Ohio State Hosts Rutgers This Weekend in Columbus – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 15, 2016
RELATED INFO
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team is set to host Rutgers for the first time in Columbus for a three-game B1G series Friday-Sunday at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. The series opener begins at 6:35 p.m. ET Friday, while game two is set for 3:05 p.m. ET Saturday. The series finale begins at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday. The Buckeyes (21-11-1, 2-4 B1G) have won eight-consecutive home games, while the Scarlet Knights have won four out of their last five games heading into the key Big Ten series.
| Date | Time | Live Stats | Radio | Live Audio | Live Video |
| April 15, 2016 | 6:35 p.m. ET | GameTracker | AM 1460 ESPN | Listen ($) | BTN Plus (&) |
| April 16, 2016 | 3:05 p.m. ET | GameTracker | AM 1460 ESPN | Listen ($) | Buckeye Vision ($) |
| April 17, 2016 | 1:05 p.m. ET | GameTracker | AM 1460 ESPN | Listen ($) | BTN Plus ($) |
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Games one and three will be streamed on BTN Plus ($), while game two is on Buckeye Vision ($). Fans can also listen on AM 1460 ESPN or OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Follow the Buckeyes on twitter via @OhioState_BASE for inning-to-inning updates.
WHAT’S HAPPENING…
- Friday – Military Appreciation Night, Camo Croakies for first 100 students, Postgame Fireworks
- Saturday – Zach Farmer Memorial Game, Be The Match, Ohio State Baseball sunglasses for first 100 students
- Sunday – Family Packs, Youth Day, Kids Run Bases, Postgame Meet and Greet, Ohio State tank tops for first 100 students
PARKING
A busy spring weekend has sprung upon the Ohio State athletics campus. Please click here to find parking instructions and maps for fans planning to attend one or several of the many events happening Friday through Sunday in Buckeye Land.
ON THE HILL
Fri: LHP Tanner Tully (4-2, 2.49 ERA) vs. LHP Howie Brey (3-3, 2.82 ERA)
Sat: LHP John Havird (2-1, 3.21 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Driscoll (3-3, 4.02 ERA)
Sun: TBA vs. RHP John O’Reilly (0-2, 5.40 ERA)
ZACHH FARMER MEMORIAL GAME
The Zach Farmer Memorial Game will be on Saturday in game two vs. the Scarlet Knights. Last summer, the Buckeyes lost their teammate and friend Zach Farmer after his battle with leukemia. Zach’s father, Larry, will be throwing out the first pitch. During his fight, Zach helped raise awareness for the bone marrow registry through Be The Match, starting a campus drive with help from his Buckeye teammates. The organization provides marrow transplants in the United States from volunteer unrelated donors to leukemia patients.
BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
- Ohio State extended its home win streak to eight-consecutive games after sweeping Morehead State in a two-game midweek series in Columbus Tuesday-Wednesday.
- This is the first meeting between Ohio State and Rutgers in Columbus. Both teams are 2-4 in league play and will look to make a push in the Big Ten standings this weekend.
- Ohio State leads the Big Ten with 36 home runs, which is ranked 12th in the country. The Buckeyes have already surpassed their home run total from a year ago through 33 games (35, 2015).
- The Buckeyes are in the Top 5 in several other offensive Big Ten statistical categories, including first in RBI (189), walks (151) and doubles (75), second in runs scored (204) and stolen bases (53) and third in slugging (.439).
- The Ohio State pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.41. The Buckeyes lead the league in strikeouts (280) and saves (9) and third in batters struck out looking (78) and wins (21).
- Nick Sergakis is the conference leader in doubles (12) and total bases (81), second in slugging (.628), fourth in hits (49) and RBI (27) and fifth in home runs (6).
- Jacob Bosiokovic is second in the league in home runs with a team-high nine long balls.
- Ronnie Dawson is third in doubles (10), fifth in stolen bases (12) and home runs (6) and seventh in RBI (26).
- Troy Montgomery is second in the league in walks (31), third in doubles (10), fifth in home runs (6) and eighth in steals (10).
- The team is led by sixth-year head coach Greg Beals, who has taken the Buckeyes to five-consecutive B1G tournament appearances.
- Ohio State returns 20 letterwinners, including six starting position players and three starting pitchers.
- The Buckeyes are led by one of their largest senior classes in recent history – 10 members.
OHIO STATE AS OF LATE
The Buckeyes bounced back after a tough weekend at Maryland with two midweek victories over Morehead State to improve to 6-0 all-time vs. the Eagles. Ohio State posted its first shutout of the year in game one, 1-0, before taking game two, 7-3. Austin Woodby tossed five scoreless frames to improve to 4-1, while Ryan Leffel scored the lone run of the game on a RBI double in the bottom of the second. In game two, Daulton Mosbarger made his first collegiate start, tossing 4.1 innings, while Kyle Michalik threw a career-high 3.2 scoreless frames to earn his first collegiate win. Troy Montgomery and Nick Sergakis both homered in the contest. Ohio State is 5-1 in midweek games in 2016.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights travel to Columbus with a 15-17 overall record and 2-4 mark in Big Ten play. Rutgers enter the weekend having won six of their last eight and seven of 10. Rutgers is No. 58 in the latest D1Baseball.com RPI with 18th-toughest strength of schedule. For the season, R.J. Devish, batting .406), has reached base in 30 of 31 games to accumulate a .540 on-base percentage to lead the conference and rank 10th nationally. Rutgers leads the Big Ten with 71 stolen bases, followed by the Buckeyes with 53. Jawuan Harris leads the conference in swipes, going 24-of-27 in 2016 and good for fifth-best in the nation. Rutgers is hitting .261 as a team, while the RU pitching staff has collected a 4.10 team ERA with 235 strikeouts to 139 walks in 274.1 innings pitched.
SERIES HISTORY
Ohio State leads the all-time series vs. Rutgers, 5-3. Last year, the Buckeyes took two of three games in the team’s first B1G trip to Piscataway, N.J., March 27-29, 2015. The Buckeyes won game one, 13-4, before falling 4-2, on a walk-off home run in game two vs. the Scarlet Knights. Ohio State edged Rutgers on the mound in game three by a score of 1-0.
THE LONG BALL
Just looking at the numbers, the Buckeyes’ home run total is up dramatically in 2016. The team has already surpassed season total from a year ago (35). The 36 home runs lead the Big Ten and ranks 12th in the nation. The Ohio State outfield trio of Dawson, Montgomery and Bosiokovic has combined for 21 homers in 2016.
TOTAL TALLY BY YEAR
2016 – 36 (33 games)
2015 – 35 (55 games)
2014 – 23 (58 games)
2013 – 19 (58 games)
2012 – 21 (60 games)
2011 – 20 (53 games)
2010 – 38 (51 games)
PRODUCTIVE AND POWER HITTING
The team is getting productive and powerful hitting up and down its lineup. Six players have 10 or more extra base hits. The power rangers include:
Ronnie Dawson: 10 2Bs, 3 3Bs, 6 HRs
Nick Sergakis: 12 2Bs, 1 3B, 6 HRs
Troy Montgomery: 10 2Bs, 0 3B, 6 HRs
Jacob Bosiokovic: 4 2Bs, 0 3B, 9 HRs
Brady Cherry: 4 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 5 HRs
Troy Kuhn: 10 2Bs, 0 3B, 0 HR
SURGIE BABY
Senior co-captain infielder Nick Sergakis has been one of the top hitters in the Big Ten through 33 games of the 2016 season, leading the league in doubles (12) and total bases (81). He reached base in 28 straight contests to begin the season and had a career-high 11-game hit streak snapped last weekend. Not only that, the power numbers are up as well. Sergakis has a season-high six home runs already and just surpassed his season-high doubles total (12). A native of Columbus, Ohio, Sergakis is second in slugging (.628), tied for fourth in hits (49) and RBI (27), tied for fifth in home runs (6), seventh in on-base percentage (.467) and eighth in batting average (.380). He also has a career-best eight steals, good for 13th in the league.
BOSI AT THE PLATE
Despite missing nine games in March, redshirt junior right fielder Jacob Bosiokovic is second in the conference with nine home runs. He knocked a walk-off home run March 27 to claim a 6-5 win over Northwestern before blasting a two-run home run at Ohio March 29 in Athens. He homered for the ninth time in a win over Bethune-Cookman last weekend in Columbus. Bosiokovic was named Big Ten Player of the Week and Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week Feb. 22 after launching three home runs during the opening weekend. He is not your typical two-hole hitter.
TOP 10 NATIONALLY ON THE MOUND
Ohio State has a team ERA of 3.41 ERA and leads the conference with 280 strikeouts. The staff’s strikeout-to-walk-ratio is fifth nationally (3.29), while the squad’s walks allowed per nine innings is eighth in the country (2.58).
VERY, VERY EFFICIENT
The trio of Tanner Tully, Adam Niemeyer and John Havird has collected an ERA of 3.10 with a combined 12 quality starts with a strikeout-to-walk ratio at an impressive 6.10. Niemeyer has fanned 41 batters to four walks (10.25) followed by Havird (4.3) and Tully (3.8). The OSU bullpen has a combined ERA 2.87 with 123 strikeouts to 39 walks (3.43). Michael Horejsei has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.0 with a season-high 24 strikeouts, while Seth Kinker sits at 3.5 with 21 strikeouts to six walks.
SOME MORE NOTES
- The Buckeyes are outscoring opponents, 204-140, and 74-39 from the seventh inning on
- Ohio State is 16-3 when leading after seven innings and 18-3 when leading after eight frames.
- The Buckeyes are 10-1 when not committing an error and 8-1 when holding opponents to two runs or less.
- The Scarlet and Gray is 8-0-1 when scoring in the first inning.
- Sergakis leads the team with 15 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI contests.
- Washington leads the Big Ten, throwing out 11 base stealers in 2016 (37 percent).
- Sergakis is hitting .373 with runners on base (37-for-96), while Montgomery is batting .424 (25-for-59) when leading off.
- Cherry leads the team with 11 two-out RBI, while Dawson follows with 10 two-out RBI.
- Daulton Mosbarger is holding opponent hitters to a .095 average when runners are on base (2-for-21).
- Opposing hitters have just a .170 average (9-for-53) with two outs vs. Tully.
CINCINNATI ON TAP
Ohio State concludes a six-game homestand against Cincinnati at 6:35 p.m. ET April 19 at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.
