Reflections from Aggieland

I went back and looked at Ohio State’s stats from last weekend and was surprised to see the Buckeyes batted .327 (36-for-110) compared to .264 (28-for-106) the first week of the season. The weakest part of the lineup continues to be the No. 2 and No. 3 holes. Tony Kennedy has batted No. 2 five times this season and Cory Rupert has batted there once. The two have combined for a .240 batting average. Kennedy is 5-for-20 there, while Rupert was 1-for-5. The average might be more acceptable lower in the batting order, but not what you want if the lead-off man gets on base. Even worse, the No. 3 hitter is batting just .174. Ryan Dew has batted in the No. 3 hole and is 4-for-23. After six games, it might be worth moving him later in the batting order and giving someone else a shot. That someone might be Ryan Meade, who is batting .320 as a true freshman and lead all starters in the Dominos Pizza Aggie Classic with a .462 (6-for-13) in earning a spot on the all-tournament team.

The biggest difference from week one to week two was on the mound, where the ERA went way up. In Millington in games against Arkansas State, Memphis and Seton Hall, the Buckeyes managed a 1.33 ERA. A week later, against much better competition in College Station, the ERA in the three games against Texas A&M, Louisiana Tech and Arkansas, swelled to 5.76. Dean Wolosiansky (0 ER/5.0 IP/0.00 ERA) did not allow a run in his five innings in a winning start Saturday vs. Louisiana Tech and earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Dan DeLucia (3 ER/3.1 IP/6.23 ERA) and J.B. Shuck (6 ER/5.0 IP/10.80) struggled by comparison in their starts. That is a 6.08 ERA by starting pitching. The bullpen didn’t fare much better, allowing seven earned runs in 11.2 innings for a 5.40 ERA. The entire staff walked 15 (eight by relievers), hit four batters and balked twice. Wolosiansky is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA in two appearances and one start totaling 8.0 innings. Jake Hale will only help the pitching staff when he returns this weekend in West Palm Beach.

Fielding continues to plague the Buckeyes early this season. The team has committed 14 errors through six games and has a .942 fielding percentage. Ohio State did not have an error against Arkansas, but had errors in the first five games of the season, including three each in four of those contests. The fielding will come, hopefully before the start of conference play in less than a month.

Photos from Dominos Pizza Aggie Classic

Bill Wells submitted these photos he took from the Dominos Pizza Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas, Feb. 29-March 2. Thanks again, Bill.


Dean Wolosiansky pitched the Buckeyes to victory Saturday vs. Louisiana Tech. He tossed 5.0 scoreless innings and struck out six.


Ryan Meade was 3-for-4 and scored three runs Sunday vs. Arkansas.


Cory Kovanda was 2-for-4 Friday vs. Texas A&M.



Cory Rupert was 1-for-4 and drove in two runs Friday vs. Texas A&M.



J.B. Shuck was 4-for-5 with two RBI Saturday vs. Louisiana Tech.


Justin Miller was 3-for-4 and knocked in two Saturday vs. Louisiana Tech.

To submit your photos, please email BuckeyeNine@gmail.com. If you submit your photos or videos you automatically give permission for their use on The Buckeye Nine.

Meade, Wolosiansky Named to All-Tourney Team

Ohio State infielder Ryan Meade and pitcher Dean Wolosiansky were named to the Dominos Pizza Classic All-Tournament Team by a vote of sports information directors and media covering the tournament at Texas A&M University.

Texas A&M finished 3-0 in their own event. Arkansas was 2nd with a 2-1 record while Ohio State was third at 1-2. Louisiana Tech finished the event 0-3.

Wolosiansky improved to 2-0 after getting the win Saturday vs. Louisiana Tech. He pitched 5.0 shutout innings and allowed six hits while striking out six.

Meade was 5-for-14 in the three games with three RBI and 5 runs scored. He was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and scored three runs in the loss to Arkansas on Sunday.

The Buckeyes return to action next weekend at the Papa John's Palm Beach Challenge at the Santaluces Sports Complex in West Palm Beach, Fla.

From Earlier Friday

Earlier Friday at the Dominos Pizza Classic Arkansas downed Louisiana Tech 9-8 in walk-off fashion.

From Hogwired.com, the official athletics web site at Arkansas... Senior Aaron Murphree connected with the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth inning from Louisiana Tech closer Aaron Lorio for a two-run, walk-off home run to straight-away center field that gave Arkansas a 9-8 win.

Here is the recap from the Louisiana Tech site with box score.

Ohio State plays Louisiana Tech Saturday at 1:30 p.m., ET, while the Razorbacks will play Texas A&M Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Scouting the Opposition in Aggie-Land

TEXAS A&M: Ohio State opens the Dominos Pizza Classic against tournament host Texas A&M Friday at 7:30 p.m., ET. The Aggies had a disappointing opening weekend, splitting four home games vs. Northern Colorado. They took two wins from McNeese State Tuesday and Wednesday and enter the tournament with a 4-2 record. Brian Ruggiano leads the Aggies with a .529 batting average while Dane Carter backs him up with a .438 average. The two A&M home runs have come off their bats. The Ags are hitting .286 as a squad. A&M has not announced who will throw against the Buckeyes, but left-hander Kirkland Rivers (0-0, 7.20) got the ball on opening day in the 9-5 victory over the Bears. Three righties – Kyle Thebeau (0-1, 1.69), Barret Loux (0-0, 3.60) and Scott Migl (0-0, 2.84) – started the other three games against Northern Colorado. A&M returns six starters and 13 pitchers from last year’s team that finished 48-19 overall, won the Big 12 Championship and advanced to an NCAA Super Regional.

LOUISIANA TECH: The Buckeyes and Bulldogs play Saturday at 1:30 p.m., ET. Louisiana Tech is 6-0 after following a Tuesday sweep of Texas-Arlington with a win Wednesday at Louisiana-Monroe. Last weekend, the team swept three games from McNeese State. Rightfielder Jericho Jones and third baseman Chris Kersten pace the Bulldogs with batting averages of .478 and .476, respectively. Through six games the team is batting .342 and is outscoring opponents 71-18. La Tech started three righties last weekend in the series with McNeese State, including Luke Burnett (0-0, 9.00), Jones (1-0, 4.32) and Dylan Moseley (1-0, 0.00), in that order. Burnett and Moseley lasted only 4.0 innings and Jones went 8.1. Jones, who allowed four runs on four hits and struck out 10, is expected to start against Ohio State. The pitching staff has a collective 2.33 ERA. Louisiana Tech just missed making the NCAA tourney last season, finishing 35-24 overall and 14-10 in the WAC.

ARKANSAS: Ohio State and Arkansas meet Sunday at noon, ET. The Razorbacks are 4-0 entering play this weekend after sweeping a three-game set vs. Wright State at the beautiful Charlie Baum Stadium in Fayetteville. They also added a 2-1 win Wednesday vs. Kansas. A game against Southeast Missouri State was cancelled because of freezing temps. Three Hogs are batting better than .400, including Andy Wilkins (.462), Aaron Murphree (.462) and Logan Forsythe (.429). The squad is batting .260 collectively. The entire starting rotation is gone from a team that finished 43-21 and won the SEC West a season ago. James Mahler (0-0, 7.71), Shaun Seibert (0-0, 11.57) and Kendall Korbal (0-0, 2.25), all right-handers, started in that order last week in the sweep of the Raiders.

Ohio State posted its official release for this weekend. See you in College Station. Go Bucks!

Ohio State heads to Texas A&M Tourney

This weekend, the Buckeye Nine heads to the Dominos Pizza Classic in College Station, Texas. Ohio State will open the tournament against host Texas A&M Friday at 7:30 p.m., ET before taking on Louisiana Tech Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Buckeyes will conclude play Sunday against Arkansas with the first pitching coming at noon. That game will be televised by Cox Sports. If you are going to the game, don’t forget Texas operates on Central Time.

The weather was cold for the Buckeyes the opening weekend near Memphis, but they will play in warm conditions in College Station where high temperatures will be in the 70s and lows in the mid 50s all three days of the event. Your friends and co-workers will be jealous of your tan, but please don’t forget the sun screen.