Softball: A Look Ahead to Ohio State’s 2008 Schedule Part I – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Buckeyes will play at least 18 games against 2007 NCAA Tournament teams
COLUMBUS, Ohio At this time next week, the Ohio State softball team will be 32,000 feet in the air heading to Florida. The 2008 season is almost here, and with it, another challenging schedule filled with many teams that played in the NCAA tournament a year ago and won their conference.
And this season, the Buckeyes will be one of those teams that is coming off a league title.
Thursday marks the first in a two-part in-depth look at the Buckeyes’ 2008 schedule, focusing on Ohio State’s five early-season tournaments. Of note, this season marks the first time in the history of the program that the Buckeyes are playing twice in Florida, and only the second time they are playing in Las Vegas.
Part-two of the feature will be released Friday.
Ohio State, which is ranked No. 22 and No. 23 in the two preseason national polls, has six starters back from its 2007 team that went 40-18 overall and won both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships.
“These kids have worked hard and they know they have a target on our backs as the defending Big Ten champions,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “This team really has a different make-up than last year’s team, but we still have to be ready for everyone’s best shot.”
After the dust settled last season, Ohio State had played a total of 29 games against NCAA tournament participants, with 23 of those coming in the regular season. That included nine of the first 11 games, with the Buckeyes going 5-6 in those games, and 10 of the last 12 games, which included nine wins evidence of Ohio State’s impressive run to end the season.
Looking at the 2008 schedule, at least 18 games are against teams that were in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, with that number sure to grow as the Buckeyes advance in tournament play both in early -season tournaments and later in the postseason.
“This schedule gives us a good balance of teams that are perennial NCAA tournament teams and teams that will be vying for conference championships,” Kalafatis said. “It’s a good mix for a team like ours that lost so many starters. We’re looking forward to traveling to so many parts of the country and preparing to not only be the best team we can be once the Big Ten season starts, but also to maintain a strong strength of schedule.”
– Stetson Tournament, Feb. 8-10, Deland, Fla. (Detroit, Marist, Stetson)
– Florida International Tournament, Feb. 15-17, Miami, Fla. (Providence, Georgia, Illinois State, Florida International)
“We head down to Florida for the first two weekends, so we’ll get to stay in our time zone,” Kalafatis said. “We know from playing at Stetson two years ago that they are a very good team and they won their conference last year. We haven’t been to Florida International with this current group of players so that will be a new experience. Again, we will play some quality teams down there, especially Georgia and Illinois State, which come from strong softball conferences.”
Ohio State at the Stetson Tournament: The Buckeyes are making their second trip to Deland, where they went 1-3 in 2006.
– Detroit: 12-31 overall, 3-14 Horizon League (8th)
All-Time Series: First Meeting
– Marist: 20-30 overall, 9-7 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (3rd)
All-Tim Series: First Meeting
– Stetson: 44-22 overall, 13-5 Atlantic Sun Conference (1st), 0-2 at NCAA Regionals
All-Time Series: Tied 1-1, both meetings in 2006 at Stetson Tournament
Ohio State at the Florida International Tournament: Ohio State is making its fourth trip to the FIU Tournament after previous trips in 2000, 2001 and 2003. The Buckeyes are 7-10 all-time in the event.
– Providence: 23-24 overall, 6-14 Big East (11th)
All-Time Series: First meeting
– Georgia: 48-28 overall, 13-15 Southeastern Conference (3rd), 2-2 at NCAA Regionals
All-Time Series: First meeting
– Illinois State: 44-17-1 overall, 18-7-1 Missouri Valley Conference (2nd), 2-2 at NCAA Regionals
All-Time Series: First Meeting
– Florida International: 22-35 overall, 10-16 Sun Belt Conference (8th)
All-Time Series: Tied, 1-1, both meetings in 2003 at FIU Tournament
– Palm Springs Classic, Feb. 22-24, Cathedral City, Calif. (Fresno State, Cal State Fullerton, Stanford, Oregon State, Fordham)
– UNLV Invitational, March 7-9, Las Vegas, Nev. (Oregon, UNLV, Portland State, New Mexico State)
– Capital Classic, March 14-16, Sacramento, Calif. (Nevada, Sacramento State, California, Northern Colorado, Colorado State)
“Palm Springs always has the best teams from around the country,” Kalafatis said. “We’ll get a chance to really challenge our players and put them on a big stage. We’re heading west three straight trips, but we’ll have a weekend off between Palm Springs and the UNLV tournament, so that’ll be nice to give us a chance to reorganize. In that group at UNLV, Oregon in particular had a great year last year. We went to the Capital Classic my first year here, so it’ll be nice to head back that way for also play in northern California were several of our players are from.”
Ohio State at the Palm Springs Classic: Ohio State is traveling to the Palm Springs Classic for the fourth time, owning a 5-10 record overall. The Buckeyes went 3-2 there last year.
– Fresno State: 47-18, 15-3 Western Athletic Conference (2nd), 1-2 at NCAA Regionals
All-Time Series: Fresno State leads, 5-3. Ohio State won, 2-1, at Palm Springs in 2007.
– Cal State Fullerton: 38-23 overall, 13-5 Big West Conference (2nd), won NCAA Regionals, 0-2 at Super Regionals
All-Time Series: Fullerton leads 17-5 and went 3-1 against Ohio State last year, including two consecutive wins in Columbus to eliminate the Buckeyes from the NCAA tournament.
– Stanford: 35-21-1 overall, 7-13-1 Pac-10 (6th), 2-2 at NCAA Regionals
All-Time Series: First Meeting
– Oregon State: 41-23 overall, 10-11 Pac-10 (5th), 2-2 at NCAA Regionals
All-Time Series: Oregon State leads 6-0, with the last meeting coming in Palm Springs in 2005 (2-0)
– Fordham: 39-20 overall, 16-4 Atlantic 10 (2nd)
All-Time Series: Ohio State leads 1-0, with the only meeting coming last year in Clearwater, Fla. (3-2).
Ohio State at the UNLV Invitational: Ohio State is making its second trip to Las Vegas and first since 1991. Like this season, the trip will follow an OSU Big Ten championship, but the Buckeyes hope 2008 yields better results in Vegas, as they went 0-5 there in 1991.
– Oregon: 44-19 overall, 7-14 Pac-10 (7th), 2-2 at NCAA Regionals
All-Time Series: Ohio State leads 5-2, with the last meeting coming in 2006 in Palm Springs, a 6-0 OSU win.
– UNLV: 37-27 overall, 12-8 Mountain West Conference (2nd)
All-Time Series: UNLV leads 2-0, with the last meeting coming in Palm Springs in 2006 (4-0)
– Portland State: 23-34 overall, 8-11 Pacific Coast Softball Conference (4th)
All-Time Series: Ohio State leads 3-0, with the last meeting coming in 2006 in Las Cruces, N.M. (7-6, 8 inn.)
– New Mexico State: 31-27 overall, 9-9 Western Athletic Conference (3rd)
All-Time Series: Tied 3-3, with the last meeting coming in the 2006 season-opener in Las Cruces, N.M., an 11-1 OSU win.
Ohio State at the Capital Classic: Ohio State is making its third trip to the Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif., following previous trips in 1996 and 1998. The Buckeyes are 7-6 all-time in the event.
– Nevada: 28-31 overall, 9-9 Western Athletic Conference (4th)
All-Time Series: Ohio State leads 3-0, with the last meeting coming in 1989 at the Utah Invitational (17-3)
– Sacramento State: 20-33 overall, 11-8 Pacific Coast Softball Conference (2nd)
All-Time Series: SSU leads 4-2, with the last meeting coming in 2001, an 8-4 SSU win at the Florida International Tournament.
– California: 34-32 overall, 7-14 Pac-10 (8th), 1-2 at NCAA Regionals
All-Time Series: Cal leads 4-3, with the last meeting coming in 2004 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Marietta, Ga., a 6-0 Cal win.
– Northern Colorado: 12-34 overall (independent)
All-Time Series: Northern Colorado leads, 3-2, but these teams have not met since 1982 when NCU won two of three meetings, including one game that went 12 innings
– Colorado State: 30-28 overall, 9-10 Mountain West Conference (3rd)
All-Time Series: Ohio State leads 3-1, including an 8-7 win in eight innings in Las Cruces, N.M., in 2006.
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