINGS
In all games played, Ohio State ranks first in the Big Ten inbatting with a .339 average. Illinois is second at .327. On themound, OSU is second in the conference with a 3.59 earned runaverage, 0.10 behind Minnesota at 3.49. The staff is second in theleague in strikeouts with 166. The Buckeyes ranks seventh in theleague in fielding. Jason Zoeller is tied for third in the leaguewith four home runs and is second with a .677 slugging percentage.Matt Angle is tied for third in the Big Ten with 13 stolen bases.On the mound, Cory Luebke is tied for the league lead with fourwins. He also ranks second in ERA (1.70), first in strikeouts (39),first in opposing batting average (.174) and second in inningspitched (42.1). Jake Hale is first in the conference with six savesand tied for first with 11 appearances.
FRESHMEN MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS, 11 HAVE SEEN ACTION
In 21 games this season, a total of 11 Buckeye freshmen have played.
Outfielder Ryan Dew has seen the most action, appearing in 20 games with 16 starts. He is hitting .308 on the year. Two infielders, have also seen significant action. Cory Kovanda has played in 16 games, 12 starts, and Cory Rupert has played in 12 games, with 10 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 2-0 on the year with a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 innings. Edgin and Minium each have one win and have pitched 9.1 and 12 innings, respectively.
LUEBKE ROLLING AT 4-0
Junior pitcher Cory Luebke continues to pitch well for the Buckeyes. Luebke is 4-0 with a team-leading 1.70 earned run average in 42.1 innings. The lefty has given up just eight earned runs while striking out 39. In six starts, he has not gone fewer than 5.2 innings in any of his starts and has walked just 14. 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.
For his career, Luebke sits at 15-8 with a 3.08 ERA. He has thrown 198.2 innings and has 11 complete games. He has 158 career strikouts.
HALE PACES OSU WITH SIX SAVES
Ohio State starter-turned-closer Jake Hale leads the Big Ten with six saves. The sophomore has made a team-high 11 appearances on the year and has a 4.32 earned run average. He tallied saves in games two and four of the Iowa series. He has 17 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work.
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 62 career appearances, which is the 10th most in school history. Dan DeLucia appeared in his 47th game of his career, moving into a tied for 25 all-time.
CAREER RECORD BOOK
Catcher Eric Fryer and outfielder Matt Angle are tied for 15thon the school’s all-time career batting average list. They both sitat .346 all-time. Jacob Howell needs just one more triple to tieSteve Caravati (2001-05) and Drew Anderson (2002-04) for the schoolrecord at 13. Howell, who had four triples last year and has twothis year, has 12 for his career. Junior Jason Zoeller is tied for11th all-time for triples with eight. Angle is fourth all-time forstolen bases with 51, and Howell sits in 11th all-time. Seniorstarter Dan DeLucia’s 21 wins are tied for 15th, while his 265.2career innings pitched ranks 10th. Junior Cory Luebke topped the175-inning mark with his nine-inning complete game vs. WesternMichigan. That figure is when pitchers can start being included inthe career record book. He now has pitched 198.2 innings and hasallowed 186 hits, tied for seventh fewest in school history. His 56issued walks ranks third, while his 95 runs rank tied for seventhfewest. Of that total, 68 have been earned and that ranks fifth aswell. Luebke’s 3.08 career ERA is fifth.
