Three Wins In Florida Get Coach To Milestone
Bob Todd
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ohio State head coach Bob Todd picked up the 1,000th win of his career, a 20-9 victory over Richmond Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville, Fla.
The ABCA Hall of Famer became just the 41st head coach in college baseball history to achieve the feat.
“I have been in coaching for a long time and had some very talented players and assistant coaches,” Todd said. “To win 1,000 is a great honor for me.”
12 Buckeyes had an RBI in the game including all nine starters. Matt Streng finished 2-for-5 with five runs scored and Chris Griffin finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI off the bench. Ryan Dew also had three hits and two runs scored for Ohio State.
For the third game in a row, the Buckeyes took a lead in the first two innings. This time, Ohio State used three walks, two hit batters and a two-out RBI single by Dan Burkhart to take a 4-0 lead after the top of the second. The Spiders took advantage of four Ohio State errors in the bottom half of the frame to cut the lead in half at 4-2 after two innings.
The Buckeyes then responded by posting a nine-run third capped off by a three-run long ball by Brian DeLucia. All nine Buckeyes scored a run in the inning which included a single, double, DeLucia’s home run, four walks, an error and a hit batter.
After the Spiders scored two in the bottom of the fourth, Ohio State answered right back with a pair to make it 15-4 in the top of the fifth when Matt Streng delivered an RBI double and Chris Griffin came through with a pinch-hit RBI single.
The Spiders scored another pair in the sixth but again the Buckeyes answered back in the seventh as the first three batters reached base and scored in the inning. Richmond scored two more in the bottom half of the inning, making it an 18-8 contest.
The Buckeyes tacked on a run in each of the final two frames to close out the scoring. It was the first time since March 13 of last season against Pittsburgh that Ohio State scored 20-plus runs in a game.
The Buckeyes (3-0) will be back in action in the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge Friday against South Florida in St. Petersburg, Fla. First pitch is slated for 4:30 p.m.
Notes
– After head coach Bob Todd had some difficulty with a bump in the home dugout last night, the sniper attacked team manager Blair Everhart in the visiting dugout before this morning’s contest.
– After wearing the home white uniforms Saturday night, the Buckeyes were back to the red jerseys with white pants Sunday.
– The game was the 11th overall meeting between the Buckeyes and Spiders and first since 2004.
– The Buckeyes’ streak of 21.2 innings without giving up an earned run to start the season ended in the bottom of the 4th.
– Ryan Cypret’s diving stop ranging deep to his left kept a two-run sixth for the Spiders from becoming an even bigger inning as there was a runner on third with two down at the time.
– For the second consecutive game, the Buckeyes forced their opponent to use a starting position as a relief pitcher.
– The last time an Ohio State team scored 40 in the first three games of the season was 1996.