Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
May 2, 2007
Athletes of the Week
Junior Drew Eberly had two match clinching wins at No. 6singles to help the Buckeyes win the 2007 Big Ten Men’s TennisTournament. Eberly downed Wisconsin’s Gian Hodgson 6-2, 6-3Saturday to secure OSU’s spot in the Big Ten Tournament Final. Herepeated the feat Sunday by downing Illinois’ Brandon Davis 6-2,6-3 to clinch Ohio State’s second-consecutive Big Ten Tournamenttitle. Eberly is 24-5 in singles on the season. Senior DavidVallina of the men’s golf team led the Buckeyes with a career-bestfourth-place finish after shooting an 11-over par 295 (70-74-75-76)at the 2007 Big Ten Championship held at the Ohio State UniversityGolf Club Scarlet Course. Vallina also tied for second in totalpars with 48.
Athletics Good Stuff
The No. 2 men’s tennis team (27-1, 10-0) successfully defendedits 2006 Big Ten Tournament title Sunday, when it beat third-seededIllinois (18-8) in the final of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament at theSchwartz Tennis Center on the campus of Purdue University. OhioState claimed its third Big Ten Tournament title in the last sixyears. The Buckeyes also were the 2007 regular-season leaguechampions. The event this year marked the fourth-consecutive yearthe Buckeyes and Illini have met in the championship match.Illinois won the first two meetings in 2004 and 2005, but OSU hasnow won the last two (2006 and 2007).
Ty Tucker, Ohio State head coach and 2007 Big Ten Coach of the Year, improved his record in the tournament to 16-5. Tucker has won six-consecutive Big Ten tournament matches and 26-consecutive Big Ten dual matches. The Buckeyes are one win shy of tying the team all-time record for wins in a season. The mark was set last season when OSU went 28-2.
Ohio State will host the first two rounds of the event May 11-12 at the Stickney Tennis Center on the OSU campus. The Buckeyes, at the No. 2 seed, will face Columbia while Miami and Tennessee will vie for a chance to move on in the tournament.
The women’s tennis team ended its season with a loss to Iowa inthe quarterfinal round of the Big Ten tournament Friday inMinneapolis. The team was 18-10 this season, tying for thesecond-most wins in program history, and finished fifth in the BigTen with a 6-4 ledger. Freshman Christina Keesey and sophomoreJulie Voss led the team with 23 wins each this season. Senior SoniaRuzimovsky ends her career 13th in program history in careerdoubles wins (61) and is tied for 15th in singles wins with 62.Senior Ciara Finucane, who had 40 doubles wins in her two years atOSU, also ended her career in the loss to the Hawkeyes. Men’svolleyball (23-4) lost to IPFW, 3-0, in the MIVA TournamentChampionship match after beating Ball State, 3-1, to reach thechampionship match. Against Ball State, Brett Versen hadcareer-highs of 20.5 points, 20 kill and 10 digs in the 30-26,30-25, 26-30, 31-29 semifinal win. Robbie Klein had 29.5 points andSam Stevens 17.5 in the contest. Against IPFW, Versen had amatch-high 18 points with Klein adding 17.5 and John Albertson 10.Daniel Mathews and Klein were named to the All-Tournament Team.
St. John Arena will host the 38th Men’s NCAA Volleyball Championship this Thursday and Saturday. No. 1 seed Pepperdine (26-2) will play No. 4 seed IPFW (22-7) at 5 p.m. Thursday with No. 2 seed UC-Irvine (27-5) facing No. 3 seed Penn State (22-7) at 7:30 p.m. The winners return Saturday at 7 p.m. to play for the national championship.
The rowing team finished third at the 2007 Big TenChampionships Saturday in Madison, Wis. The event was held on the1,810-meter course on Lake Wingra. Ohio State totaled 103 points toedge Michigan State in fourth with 102. Minnesota won the title andMichigan was second. The Buckeyes raced in four Grand Finals, withteam-best second-place finishes in both the second varsity eightand first varsity four events. The third-ranked first varsity fourcrossed the finish line fourth in its Grand Final, with only fourseconds separating first through fourth place boats. Ohio State hasplaced in the Top 3 of the team standings all eight years of theBig Ten championships. Following the event, junior GabrieleAlbertaviciute (al-bert-a-ve-CHU-tae) was named First Team All-BigTen and senior co-captain Jessica Shepherd earned second teamhonors. Fellow senior co-captain Justine Mahler received the BigTen Sportsmanship Award for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State will next travel to Oak Ridge, Tenn., to compete in the 2007 Aramark South/Central Region Championships May 12-13. The Buckeyes have won four-consecutive Central Region titles and finished first in the overall standings in 2006.
The synchronized swimming team tallied 23 points en route to athird-place finish at the 2007 U.S. National Championships April26-28 at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis,Ind. Three of the four Buckeye routines entered advanced to thefinals.
The Scarlet team averaged a 94.501 to finish second in the team competition. The Gray team scored an 89.167 for sixth. Soloist Barbara Nesbitt finished third with a 91.834.
The men’s golf team finished in fourth place at the Big TenChampionships Sunday. The Buckeyes shot rounds of 295-306-301-303(1205) over the three-day, 74-hole championship event at the OSUGolf Club Scarlet Course (par 71, 7,444) in Columbus, Ohio. OhioState senior David Vallina led the Buckeyes with a career-bestfourth-place finish after shooting an 11-over par 295(70-74-75-76). Vallina also tied for second in total pars with 48.Senior Colin Biles had a career best individual finish at the BigTen Championships tying for seventh place after firing rounds off79-74-70-75 (298). The Ohio State women’s golf teams placed fourththis weekend at the Big Ten tournament shooting a team total of1227 on the par-72 course for 54 holes. Ohio State senior Dana Je,who paced the Buckeyes throughout the tournament, finished tied for12th, shooting a 308 (74-81-77-76). Coming up close behind Je wereteammates Gemma Webster tying for 15th and Emma Jandel placing17th. In the first session of the 2007 NCAA Women’s GymnasticsChampionships hosted by Utah in Salt Lake City last Thursday, OhioState junior Kaylan Clevinger scored a 9.150 on uneven parallelbars competing as an individual event specialist. Clevinger, whoqualified to nationals with a 9.90 on bars at the Central RegionChampionships April 14, was the first Buckeye to compete atnationals since 2001. The softball team will play for the Big Tentitle this weekend at Buckeye Field against Penn State. TheBuckeyes (31-15, 12-2 Big Ten) need to win both games against theNittany Lions (1 p.m. Sat., Sun.) to win their second conferencechampionship and host the Big Ten tournament May 10-12. Ohio Stateswept Purdue and Indiana last weekend and host Wright State Tuesdaybefore traveling to Akron Wednesday in the final week of theregular season. Senior Jamee Juarez (WAR-ez) earned weekly pitchinghonors from the Big Ten for the second-consecutive week and isclosing in on two more school records. She is four punch outs awayfrom the all-time strikeout record and she is tied for the careershutouts record. The men’s soccer team will take on the ColumbusCrew at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in theSixth Annual Connor Senn Memorial Match, which has raised over$76,000 to date. Crew midfielder Danny O’Rourke, who played clubsoccer with Senn, will wear No. 22 in Senn’s honor and put thejersey into an impressive lineup of silent auction items. The men’slacrosse team lost to No. 10 Notre Dame, 12-6, at home lastSaturday in front of a record 2,470 fans in Jesse Owens MemorialStadium. Buckeye senior Joe Benson led the squad with a career-bestthree goals, while junior Kevin Buchanan had three points on a goaland two assists.
The team (8-5, 4-1 GWLL) closes out the regular season against Army at noon Sunday in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Women’s lacrosse (9-6, 1-3 American Lacrosse Conference)completed the regular season with a 21-5 loss at top-rankedNorthwestern. Kristen Slahor had two goals and two assists in thegame with Jessica Patane collecting a goal and two assists. RachaelCornicello added two goals in the contest. The fourth-seededBuckeyes will face fifth-seeded Penn State Thursday at 1 p.m. inthe opening game of the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament atJohns Hopkins. The men’s track and field team competed at twoevents last weekend. Most of the squad traveled to the 2007 DrakeRelays in Des Moines, Iowa, while several distance runners went tothe Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Mich.
At Drake, junior Marios Iacovou (Mari-OWES YAH-ko-voo) was Ohio State’s top placer. He cleared 6 feet, 8 3/4 inches to claim runner-up honors in the high jump. Also in the jumps, sophomore Brandon Cathcart set a season-best of 50-6 3/4 to place sixth in the triple jump. In the throws, Pat Whalen (WAY-len) reached 56-8 3/4 for eighth place in the shot put. On the Drake track, senior Glenn Collins paced a 9:09.84 to take sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Sophomore Matt Comer (Comb-er) clocked 51.89 to take 12th in the 400-meter hurdles. Senior Joe Gourley (GORE-lee) posted a fifth-place time of 1:49.71 in the 800m. In relay events, the 4×400-meter team of Comer, Elon Simms (Ee-lon), Steven Robinson and Gerald Griffin took ninth in a season best time of 3:09.31.
At Hillsdale, junior John Ealy was the top Buckeye in the 5,000-meter run, pacing a mark of 14:07.72 to take fifth place.
The Buckeyes close out the regular season with their only home outdoor meet this weekend with the 22nd Jesse Owens Track Classic Saturday in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The women’s track and field team competed Friday and Saturdayat the 2007 Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Veronica Jatsek(JAT-sick) turned in Ohio State’s top field performance, takingseventh in the hammer throw. She reached a distance of 192 feet, 5inches. In jumps, Veronica Vance was eighth in the triple jump atbetter than 41 feet and 17th in the long jump at 18-7 1/4.
Friday, Sophomore Ayrizanna Favours (AY-riz-ahna FAVE-ors) ran in the 100-meter dash, timing an 11.92 to place ninth in the prelims. Her time served as a season-best, but missed the finals by one slot but. Later Friday, she and the rest of the women’s 4×400-meter relay team of Ashley Jones, Chandra Krempel and Ashley Caldwell took 24th in a season best time of 3:46.87.
The Buckeyes play host to their only home meet of the 2007 season Saturday in the 22nd Jesse Owens Track Classic in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The baseball team continued its steady climb up the Big Tenstandings after taking three of four at Purdue over the weekend.The Buckeyes moved into a tie for third place with Penn State, 2.5games out of second. The top six teams in the conference qualifyfor the league tournament. For the week, OSU went 3-2, dropping amid-week game to Xavier at home. The Buckeyes are 26-12 overall and11-7 in the Big Ten.
At Purdue, the Buckeyes won game one, 6-2, Friday, lost game one Saturday, 16-0, won game two Saturday, 3-2, and won the series finale, 6-3, Sunday. OSU sits at 26-12 overall and 11-7 in the Big Ten.
This week, OSU begins a five-game week vs. Akron Wednesday at Bill Davis Stadium. After Akron, the Buckeyes welcome Michigan State to Columbus for a four-game Big Ten series Friday-Sunday at Bill Davis Stadium. Three of four games vs. Michigan State (Games 1, 3 & 4) will be broadcast on radio on AM 920 WMNI. All five games this week will have audio available on ohiostatebuckeyes.com and be featured on Gametracker at ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
Against Purdue, freshman Cory Kovanda (co-VON-da) hit .462, Justin Miller .438 and Eric Fryer .400. Jacob Howell led OSU with three RBI in the series and Jason Zoeller hit the only Buckeye home run in the four games. Cory Luebke (LUBE-key) continued his dominance by throwing a nine-inning complete game in game one of the series. Luebke gave up no earned runs in the 6-2 win and scattered seven hits, striking out seven and walking none. J.B. Shuck earned the win Sunday by throwing a solid seven innings and Trey Fausnaugh (FAWS-naugh) tallied the game three win despite facing just one batter as OSU scored three times in the top of the seventh and held on for the win. Jake Hale notched the save in game three and Fausnaugh pitched the final two innings Sunday to garner his first save of the season.
Shuck leads Ohio State at the plate with a .394 average, while Fryer leads the team in RBI (36) and hits (51) and is batting .364, second on the team. Tony Kennedy is third on the team in batting at .356, while Matt Angle is at .355 and Miller is at .347. Angle leads the squad in runs scored (33) and stolen bases (17) and Zoeller leads the team with six home runs.
On the mound, Luebke is 6-0 with a 1.84 ERA and a team-high 60 strikeouts. Shuck is 3-1 with a 3.61 ERA and is second on the team with 38 strikeouts. Josh Barrera is 4-1 with a 4.59 ERA and Meister is 3-4 with a 4.85 ERA. Hale has 10 saves on the year with 29 strikeouts in 29.1 innings.
Ohio State has added a pair of games to its schedule vs. Western Carolina May 8-9 at Bill Davis Stadium. The games have been added because four games were lost this season because of inclement weather. The Buckeyes will face the Catamounts at 6:35 p.m. May 8 and at 1:05 p.m. May 9. Both games will be nine-inning contests.
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
May 1 – May 8
May 1
Softball vs. Wright State, 3 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Buckeye Field
Softball vs. Wright State, 5 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Buckeye Field
May 2
Baseball vs. Akron, 6:35 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Bill Davis Stadium
Softball at Akron, 5 p.m.
Akron, Ohio
May 3
Women’s Lacrosse vs. Penn State, 1 p.m.
Baltimore, Md.
Men’s Volleyball NCAA Championships
Pepperdine vs. IPFW, 5 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
St. John Arena
Men’s Volleyball NCAA Championships
UC Irvine vs. Penn State, 7 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
St. John Arena
May 4
Baseball vs. Michigan State, 6:35 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Bill Davis Stadium
Women’s Lacrosse vs. TBA, TBA
Baltimore, Md.
May 5
Baseball vs. Michigan State, 1:05 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Bill Davis Stadium
Baseball vs. Michigan State, 3:30 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Bill Davis Stadium
Men’s Track at Jesse Owens Memorial Tournament, All Day
Columbus, Ohio
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Women’s Track at Jesse Owens Memorial Tournament, All Day
Columbus, Ohio
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Men’s Volleyball NCAA Championship Finals
TBA vs. TBA, 7 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
St. John Arena
May 6
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Army, Noon
Columbus, Ohio
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Baseball vs. Michigan State, 1:05 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Bill Davis Stadium
Women’s Lacrosse vs. TBA, TBA
Baltimore, Md.
May 10
Women’s Golf at NCAA Regional, All Day
TBA
