Buckeye Baseball News and Notes 7/28

It has been awhile and quite a bit has occurred since last Friday.

We have updates on the latest starts of our Buckeye hurlers and position players finding their way "home". A second ex-Buckeye completes the coaching staff of Greg Beals. Lastly we get our first glimpse at who the Buckeyes will be playing in 2011, trust me you'll want to see this.



Alumni

With how heavy this update is on current Buckeye players and program notes I'll have an alumni update later in the week.

Current Players

Buckeye Pitchers Have Mixed bag of Results

Starting with the most expeirenced Buckeye pitcher going into he 2011 season, senior Dean Wolosiansky is continuing a phenominal summer. The Uniontown native pitched his second consecutive eight-inning one-run game. In Monday's 3-1 win over Dubois County Wolosiansky struck out seven over the eight innings while allowing four walks and five hits in addition to the one run. Improving to 5-1 Wolosiansky has a 1.33 ERA in 61 innings with 50 strikeouts against 41 hits and 23 walks. Wolosiansky did throw 141 pitches, yes 141 pitches so it will be interesting to see how he follows this up. He threw 136 in a game earlier this month as well.

Moving SE from the Prospect League over to the Valley League In a 2-1 loss to Waynesboro Drew Rucinski pitched two scoreless and hitless innings of relief for Luray while recording a strikeout.

The last stop comes in the Coastal Plains League where on back-to-back nights, Buckeye pitchers had so-so outings. Sophomore Brett McKinney fell back to .500 on the summer as he was the pitcher of record in Asheboro's 10-5 loss to Outer Banks last Friday evening. McKinney went four innings in his latest start, allowing six runs, four earned off six hits and five walks with three strikeouts. Control has been an issue for McKinney all season who now has 20 in 25 innings as he is now 2-2 with a 6.12 ERA.

On Saturday it was Jared Strayer's turn to take the mound for the Copperheads. Faring a bit better than his Buckeye counterpart, Strayer went five innings surrendering five runs, four earned off seven hits with a pair of walks while striking out five. Strayer received a no decision as Asheboro defeated Petersburg 10-6

Buckeyes Move Around the Diamond

In the mentioned Luray-Waynesboro game senior Brian DeLucia saw playing time at third base, a position that is "home" to him. DeLucia came to Ohio State from Bishop Watterson High School as a third baseman before moving to the outfield for the 2010 season. DeLucia isn't the only Buckeye to find himself in a familiar position, as Matt Streng saw playing time at both third and short stop this past weeked for the Delaware Cows.

Streng who has played first base for the Buckeyes for most of the 2009 and 2010 seasons, was a middle-infielder during his playing days at Upper Arlington, and was even used at third base during fall practices a year ago. With a new coaching staff on hand, the depature of eight seniors, three underclassmen, and versitale players, it is safe to say the Bucks could and will outfit a completely different squad for the 2011 season than the one we have known in Columbus for the last 2-3 seasons.

Program News
Former Buckeye Ace Josh Newman Completes Staff

It was announced yesterday that former Buckeye ace Josh Newman will complete the new coaching staff led by Greg Beals as the Buckeyes volunteer assistant coach.

A native of Wheelersburg, Ohio and a 2004 Ohio State graduate with a degree in history, Newman ranks third all-time on the Ohio State career wins (32), innings pitched (369.0) and strikeouts (291) lists. He was a freshman All-American in 2001 and a three-time all-Big Ten honoree, including a first-team selection in 2004. He posted eight victories in each of his four seasons as a Buckeye starter and in the process posted a 17-8 record vs. Big Ten Conference foes. He had 17 complete games during his career.

"I have been blessed," Newman said. "I have a beautiful family; I received a great education/athletic career from OSU; I fulfilled a childhood dream to play professional baseball and now I get to continue in the sport...to be a part of other baseball players' dreams. No one will work harder and be more committed to see those through. I am proud to a part of the Buckeye family once more."

Buckeyes set to face Trojan, Bruins, and Bulldogs

If you're a follower of my Twitter account, you noticed on Monday evening some pretty big news came out regarding the Buckeyes' 2011 season. News that was quite the shock and unbelievable. The Scarlet & Gray will take part in the 2011 Dodgertown Classic in Los Angeles alongside hosts USC and UCLA. The Bruins were the 2010 College World Series runners-up, with Georgia rounding out the field, March 11th-13th.

On March 11th the Buckeyes will face USC on their home campus of Dedeaux Stadium, return for a March 12th game against UCLA, then close out the tournament on March 13th with Georgia. The Buckeyes are 4-3 all-time against the Trojans, 0-1 against UCLA, and 5-10 versus Georgia, however the Buckeyes hold the most recent victory a 13-6 defeat of UGA in the 2009 Tallahassee Regional.

There will be much more on this as I am in the process of speaking to USC head coach Chad Kreuter about the Dodgertown Classic. Be sure to check back for more.