Buckeyes Fall in Opener to Hawkeyes 7-0

Those who followe my twitter know, but I have had a bit of a family issue with my mother having a tumor and ultimately surgery on the 26 of the month, it's thrown a fell things in loop of late, work hours, financial priorities, actual desire to write, but I'm back for now.

As the weather finally feels a bit like spring, unfortunately the season is in its final stages, in little over two weeks from now the Big Ten will have its representative for the NCAA tournament and nine other schools will be looking at 2012. So as we are in these final weekends, the importance of the games magnify and unfortunately for the Bucks the heat and pressure kicks up a bit with tonight's 7-0 loss to Iowa (8-11, 19-27).

Michigan Series Preview

Before providing a preview on the Michigan Wolverines (13-25, 6-6), here are a few links from outside publications relating to the Ohio State baseball team.

Mark Znidar of The Columbus Dispatch has a story on Andrew Armstrong and his recovery from arm surgery as the pitcher operates well following surgery.

Jeff Svoboda of Buckeye Sports Bulletin provides a preview of the weekend and touches on catcher Greg Solomon's impact on the team in his first season.

The Lantern has.... nothing. There isn't an online story of Ohio State baseball nor Michigan weekend from the student newspaper of Ohio State

But Michigan's student newspaper, The Michigan Daily has a nice trio of articles, as Michigan, O'Neill sets to face Ohio State. They also have a lengthy feature on O'Neill with a story on community, identity, and baseball, and lastly they touch on the Big Ten with a midseason glimpse.

Now for more on the weekend with the Wolverines

Special Frienship Adds Twist to Special Rivalry

Close your eyes for a moment and think back to when you were 13 and think of your best friend. The person who knew you better than anyone else. The one who knew how you got the scar on your knee. The one whose house you spent just as much time in as yours. The friend you laughed with, cried with, and would go to bat for time and time again.

Now, imagine that friend trying to conquer you in a midst of angst, hatred, and disdain, now having to go at bat against him.

Welcome to the weekend of Ohio State first baseman and pitcher Josh Dezse and fellow freshman Michigan outfielder Michael O’Neill.

2012 Scheduling Tidbits

While the final product is far from a reality, a few interesting tidbits have been made public or shared of the Ohio State schedule that can be passed along.

As shared by opposing coach Dan McDonnell the midweek series between Louisville and Ohio State is set to resume after the year hiatus, though the teams did tangle in game two of the season in the Big East-Big Ten Challenge.

The dates with the Cardinals are just two games against consistent NCAA Regional programs fans can expect the Buckeyes to face next season.

Sandusky's Xavier Turner Is Third '12 Commit

Picture credited to Jason Werling of the Sandusky Register

The recruiting efforts of the Ohio State staff are show in the abilities to receive early commitments from players not yet finished with their junior season. The trend continues as Ohio State's class of freshmen for the 2012-13 season has now grown by one with the commitment of infielder Xavier Turner of Sandusky.

Turner joins Delaware's Jacob Bosiokovic and Canton South's Logan Bowels as part of the 2012 recruiting class.

Game with Bobcats Washed Out, Michigan Awaits

Once again Ohio State lost an opportunity to take the field due to the weather as an unfavorable forecast mixed rain off and on throughout the evening hours saw the Wednesday night date between the Buckeyes and Bobcats be cancelled.

Without a midweek game, the Buckeyes surely chomping at the bit to get back on the diamond, and who better to take out the anticipation and frustration if you're an Ohio State fan than against Michigan.

As the Maize and Blue venture into Columbus for a key series, where both teams are tied for fourth in the Big Ten at 6-6, the marketing and promotions department have a weekend full of events to encourage fans far and wide to head to Bill Davis Stadium this weekend to support the Buckeyes.

Marshall - Ohio State Rained Out

Surprise surprise, rain has once again found its way intro Central Ohio and as a result tonight's game between Marshall and Ohio State has been canceled. Ironically this is a game that was just added to the schedule last week to make up for lost games but Mother Nature is proving to be a trickier customer for the Bucks than BBCOR bats and wild pitches.

As a result of the season's fifth game lost to rain, the Buckeyes will now next be in action tomorrow, April 27, on the road at Ohio.

Ohio State News & Notes

Just a collection of news and notes on all things Ohio State baseball that is on the Internet. In this update we hear from on of Ohio State's latest class of 2011 commits, a former Buckeye on the cusp of the majors, and the midweek previews from the Ohio State Athletic Communications on Marshall and Ohio who the Buckeyes respectively host and travel to on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Examining the Buckeyes at Big Ten's Midpoint I

To catch up on things, I'm attempting to look at the Buckeyes team as it enters the back-half of the Big Ten schedule. To be honest, I really do not know what to make of the team collectively.

Some Big Ten statistics are great such as the few hits the opposition has collected, the slugging percentage, batting average, opponents average. While some statistics are ugly and don't match the supplementing numbers such as ERA and runs scores.

Maybe when more digging comes up some sense could be made of where the team stands in the Big Ten picture, but for now an individual breakdown of the team is the best bet to start at, which today we begin with the starting pitchers.

Buckeyes continue see-saw season with loss

It has nearly been a month since I last spoke on the Ohio State baseball team. As I resume those duties I realize not much as changed. I last updated the Buckeyes' record with the team at 8-10 overall and 0-0, on the eve of the Big Ten season. I come back with the team having gone 2-2 in non-conference play, defeating Akron twice, while falling to Bowling Green and Miami, while going 6-6 in conference play, to leave Ohio State still 2 games under .500 at 16-18, with the even conference mark after today's 10-9 loss to Penn State.

Quick Update; Partnering with FOX Sports Ohio

Like the Buckeyes I too have been out west. Was in Las Vegas the 14-23 visiting family as well as taking in TCU-UNLV for a feature for PerfectGame.

As hectic as the Ohio State schedule was with the rainouts, postponements, and such so was mine, by the way the weather wasn't overly great in Nevada either, infinitely better than Ohio, but the same stuff that bothered NorCal was providing too many clouds and wind in the valley.

My story aside, have a bit of news to announce.

Through my efforts at Buckeye State Baseball, a partnership with FOX Sports Ohio has been established where they will carry the BSB content and become the premiere source for college baseball in the region. While I am undoubtedly proud of my efforts and what BSB has turned into, I am more thrilled that the game of college baseball will receive more exposure.

This doesn't change anything for the Buckeye Nine, other than make it easier to blog as I'll have a set FSO schedule, but it does change things quite a bit for BSB.

Outside of that it has been a miserable run in California for the Buckeyes. Ohio State has two games left with Cal State-Bakersfield. Come Sunday I'll speak on the spring break trip and where the Buckeyes stand going into conference play. Until then, lets hope they can pick up a game or two and not quite yet panic that the sky is falling.

Black Knights Blitz Buckeyes in Blunder-filled Besting

The only good that came with today's embarrassing loss to Army is that it allowed myself the chance to work on alliteration as you can see in the title. Outside of that, the Buckeyes took a giant step backwards in falling 14-9 to an Army team that came in with just one win in 11 contests.

This is a bad loss.

This is a bad loss that stings more as I see St. John's is only 5-8 taking away any thought that Ohio State has a quality win to their record, not sure how I was oblivious to the Johnnies struggles but back to today.

The saying strong up the middle is apparently falling on deaf ears for the Buckeye players as a combined five errors were made between the catcher, shortstop, and center fielder. In total the Buckeyes committed six errors which led to six unearned runs. After 11 games Ohio State now has 19 errors which has led to 19 unearned runs.

Buckeye Flaws Exposed in Loss

As excited as I had been after three weekends and a 5-3 start, I made sure to drive home the point that four of the five wins have come against pretty bad competition. Even the win against St. John's doesn't appear to be what it was thought to be. Regardless, Ohio State had beat bad teams as a good team does.

But they're still a bit from keeping up with the good teams as today's 12-1 loss to Illinois State proves.

Bucks Finish Weekend 1-0

The constant rains that have washed through Central Ohio the last three days have also wrecked havoc on most of the southeastern United States and were not too kindly on our baseball team.

After having yesterday's game against host Western Carolina moved up, delayed, and ultimately postponed, the same with a projected evening game against Akron, today has fared no better, as weather will not allow the Bucks to play the final two games of the weekend.

The Buckeyes return to Columbus with a Friday's 7-1 win over Army to sit at 5-3 on the year. No make-up game with Western Carolina should be expected, but the game with Akron led by former Buckeye assistant Pat Bangtson may have one last life. The Bucks and Zips are scheduled to play a midweek game, April 13, in Columbus, perhaps that now turns into a doubleheader? We shall see.

Ohio State return to action, and return to Florida, next weekend where they will see Army again, as well as play Yale and Illinois State.

Random Buckeye Baseball Notes

Just a quick rundown of things that are related to Ohio State baseball. I've tweeted these things, but for those not hit to twitter, a few newsworthy notes.

Series moved to Target Field.
With the Metrodome down and unplayable, the season-ending series versus the Gophers has been moved to the home of the Minnesota Twins, Target Field.

Ohio State gained a commitment for 2011
Outfielder Pat Porter a soon to be 2011 graduate of Kenston has committed to Coach Greg Beals and the Ohio State program. He appears to be the first post-early signing period snag for Beals.

Just a reminder Ohio State has two class of 2012 commit, the first in two-way player Jacob Bosiokovic from Delware Hayes, who appears to be an OF at the collegiate level. Right-handed pitcher Logan Bowles of Canton South is the other high school junior who has a verbal commitment to Ohio State.

Six Buckeyes in pro spring training camps
Pirates outfielder Eric Fryer (05-07) and Astros outfielder JB Shuck (06-08) have received their first invites to big league spring training camp. Those two join Orioles outfielder Matt Angle (05-07), Padres southpaw Cory Luebke (05-07), and Yankee Nick Swisher (00-02) as Buckeyes returning to Major League spring training sites. Outfielder Doug Deeds (99-02) received a non-roster invite from the Texas Rangers.

Hello 2011 Baseball

I did not intend to take such a lengthy, unannounced, and inconvenient break, but it happens. Normally I'd feel bad in such situations, but all things considered; school, work, professional aspirations, and just living the life of an amazing 24-year-old, I don't.

Baseball is fun, supporting Ohio State can be too, but devoting the hours I may want to or need to with everything I want to do with the coverage just isn't going to happen.

But I know my words through the Buckeye Nine can be at times both insightful and informative so I will make a better effort to update during the season. I've learned to not make promises, but ideally I would like to have and keep it to three or so posts a week; any midweek and random news or Buckeye-baseball related feature, a weekend look, and a weekend recap. I think, keyword being think, I can handle that. If not, this is fair warning that posts may or may not come up as scheduled.

Anyhow catching up on the season for the 5-3 Buckeyes so far with a few thoughts...

Does Lee Signing Make The Phillies The Heat Of Baseball?

To help cover some of the expenses that come with trying to keep up with as much Buckeye baseball as possible, advertising on the sidebars may pop up in the future, or articles with links within in it, such as this, may occasionally pop up. Here is a quick post on the biggest professional news from the last week.

Initial Fall Practice Thoughts Pt. II

As soon as I published part I I immediately thought of a handful of other notes and thoughts I had from the fall session of practices and intra-squad series. So without further delay, here are more bullet-points of Buckeye tidbits.

Initial Thoughts from Fall Practices

I've put this to the side for quite some bit and I apologize, midterms and other stuff have greatly hindered my time.

But to get back to discussing the current Buckeyes I wanted to share a few thoughts before I really dig into what unfolded and what to expect come spring for the Scarlet and Gray.

Early Signing Period Wrap Pt. I

As mentioned yesterday the Early Signing Period is Nov. 10-17. While many student-athletes have ceremonies and submit their NLI on the first day of the period, the entire week is allowed for the letters to be submitted.

As a result Ohio State provided a release stating Aaron Gretz, Eric Haase, Matt Panek, and Matt Wisler did indeed submit their NLIs and are officially a part of Buckeye Nation.