Ohio State Travels to Florida’s Suncoast for Snowbird Classic – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 2, 2016
RELATED INFO
Follow the Buckeyes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram | 2016 Schedule |
PDF: Weekly Release #3 | VIDEO: Snowbird Classic Preview | Snowbird Classic Full Schedule
VIDEO: Take the Field with Ohio State Baseball | Murray Spring Training Blog
Snowbird Classic Full Schedule | Big Ten Standings | VIDEO: This is Buckeye Baseball – Week 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team travels to Port Charlotte, Fla., this weekend for three contests at the 2016 Snowbird Baseball Classic. The Buckeyes open the weekend against Seton Hall at 11 a.m. Friday, take on Illinois State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and close out action at 1 p.m. Sunday against Boston College. All three contests will be played at Field No. 6 at North Charlotte Regional Park.
| Friday, March 4 | Time | Site | Follow Along |
| Ohio State vs. Seton Hall | 11 a.m. | Port Charlotte, Fla. | GameTracker |
| Saturday, March 5 | |||
| Ohio State vs. Illinois State | 2:30 p.m. | Port Charlotte, Fla. | GameTracker |
| Sunday, March 6 | |||
| Ohio State vs. Boston College | 1 p.m. | Port Charlotte, Fla. | GameTracker |
TICKETS & PARKING
Tickets at North Charlotte Regional Park are $7 per person, per day or $35 for weekly pass (Saturday to Saturday). Parking is free at North Charlotte Regional Park.
*NOTE – Major construction on US 41 near entrance to North Charlotte Regional Park. The sign indicating turn off for park on Northbound 41 is now located in the median strip.
FOLLOW THE BUCKEYES
GameTracker will be available for all three contests at the 2016 Snowbird Classic. There will be no live stream, but for up-to-date action, follow us on twitter via @OhioState_BASE.
ON THE BUMP
SETON HALL: LHP Tanner Tully (2-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. RHP Andrew Politi (0-0, 3.60 ERA)
ILLINOIS STATE: RHP Adam Niemeyer (0-1, 5.73 ERA) vs. RHP Steve Heilenbach (2-0, 1.35 ERA)
BOSTON COLLEGE: LHP John Havird (0-0, 5.25 ERA) vs. LHP Jesse Adams (1-0, 6.75 ERA)
BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
- Ohio State went 2-2 last weekend at the Caravelle Resort Baseball at The Beach Tournament with wins over No. 19 Coastal Carolina Feb. 27 and Liberty Feb. 28 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
- The Buckeyes began their 133rd season with an undefeated record at the inaugural Historic Dodgertown Classic (3-0-1)
- The team is led by sixth-year head coach Greg Beals, who has taken the Buckeyes to five-consecutive B1G tournament appearances.
- Brady Cherry was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week Feb. 29. He batted .444 (4-for-9) with two home runs, three RBI, three walks and 10 total bases last weekend in South Carolina.
- The OSU pitching staff struck out 41 opponent hitters to 11 walks last weekend. Tanner Tully improved to 2-0, while Yianni Pavlopoulos picked up his first two career saves and Austin Woodby earned his first career win as a Buckeye.
- Jacob Bosiokovic was named Big Ten Player and a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week Feb 22. He batted .412 (7-for-17) with seven runs scored, eight RBI, three home runs during the opening weekend.
- Troy Montgomery was named a NCBWA Third Team Preseason All-American. Last year, Montgomery batted .317 with 22 extra-base hits and B1G-best 35 stolen bases (tied the OSU single-season record).
- Ohio State returns 20 letterwinners from 2015, including six starting position players and three starting pitchers.
- Along with Montgomery, Tully and Ronnie Dawson were named to the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch List. Dawson was a 2014 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.
- Ohio State will be led by one its largest senior classes in recent history – 10 members.
THE 2016 SNOWBIRD CLASSIC
The Snowbird Classic is held annually in the Charlotte Harbor and Gulf Islands area, Port Charlotte, Fla. Twenty-five Division I teams will play some of their early regular-season games down at the Snowbird Classic during the three-week span. Two other Big ten schools – Indiana and Northwestern – will also be playing games this weekend at the classic. Indiana takes on Illinois State, Seton Hall and Butler, while the Wildcats face Saint Leo, Boston College and Illinois State.
SCOUTING SETON HALL
2016 Record: 3-5
2015 Record: 25-25
The Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory to close out a four-game series at Florida International March 1 in Miami, Fla. Ryan Ramiz leads the team at the plate with a .357 batting average (10-for-28) with four runs scored and three stolen bases. On the hill, the Pirate pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.97 and has struck out 66 opponent hitters to 21 walks. Seton Hall was selected to finish third in the 2016 Big East Coaches Poll with sophomore right-hander Shane McCarthy selected to the preseason first team. Ohio State is 4-4 all-time vs. Seton Hall and 1-0 under sixth-year head coach Greg Beals.
A LOOK AT ILLINOIS STATE
2016 Record: 2-5
2015 Record: 27-27
The Redbirds claimed a road Top 10 win last weekend at No. 9 Oregon in Eurgene with a 3-2 victory Feb. 27. Jared Hendren had the big two-run single in the top of the ninth to guide Illinois State to its second win of the season. Illinois State dropped the other three contests of the four-game series at Oregon, but not by much – each contest was decided by three runs or less. Right-hander Jacob Hendren, Jared’s brother, was named a Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American, while the Redbirds were picked sixth in the MVC preseason poll.
The Buckeyes are 0-1 all-time vs. the Redbirds with the only previous meeting occurring during the 2011 campaign.
BREAKING DOWN THE EAGLES
2016 Record: 7-0
2015 Record: 27-27
Boston College jumped out to its best start in program history with seven straight wins to begin 2016 (dating back to 1974). Nick Sciortino leads the team with a .563 average (9-for-16) with a double and four RBI, while Donovan Casey is batting .455 (10-for-22) with a double, triple and a pair of RBI. The Eagles are hitting .298 as a team, going 11-for-14 in steals, while the BC pitching staff has combined for a 1.91 ERA with 63 strikeouts to 23 walks in 66.0 innings pitched. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
B1G FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Freshman Brady Cherry was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Feb. 29. The Buckeye rookie batted .667 (4-for-6) with two runs scored, two home runs, three RBI, 10 total bases and two walks to help Ohio State to a 2-1 mark over the weekend at the Baseball at The Beach Tournament hosted by Coastal Carolina. He guided the Buckeyes at the dish in a 6-4 win at No. 19 Coastal Carolina on Feb. 27 with a 3-for-4 performance, launching two home runs in the team’s first ranked win of 2016.
HAVE A WEEKEND, MR. SERAKIS
Senior co-captain Nick Sergakis did not disappoint this weekend back where he started his collegiate career at Coastal. The OSU infielder batted .500 (8-for-16) with two runs scored, two doubles, home run and five RBI (four vs. the Chanticleers). Sergakis leads the Big Ten in total bases (22).
ANOTHER BIG HIT FOR BOSI
Redshirt junior Jacob Bosiokovic launched a two-run, home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to guide the Buckeyes to a 5-4 win over Liberty Feb. 28 in Myrtle Beach, Calif. Bosiokovic leads the Big Ten with four home runs and tied for first with 10 RBI.
FIRST RANKED WIN
Ohio State battled to a 6-4 win at No. 19 Coastal Carolina last Saturday in Conway, S.C., for its firs Top 25 win of the sesaon. Freshman Brady Cherry homered twice, while senior co-captain Nick Sergakis hit a three-run home run vs. his former team to guide the Buckeyes in the big road win. On the mound, junior left-hander Tanner Tully also had a career day. The 2014 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Tully limited the Coastal bats to three runs, two earned with a career-high nine strikeouts with no walks in 5.1 innings pitched.
DODGERTOWN RECAP
For the second-consecutive season, the Buckeyes began the year with an undefeated record during the opening weekend. Ohio State defeated Toledo, 7-1, to open the inaugural Historic Dodgertown Classic on Friday following a six-inning scoreless performance by junior left-hander Tanner Tully. The Buckeyes then rallied twice on Saturday to improve to 3-0. Redshirt junior right fielder Jacob Bosiokovic homered twice, including a three-run walk-off moonshot off the left field foul pole in in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Niagara, 10-7, in game one. In game two, the Buckeyes took on ACC-opponent and it took four hours and 54 minutes to get over the hump and win, 11-8. Returning to the mound for the first time since 2014, redshirt sophomore pitcher Yianni Pavlopoulos earned the win over the Purple Eagles, while freshman left-hander Connor Curlis picked up the victory in the marathon contest vs. the Panthers. The final contest vs. the Rockets ended a 5-5 tie on Sunday due to travel restrictions for both schools.
UP NEXT
Ohio State travels for a four-game series at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev., during the team’s spring break trip. Ohio State will take on the Rebels March 11-15 at Earl E. Wilson Baseball Stadium at Roger Barnson Field.
