Ohio State at Iowa

Whoa! I missed today's story in the Columbus Dispatch. Umm, where have you been all season?

It is time for rare Thursday Big Ten baseball. Ohio State opens a four-game series tonight at Iowa at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City. By moving all five Big Ten series up a day it gives teams competing in next week's Big Ten tournament an extra day of rest.

Ohio State is in decent shape to qualify for a 12th conseutive appearance in the Big Ten tournament. That streak is the longest in the league. The Buckeyes have actually played in 19 of the last 20 tournaments. They are also trying to win 30 games for the 23rd consecutive season.

Ohio State Buckeyes
(28-22, 13-13 Big Ten)
vs.
Iowa Hawkeyes
(20-31; 8-20 Big Ten)

The Schedule
Thursday: 7 p.m., ET
Friday (DH): 5 p.m., ET
Saturday: 2 p.m., ET

Following the Action
AM 920 WMNI will broadcast games one, three and four, but all four games can be heard with a subscription to ohiostatebuckeyes.com, which also offer live stats free of charge.

Ohio State vs. Iowa
State leads the all-time series with Iowa, 64-41-1 and has won or tied 11 consecutive series. The Buckeyes have won five consecutive series and is 7-0-4 in four-game series dating back to the first four-game series between the teams: a 3-1 Iowa win in 1990. A few more series notes:
• Coach Bob Todd’s teams are 33-18 vs. Iowa.
• Ohio State has won 16 of the last 20 games in the series.
• Ohio State has taken three consecutive series in Iowa City by 3-1 margins.
• Iowa won game three last year in Columbus, 8-0.
• Tony Kennedy had 5 runs, 6 hits and 7 RBI last year vs. Iowa.
• Ryan Dew had 3 runs and 4 RBI in G4.
• Justin Miller had 3 runs and 6 hits.
• Cory Kovanda was 5-for-14 at the plate.

Probable Starters from OhioStateBuckeyes.com
G1: RHP Jake Hale (5-3, 4.60 ERA) vs. RHP Brock Alberts (4-3, 5.93 ERA)
G2: LHP Dan DeLucia (2-3, 5.06 ERA) vs. RHP Steve Turnbull (3-5, 7.30 ERA)
G3: RHP Dean Wolosiansky (7-2, 3.82) vs. RHP Tony Manville (1-1, 6.75 ERA)
G4: LHP J.B. Shuck (4-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. LHP Michael Jacobs (2-5, 7.02 ERA)

Buckeye Bullets
• Ohio State’s current three-game win streak ties its longest such streak of the season.
• The team’s four-run ninth inning and subsequent 14-13 win over Buffalo was the first time this season the team won a game after trailing going into the ninth.
• Ohio State is now 20-2 this season when leading after six innings; 3-15 when trailing.
• Two Buckeyes - J.B. Shuck and Justin Miller - continue to hit above .350 in Big Ten games. Shuck is at .406. Miller is at .359.• The doubleheader win Saturday over Illinois represented Ohio State’s first doubleheader sweep this season.
• Ten different Buckeyes scored runs during the Illinois series, with Tony Kennedy and Zach Hurley leading the way with four apiece.
• Ohio State is 11-4 this season when it has three or more extra base hits in a game.
• Ohio State is 10-4 this season in games it walks two or fewer batters.

Big Ten Standings
Michigan 23-4
Purdue 18-9
Illinois 15-12
Penn State 15-13
Ohio State 13-13
Northwestern 13-15
Michigan State 12-14
Indiana 11-17
Minnesota 8-19
Iowa 8-20

Other Big Ten Games this Week
Northwestern at Michigan, Indiana at Michigan State, Penn State at Minnesota, Purdue at Illinois.

Next Week
May 21-24, Big Ten Tournament at Ray Fisher Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich.