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COLUMBUS, OH - Alex Wimmers has been chosen as the best pitcher in college baseball for the 2010 season. Ohio State’s junior All-American, who fashioned a 9-0 record and a 1.61 earned run average this season, was named by the College Baseball Foundation (CBF) as its National Pitcher of the Year Friday in Lubbock, Texas.

“I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled to learn I had won the award,” Wimmers said. “It just goes to show that hard, hard work truly can pay off.”

Wimmers, just the second winner of the CBF’s National Pitcher of the Year Award after Stephen Strasburg won it last year, was chosen for the honor over an all-star line-up of outstanding collegiate pitchers, including finalists Drew Pomeranz, who was 9-2 with a 2.24 ERA this season for Mississippi, and Chris Sale, the Florida Gulf Coast hurler who was 11-0 with a 2.01 ERA.

Alex Wimmers (OSU photo)

The 10 semifinalists included Arizona State’s Seth Blair, Cal State Fullerton’s Noe Ramirez, Coastal Carolina’s Anthony Meo, Texas’ Chance Ruffin, Texas A&M’s John Stilson, Virginia’s Danny Hultzen and TCU’s Matt Purke.

“It’s such a great honor to be chosen by the College Baseball Foundation for this award,” Wimmers said. “It’s hard to explain what I am feeling. To think that Stephen Strasburg won this award last year and now I’m getting it this year. It’s really crazy, isn’t it? This is just so unbelievable and it truly is an honor.”

The Foundation, in conjunction with the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America, announced its National Pitcher of the Year winner in Lubbock, Texas, as part of its College Baseball Awards Show. The event also included the naming of the Dick Howser Award for the National Player of the Year and the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award. The awards followed the College Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony that took place July 1 in Lubbock.

Bob Todd, Ohio State’s retiring head coach, attended the awards show in support of his ace hurler.

“This is an outstanding award for a very deserving person,” Todd said. “Alex has worked extremely hard and it has made him the pitcher that he is today. I think there would be so many more accolades that would have been bestowed upon Alex if he hadn’t have gotten hurt and missed a month of the season. But all-in-all, I think this is absolutely great for our baseball program at Ohio State to have a national award winner in Alex Wimmers.”

Ironically, the CBF Hall of Fame’s inaugural induction ceremony in 2008 included Ohio State’s Steve Arlin, who set the standard of greatness for an Ohio State pitcher. Arlin, Ohio State’s first two-time first-team All-American, helped lead the Buckeyes to back-to-back appearances at the College World Series in 1965 and 1966 and to its only national championship in 1966.

For his efforts Arlin was honored as the Most Valuable Player at the College World Series in 1966 and is a member of the All-Time College World Series Team and the College World Series Legend’s team. His Ohio State jersey, No. 22, was retired in 2004.

Wimmers, the first Buckeye to win one of the national season-long awards and the second two-time first-team All-America, certainly did his best to reach the rare air of Arlin. After pitching out of the bullpen as a freshman in 2008, Wimmers put together two outstanding seasons as an Ohio State starter.

• He first came onto the college baseball national scene in 2009 when he went 9-2 with a 3.27 ERA and was named first-team All-America by PING! Baseball and second- or third-team All-America by five other awarding publications. He threw the first nine-inning no hitter in Ohio State history May 2 vs. Michigan with 14 strikeouts. He also picked up back-to-back complete game victories with 29 combined strikeouts vs. Indiana (14 Ks) and Pittsburgh. He also got the win vs. No. 2 Miami and he was named Big Ten Conference co-Pitcher of the Year. He led the Big Ten with 136 strikeouts and with a .211 opponents’ batting average.
• In 2010, Wimmers led the Big Ten in ERA and opposing batting average (.218) while posting his 9-0 mark despite missing three starts with a hamstring injury. He was 4-0 with a 1.15 ERA in five Big Ten starts and he was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year at the conclusion of the season, becoming the first back-to-back award winner in Big Ten history.

Career-wise Wimmers, who was drafted in the first round of the 2010 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins, ranks among Ohio State’s all-time Top 5 in four key statistical areas and he is sixth in another. He is fourth at Ohio State in fewest runs allowed (81) and he is fifth in strikeouts (273), fewest earned runs allowed (71) and fewest hits (173). He is also sixth in earned run average (2.94). His 18 career victories rank 23rd. His strikeout total is also good for a tie for 16th-place all-time in the Big Ten Conference.

The College Baseball Foundation was established in 2004 and has inducted 57 greats into its College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock. The group promotes the highest ideals and recognition of greatness on college baseball diamonds in the 150 years since the first intercollegiate contest in 1859 between Amherst and Williams.

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College Baseball Thoughts Heading Into The Season’s Home Stretch

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

The “weekend” starts early this week.  With most conference tournaments starting next Tuesday and Wednesday the start of the last week of most conference regular season series will start this Thursday instead of Friday.  In fact, so many conferences are starting on Thursday this week (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big East to name a few) the Big 12 is about the only conference that is sticking with its regular Friday, Saturday, Sunday schedule.

Peter O'Brien

The MEAC starts its tournament this Thursday.  It would be a major upset if Bethune-Cookman doesn’t win the championship.  The top-seeded Wildcats (32-18, 18-0) are one of just two teams in the six-team field with a winning record (North Carolina A&T at 25-23 overall & 15-3 in league play is the other).  BC’s Peter O’Brien leads the MEAC and is tied for fourth in the nation with 19 home runs.

What happened to Portland? Just two weeks ago the Pilots were the nation’s feel good story heading into a home series with West Coast Conference leader San Diego.  Winners of 11 straight heading into that showdown, they had a chance to make a case for at least an at-large NCAA berth and an outside chance to claim the WCC title.  All that is gone now though.  After being swept by San Diego, Portland (31-16) lost a mid-week game to Washington State and was swept again last weekend by San Francisco.  That’s seven straight losses heading into Wednesday’s (5/18) home game vs. Oregon.  Ben Roethlisberger has about as much of a chance at being named Georgia’s Man of the Year as Portland now has to get an NCAA bid.

What happened to the Big Ten? A year ago at this time there were three Big Ten teams that had a legitimate chance to receive an NCAA bid, and that’s how many bids the league ended-up with.  Ohio State, Minnesota and Indiana all went to regionals, while Illinois just missed out after the Hoosiers won the conference tournament.  There won’t be three bids for the Big Ten this year though.  All ten teams are still in contention for the six spots in the conference tournament, but only the tourney winner will be NCAA bound this year.  Minnesota (25-27, 13-8) leads the conference, while Michigan State (32-17, 10-11) has the best overall record, but sits in a four-way tie for fifth place

Retiring head coach Bob Todd (OSU photo)

heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

Speaking of Ohio State…The Buckeyes have to be the biggest disappointment in the conference.  OSU returned the conference Player and Pitcher of the Year (Dan Burkhart and Alex Wimmers, respectively) from last year’s regular season championship team, but they have floundered their way to a 27-21 overall mark, including 10-11 in conference play.  And if head coach Bob Todd was hoping for a “Corky Palmer effect” by announcing his retirement it hasn’t worked.  Palmer’s Southern Mississippi squad ran a hot streak all the way to Omaha after he announced his retirement before season’s end last year, but Todd’s Buckeyes have gone 3-4 with series losses to Illinois and Iowa since he announced his impending retirement on May 5.

Tony Thompson (KU photo)

Kansas finds itself in a rough situation this weekend. As they head into this weekend’s regular season ending series with Oklahoma, most current bracket projections have the Jayhawks (31-21 DI record, #54 NCAA RPI) staying home for the NCAA Tournament.  A look at the stats shows this year’s team is not much different than last year’s team that finished 39-24 after playing at the Chapel Hill Regional.  This year’s respective team batting average and ERA of .303 and 5.15 are pretty similar to the 2009 marks of .301 and 4.46.  The biggest difference appears to be the absence of the big bat Tony Thompson provided when he won the Big 12’s first triple crown by hitting .389 with 21 home runs and 82 RBIs.  He was one of two Jayhawks to hit double-digit dingers last year, but so far no KU player has reached even 10 long balls in 2010.  Thompson fractured his left knee cap before the season started, and he hasn’t been able to fully regain his form in the 33 games he’s played since his return to the field.  Thompson is batting a respectable .325, but has just five home runs with 35 RBIs.  He also hasn’t seen as many pitches to hit this year.  After walking 21 times in 61 games and 247 at-bats as a sophomore, the junior has drawn 19 free passes in just 126 ABs this season.

Streaks, Upsets And Other Notable Action…

38…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels.  The sophomore extended the nation’s longest active streak with an RBI single in his last at-bat of the game on Sunday with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings (an 8-7 loss to Louisiana-Monroe).  Wittels’ current streak is the longest in

Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)

Division One baseball in the last 11 years.

8…Underdogs that won weekend series vs. CB360 Top 50 teams.  The most notable wins were: #26 Auburn took two of three at #5 Arkansas and  unranked North Carolina State won two of three against #8 Georgia Tech.

7…Straight losses by defending national champion LSU (32-13, 11-10) after dropping all three games in its weekend series at Florida (31-11, 15-6).  The Tigers were swept by Ole Miss last weekend as well.

14…Years (1996) since Florida last swept a series against LSU.

.390…The Gators’ team batting average in their sweep while outscoring the Tigers by a combined 28-14.  Matt den Dekker led Florida’s nine starters who all had at least one hit in Sunday’s finale by going 5-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

4…Strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings pitched, wins this season and RBIs in Sunday’s game by freshman starting pitcher/designated hitter Brian Johnson (4-2), who hit the first grand slam of his young career.

Hunter Morris

2…Home runs hit in an 8-run fifth inning by Auburn’s Hunter Morris in Saturday’s win over Arkansas.  Morris started the inning with a homer and later launched a two-run blast to help the Tigers (30-15, 12-9) total four HR and all eight of their runs in the 8-7 victory.

38…Years since Ole Miss last swept a series vs. Mississippi State in Starkville, MS prior to taking three games from the rival Bulldogs over the weekend at Dudy Noble Field.  The three wins have the Rebels tied for first place with Arkansas in the SEC West.

20…Straight wins by Texas after Sunday’s 4-1 win over Baylor to cap a 3-game weekend sweep.  The 20 consecutive wins are the most at Texas since the 1988 team also rattled-off 20 in a row.

5…Consecutive Big 12 series sweeps by the Longhorns (38-7, 19-2) to help them set a new conference record with 17 straight wins in league play.  The previous record was set in 2008 by Texas A&M.

1…Earned run allowed by Texas starting pitchers, who combined to strike out 29 batters in 33.0 innings in the three games.

12…Scoreless innings pitched in the three games by the Longhorn bullpen, highlighted by Hoby Miner’s four perfect innings to pick-up the win in Saturday’s 2-1 win in 14 innings.

3…Games won by #1 Arizona State at #4 UCLA to give the Sun Devils their first sweep at Jackie Robinson Stadium since 1994.

23-4…Combined score by which the Sun Devils (38-5, 14-4) outscored the Bruins (30-10, 7-8) in the three games.  20 of the 23 runs allowed by the UCLA pitching staff, which came into the weekend with the second best ERA in the nation at 2.80, were earned.

Louisville 1B Andrew Clark (Louisville photo)

7…First inning RBIs by Louisville’s Andrew Clark, who hit both a 3-run blast and a grand slam in the 10-run opening frame of Saturday’s 24-6 win over Rutgers.  Clark ended the game 4-for-4 with 2 HR, 8 RBIs, 4 runs, and a HBP.

16…Barry Larkin’s jersey number, which was retired in Ann Arbor on Saturday prior to the Wolverine’s 3-2 loss to Ohio State.  Larkin played at Michigan from 1983 to 1986.

2…Wins by the Wolverines (27-15, 9-6) over the Buckeyes (24-15, 8-7) to remain tied with Northwestern (18-25, 9-6) atop the Big Ten conference standings.  Ohio State was part of a four-way tie first place heading into the weekend.

0…Innings pitched in the series by Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers, who was a scratch after he  injured a hamstring just moments before Friday’s 4-1 OSU loss.  Wimmers (9-0, 1.61 ERA) entered the weekend tied for the national lead with his nine wins.  His ERA ranks sixth nationally.

17…Game winning streak by #6 Coastal Carolina snapped in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to #3 Virginia.

30…Straight Big South Conference home wins by Coastal Carolina after a weekend 3-game sweep of UNC Asheville in Conway, SC.

22…Game winning streak by # 18 Connecticut snapped in Wednesday’s 7-3 loss to Central Connecticut State.  The Huskies (35-9, 14-3) split two home games vs. #34 Pittsburgh (31-11, 13-4) (game three was rained-out) to maintain a narrow lead over Louisville (36-7, 14-4) at the top of the Big East Conference standings.

24…Game hitting streak by UConn’s Mike Nemeth that ended when he went o-for-4 in a 13-4 loss to Pitt in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader.  Nemeth had extended the streak to 24 earlier in the day when he hit his 9th home run of the season in UConn’s 11-7 game one victory.

12 & 487…Games played and batters faced by Notre Dame pitchers without giving-up a home run.  The longest such

Michael Choice (UTA photo)

stretch for the Irish pitching staff since 2006 ended Friday when Paul Karmas of St. John’s hit a solo shot in the fifth inning of Notre Dame’s 14-5 win.

13…Strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings by North Carolina State’s Jake Buchanen in Friday’s 6-5 win over #8 Georgia Tech.  The effort helped the Wolfpack (28-18, 11-13) take two of three games from the Yellow Jackets (36-9, 17-7) to keep their NCAA hopes alive.

32…Career home runs hit by UT Arlington’s Michael Choice to set a new program record.  Choice hit his 14th HR of the season in Saturday’s win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

16…Of Choice’s home runs that have come in “clutch” situations, including seven tie-breaking shots, five game-tying home runs and two that have provided the eventual winning runs for his team.

10…Strikeouts in 8.0 innings by Florida Gulf Coast pitcher Chris Sale (7-0)  in Friday’s 4-2 win over #27 Clemson to give the Eagles (28-15) their only win in the weekend’s non-conference 3-game series.

16…Strikeouts by Nicholls State’s Clint Dempster in Friday’s 5-3 complete game win over #44 Southeastern Louisiana.

15…RBIs last week by Wichita State’s Preston Springer, who hit .565 (13-for-23) with 9 runs, five doubles and three home runs last week.  Springer helped the Shockers to midweek wins over Big 12 teams Kansas and Oklahoma State.  He hit his first career grand slam against the Cowboys on Wednesday.

3…Home runs by Illinois State third baseman Ryan Court in Saturday’s 18-8 win over Wichita State.  The win gave the Redbirds their first ever run rule victory over the Shockers.

May is upon us, and my questions is:  What happened to April?  The last 30 days just flew right by.  Oh well, I guess that’s what happens.  You know what they say “April showers bring May Madness”…so maybe they don’t really say that, but they should.

(All rankings are based on the exclusive CB360 Composite National Rankings.  RPI is based on the official NCAA rank.)

#1 Arizona State (35-5, 11-4) RPI-3 at #4 UCLA (30-7, 7-5) RPI-8

Gerrit Cole heads a pitching staff that leads the nation in strikeouts.

This is the series we’ve been waiting for all season.  The two Pac 10 teams that started the season with a combined 46-0 record will play three this weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium.  The six probable starting pitchers in the series have a combined 41-5 record.  UCLA entered the week with the second best team ERA in the nation (2.80), while ASU’s (3.21) was the fifth best.  The Sun Devils lead the Pac 10 with a .350 batting average and 84 stolen bases.

How High? The last time a top-five UCLA team played a top-five opponent was April 1997, when the #6 Bruins took two of three games from #2 Stanford.  Both of those teams advanced to the ’97 College World Series.

#13 LSU (32-10, 11-7) RPI-11 at #7 Florida (28-11, 12-6) RPI-2

LSU has won 17 of its last 20 SEC series, but the defending national champions were swept last weekend at Ole Miss.  The Tigers are in second place in the SEC Western Division, two games behind Arkansas.  The Gators are coming off possibly their biggest series win of the season after taking two of three from the Razorbacks, which extended their winning streak to 13 games prior to losing the last two games of that series.  Florida is in second place in the SEC Eastern Division, two games behind overall SEC leader South Carolina.

Gator Bait: Florida has won three of the last four series between the two teams, including the last two series in Gainesville.  READ MORE about this week’s match-up.

#15 Cal State Fullerton (25-13, 10-2) RPI-20 at Pacific (25-14, 7-5) RPI-93

Pacific has never been to an NCAA Regional, which makes this weekend’s series in Stockton vs. Fullerton possibly the

Pacific has never won a series vs. Fullerton on its home field.

biggest series in the history of the program.  Pacific sits in third place in the Big West, three games behind perennial bully Fullerton.  If they have any chance to make a Regional this year, they have to win this series.  Since a sluggish start to the season, Dave Serrano’s Titans have won seven straight and 13 of their last 15 games heading into this key conference series vs. Ed Sprague’s Tigers.  The Tigers made a statement two weeks ago when they won two of three games at UC Irvine.  Pacific took two of three from the Titans in Fullerton last year, but the Tigers have never won a home series vs. the Titans.  Fullerton is 72-11 all-time vs. Pacific.

Just The Stats: The Titans and Tigers rank first and second, respectively, in the Big West in batting average (.336/.333) and fielding percentage (.976/.973).  Fullerton has the second beast ERA (3.89) in the league, while Pacific (5.00) ranks fourth.

#18 UConn (34-8, 14-2) RPI-23 at #34 Pittsburgh RPI-39

This season’s Big East Conference race wasn’t supposed to be a race.  It was supposed to be Louisville and everyone else.  Someone forgot to tell UConn and Pittsburgh.  The Huskies and Panthers site in first and second place, respectively,  in the conference standings heading into the weekend.  UConn’s only Big East series loss was at Louisville, and started a program best 22-game winning streak

Mike Nemeth carries a 24-game hitting streak into this weekend's showdown.

(snapped earlier this week by Central Connecticut State) by winning the finale of that set (they lost the first two games 1-0 & 4-2).  Meanwhile, Pittsburgh was a 9th inning rally away from sweeping Louisville a week after losing two of three to Rutgers.  Pitt’s Corey Baker (9-1, 4.40 ERA) shares the NCAA wins lead.  He is expected to match-up with Elliot Glynn (4-2, 2.16 ERA) in the series-opener.  Glynn’s ERA ranks 18th nationally.

Among The Best: Pitt’s .368 team batting average is second in the nation to Georgia State’s .375 average, while UConn’s 3.67 ERA ranks 10th nationally.  The Huskies also have an amazing five players who have stolen at least 20 bases.  They entered the week ranked fourth in both overall stolen bases (117 now 123) and stolen bases per game (2.93).

Ohio State (23-13, 7-5) RPI-91 at Michigan (25-14, 7-5) RPI-65

This would obviously be a much more attractive national match-up if it were football and not baseball, but this is a big series for both teams.  They enter the weekend in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten Conference standings.  OSU ace Alex Wimmers (9-0, 1.61 ERA) is tied for the NCAA lead with his nine wins, and his ERA also ranks sixth in the nation.  Wimmers started last year’s series vs. Michigan by pitching the first 9-inning no-hitter in Ohio State history, helping the Buckeyes take two of three games from their bitter rivals.  Michigan had won 18  of the previous 24 meetings between the two teams.

X-Factor: Michigan Preseason All-American Ryan LaMarre has played in only 18 games this season after injuring his hand during opening weekend at Texas Tech.  LaMarre is now back in the line-up, and has batted .500 (34-for-68) with two home runs, 24 runs, 17 RBIs, and a 1.286 OPS.

A By The Numbers Look At Another Week Of Action

Kyle Parker (Clemson photo)

Kyle Parker.  The quarterback/outfielder threw 20 touchdowns for the Tigers last fall and became the first “20-15″ player in Division One history after belting a grand slam in Tuesday’s 22-4 win over USC Upstate.  He also tallied his 16th homer of the season in Sunday’s win over North Carolina.

3 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by Parker’s teammate, John Stinson, in that same Tuesday game.  The three HR tied a Clemson single-game record.  Clemson scored 17 of its 22 runs in the first three innings alone.

5…Former college football/baseball players taken in the weekend’s NFL draft- Stanford’s Toby Gerhart (#51-Minnesota Vikings), Notre Dame’s Golden Tate (#60-Seattle Seahawks), LSU’s Chad Jones (#76 New York Giants), Minnesota’s Eric Decker (#87-Denver Broncos), and Florida’s Riley Cooper (#159-Philadelphia Eagles).  Gerhart and Tate were second round picks, Jones and Decker went in the third round, while Cooper was tabbed in the fifth round.

5…At-bats, hits, runs scored, and RBIs by Georgia Tech’s Thomas Nichols, whose two home runs were among his five hits, in Wednesday’s 18-4 win over Georgia Southern.

48…Consecutive seasons Arizona State has won at least 30 games.  The current campaign also marks the 50th time overall the Sun Devils have reached the 30-win mark.

11…Teams, including ASU (33-5), that notched their 30th win before losing their 10th game this season.  Virginia (34-9), Texas (34-7), Georgia Tech (34-7), LSU (32-9), Arkansas (33-8), Coastal Carolina (36-5), South Carolina (32-8), Connecticut (33-7), Louisville (32-7), Vanderbilt (32-10), and TCU (30-8) also accomplished the feat.  UCLA (29-7) and Appalachian State (29-8-1) still have the chance to do it as well.

6…Home runs surrendered in 9.0 innings by UCLA in Tuesday’s 16-5 loss to Long Beach State.  Dirtbag  DH Jordan Cases connected for two of the long balls.

17….Home runs surrendered by UCLA pitchers in the previous 295.0 innings prior to Tuesday’s loss.  The 16 runs and 18 hits allowed by the Bruin pitching staff were also season-highs.

2…Wins by Kansas State over intrastate rival Wichita State both this season and last season.

1952 & 1953…The last time K-State took back-to-back season series from the Shockers.

Christian Bergman (UCI photo)

1…Batter who reached base vs. Christian Bergman in Sunday’s 13-0 UC Irvine win over UC Davis.  Aggie center fielder Daniel Cepin singled on the first pitch he saw, and Bergman then proceeded to retire the next 26 batters he faced.  Cepin was thrown out on a stolen base attempt.

12…Combined errors (six each) by North Carolina State and East Carolina in the Wolfpack’s 8-6 Wednesday win over the Pirates.  The miscues led to a total of eight unearned runs scored.

1977…The last time Notre Dame played in Ann Arbor prior to Michigan’s 3-2 home win on Tuesday.  (The teams played several neutral site games near Grand Rapids, MI over the years.)

13…Two-out runs scored by the Wolverines in Wednesday’s 13-1 win over the Irish in their return trip to Notre

Mike Olt homered twice to help UConn sweep Rutgers (UConn photo).

Dame.

17…Straight wins by Coastal Carolina after a 3-game sweep of VMI.  It’s the second longest winning streak in program history, and the best since the 1983 team won 19 straight.

21…Straight wins by Connecticut-a program record and the third longest winning streak in the nation in 2010-after the weekend’s 3-game sweep of Rutgers.  UConn (33-7, 13-2) entered the weekend tied with the Scarlet Knights for first place in the Big East Conference, but now owns sole possession of the top spot.

300…Career hits by Bryant’s Nick Campbell, who reached the school-record milestone with a double in Saturday’s win over Fairleigh Dickinson.

56 & 2…Respective strikeouts and walks in 64.0 IP this season by Minnesota’s Seth Rosin.  The right-hander had 7 Ks and no walks in 7 2/3 innings in Friday’s 14-0 win over Indiana, the top offensive team in the Big Ten entering the weekend’s action.

15…Strikeouts by North Carolina’s Matt Harvey in Friday’s complete game 5-3 win over Clemson.

156…Pitches thrown by Harvey (including 101 for strikes) to pick-up the victory.

13…Game winning streak by #6 Arkansas that was snapped when #9 Florida won the last two games of their series in Gainesville.

0…Earned runs surrendered in 12 2/3 combined innings by Gator starters Brian Johnson and Hudson Randall Florida’s wins in games two and three of the series.

3 1/3…Scoreless innings pitched by Gator reliever Greg Larson to earn his third save of the year in Saturday’s win that ended the Razorbacks’ 13-game streak.

9…Runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings by Pittsburgh’s Corey Baker en-route to his 9th win of the season.  The Panthers led West Virginia 12-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning and then held-on to win 13-9.

3…Pitchers, including Baker, who lead the nation with nine victories.  He is tied with Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers and Cole Green of Texas.

4…Hits apiece given-up by Wimmers and Green with respective complete game wins over Penn State and Oklahoma State to earn their ninth wins of the year.  Wimmers recorded 10 strikeouts while Green notched five.

Taylor Jungmann (Texas photo)

18-2…Wimmers‘ record over the last two seasons.  The junior is just the third Ohio State pitcher in the last 127 years to start a season 9-0.

19 & 1…Strikeouts recorded and runs allowed in his last two starts (16 innings) by Green’s teammate, Taylor Jungmann.

16…Consecutive wins by Texas, including 14 straight Big 12 contests, after a 3-game sweep of Oklahoma State.  The 16 straight wins are the most for the Longhorns in five years.

4…Runs allowed in their last 49 2/3 innings of Big 12 action by Texas starting pitchers.

2…Consecutive wins by Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech to hand the Yellow Jackets (34-7, 16-5) their first back-to-back losses of the season.  GT salvaged a 14-12 win in Sunday’s series finale.

23:40…Hours and minutes of the rain delay of game two of the series, which Va. Tech won 10-3.  The game was halted by rain Saturday with the Hokies leading 6-0 in the middle of the fourth inning.

7-5…Virginia Tech’s (28-14, 11-10) record vs. top-10 teams over the last four weekends.

3…Wins by Ole Miss over LSU in their weekend series in Oxford, MS. It’s the first time the defending national champs have been swept in an SEC set since 2008.

Ole Miss freshman Alex Yarbrough

2…Of the Rebel wins that came in walk-off fashion.  They won game two 9-8 in 11 innings after Alex Yarbrough’s game winning single on Saturday, and then capped the sweep on Sunday with a 7-6 win thanks to a game-ending RBI single by Kevin Mort.

14…Combined runs allowed in a total of 4 2/3 IP by LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo (9 R in 1 2/3 IP) and Mississippi’s Drew Pomeranz (5 R in 3.0 IP) in the opener of the series, which was played early Saturday afternoon instead of  Friday night after heavy rains forced postponement.

23…Combined strikeouts by UCLA starters Gerrit Cole (10K in 8 IP) and Trevor Bauer (13K in 9 IP) to help the Bruins take two of three games at Arizona in their three game series.

50…Total runs scored by Texas Tech and Kansas in two games played on Sunday in Lawrence, KS.  The Red Raiders won by finals of 11-8 and 21-10 to win the series 2-1.

12…Doubles hit by the Red Raiders in the 21-10 victory.  The binge of two-baggers ties a Big 12 single-game record.

7…Of those doubles that came in the top of the second inning-one shy of the NCAA record.

Big Pitching Performances Headline The Week

Justin Jones

the first to do it Friday afternoon.  He was followed by: Alex Wimmers-Ohio St., Cole Green-Texas, Justin Jones-Cal, D.D. Hanks-South Alabama, Merrill Kelly-Arizona St., and Asher Wojciechowski-The Citadel.

1…Freshman among that group of eight game winners-Cal LHP Justin Jones (8-2, 2.62 ERA), who has both of his team’s complete games this season.

12…Strikeouts by Wojciechowski in his Friday complete game 4-2 win over Furman.

4…ACC series lost by North Carolina this season after being swept in Miami over the weekend.

4…ACC series lost by the Tar Heels over the previous three seasons combined.  UNC lost three conference series last year, none in 2008 and one in 2007.  They also lost just two in 2006 for a total of six ACC series defeats from ’06-’09 en-route to four trips to the College World Series.

David Guetierrez (Miami photo)

7…RBIs by Hurricane catcher Yasmani Grandal, who homered to help his team to the weekend sweep of the Tar Heels.

7…Perfect innings pitched by Miami’s David Guetierrez in Wednesday’s 9-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast.  The senior struck out seven and retired all 21 batters he faced in just his second start of the season before leaving the game after throwing 84 pitches.  Hurricane reliever Eric Whaley lost the perfect game and no-hitter when he hit a batter and gave-up a single in the 8th inning.

3…Wins by #6 Georgia Tech over visiting #16 Clemson.  The sweep was sparked by Friday’s 10th inning walk-off home run by Yellow Jacket right fielder Chase Burnett.

15…Consecutive games in which a Georgia Tech player has homered after second baseman Jacob Esch went deep in Sunday’s 11-3 series finale, which gave Clemson its fifth straight loss.

9…Of Clemson’s 13 losses this season (including three in its five-game slide) which have been decided by one or two runs.

5…Runs scored by #25 Virginia Tech in the top of the 9th inning in Sunday’s 8-5 win over #3 Virginia, which avoided a 3-game sweep.  The rally was capped by Buddy Sosnoskie’s 2-out bases clearing double.

3…Walks issued in just 1/3 of an inning by Cavalier closer Kevin Arico, who had earned his Division One leading 12th save earlier in the series, in that Hokie rally.

4…Walks issued by Arico (0-1)  in 20 innings pitched prior to Sunday’s outing.

0 & 23…Runs allowed and strikeouts totaled in 25 combined innings by Texas starting pitchers Brandon

Brandon Workman (Texas photo)

Workman, Taylor Jungmann and Cole Green in the Longhorns’ weekend sweep of arch rival Texas A&M.  The trio also surrendered a grand total of seven hits on the weekend.

12 & 6…Consecutive wins by Texas and losses by Texas A&M, respectively, after the Aggies’ fourth sweep at the hands of the Longhorns in the last five seasons.  The sweep keeps Texas 2 1/2 games ahead of Kansas State in the Big 12 Conference standings.

14…Big 12 leading home runs hit by Nebraska’s Adam Bailey this season.

1…Hit by Bailey in 13 at-bats vs. Kansas (not a home run), while the Jayhawks took two of three games in the series from the Cornhuskers.

1996…The last time Kansas won a series in Lincoln prior to the weekend’s wins.

1,000…Career wins by Rutgers head coach Fred Hill after his Scarlet Knights beat South Florida 6-1 Saturday en-route to a 3-game weekend sweep of South Florida.  The wins move RU into a first place tie with Connecticut atop the Big East Conference standing.

1…Home run this season by LSU sophomore Grant Dozer-a walk-off shot that ended Sunday’s 6-5 14-inning win over Alabama to cap a 3-game weekend sweep.

2002…The last time LSU (30-6, 11.4) swept a series from Alabama (22-15, 5-10).

7…Ride or die innings pitched by LSU closer Matty Ott to earn his first win of the season.  The sophomore allowed two runs on four hits in the longest outing of his career.  He gave-up the runs in the 8th inning and then proceeded to toss six scoreless frames.

32…Division One leading wins by Coastal Carolina, which beat Gardner-Webb 13-0 Sunday for its 13th straight win.

4…Third inning home runs hit by UC Riverside in Sunday’s 7-5 win over Long Beach State.

Marcus Stroman

3…Hits by Duke second baseman Marcus Stroman in Saturday’s upset of #8 Florida State.

3…Scoreless innings pitched by Stroman, who moved to the mound and earned his fourth win in relief in that same game.

4…RBIs along with a home run hit by Arkansas’ Brett Eibner in Saturday’s win over Georgia.  He is tied for the team lead with 11 HR this season.

7…Innings pitched in that game by Eibner, who earned his third win in his ninth start of the season.

11…Straight wins by the Razorbacks (31-6, 12-3) after Sunday’s 13-5 win over the Bulldogs.  Arkansas has the most overall wins and conference wins of any team in the SEC.

20…Combined strikeouts by starting pitchers Blake Cooper of South Carolina and Drew Pomeranz of Ole Miss in Friday’s Gamecock win over the Rebels.  Cooper (7-0) scattered four hits with 10 K in the complete game effort to help

Christian Walker (USC photo)

South Carolina win two of three games in the series.

9…Straight South Carolina batters who reached base safely in a seven-run 2nd inning-capped by Christian Walker’s grand slam-in Saturday’s 9-5 win over the Rebels.

4…Runs scored by Arizona in the bottom of the 9th inning to rally to beat Washington State 12-11 Sunday in Tucson.

11…Straight wins by the home team in the series between the Wildcats and Cougars.

14…Strikeouts in 8 2/3 IP by Arizona’s Kurt Heyer in Friday’s 5-3 win over Wazzou.

18…Scoreless inning streak by Pepperdine’s Matt Bywater that ended when Gonzaga scored a 1st inning run en-route to a 16-3 win.

8…Runs scored by Miami (OH) in the bottom of the 9th inning of Tuesday’s 12-11 win over Xavier.

This week Sean Stires and Chris Webb (from Buckeyestatebaseball.com) are talking about how things are shaping-up in the Midwest.  They talk about this weekend’s key Big Ten series between Ohio State and Michigan State, as well as the future of OSU head coach Bob Todd, MAC leaders Toledo and Kent State and 2009 NCAA teams Xavier and Wright State.

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Segment #1

Webb

Segment #2

A By The Numbers Look At The Latest Week’s Action

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6…Cougars who were hit by pitch in Sunday’s 9-5 series-clinching win over ASU.  Garry Kuykendall was plunked three times.

Clemson's Mike Freeman

6…RBIs by Clemson second baseman Mike Freeman in Wednesday’s win over Georgia.  Freeman played for the Bulldogs in 2007 before transferring to Georgia.

300…Career wins by Georgia head coach Dave Perno with a 6-5 Sunday win over Ole Miss-UGA’s only win in the series. Perno is in his 9th season at the helm at his alma mater.

15…Strikeouts in 8 IP by Ole Miss pitcher Drew Pomeranz in Friday’s 4-1 win over Georgia.  It’s the second time this season Pomeranz has fanned 15 in a game.

14…School record runs scored in the first inning by Arkansas in Wednesday’s 32-8 win over visiting St. Louis.  The Razorbacks also combined to tie a school record with 30 RBIs in the game.

2…Men named Fred Hill who were head coaches at Rutgers last week.  Fred Hill, Sr.-of the RU baseball team and Fred Hill, Jr.-of the Scarlet Knight men’s basketball team.

1…Fred hill who is currently coaching at Rutgers after Fred Hill, Jr. was dismissed as basketball coach last week.  The younger Hill’s dismissal was in part precipitated in part by an alleged profanity laced tirade directed at Pittsburgh baseball coach Joe Jordano during an April 1 9-8 win by RU.

2…Wins at Notre Dame over the weekend by Rutgers.  Saturday’s 25-5 win gave the elder Hill and his team its first win at Notre Dame since 2002.  The road series win at Eck Stadium is RU’s first since the Irish and Scarlet Knights joined the Big East together in 1996.

Michael Lang

7…Home runs hit by Rutgers in Saturday’s 25-5 onslaught.  Outfielder Michael Lang had two of the long balls with 7 RBIs.

3…Wins needed by Fred Hill, Sr. to reach 1,000 for his career.  He’s been the head coach at Rutgers since 1984.

1…Closer the Jersey coach could not use in Friday’s 9-8 loss to the Irish due to a jersey flap.  His closer, Tyler Gebler, was wearing jersey #4 instead of his usual #43 in the game and with the tying run at 2nd base and two outs in the bottom of the 8th Hill went to the pen to the freshman.  However, Gebler was ruled an illegal substitution in the game, because Hill had crossed-out Steve Nyisztor’s #41 instead of Gebler’s #43 on the line-up card he turned-in before the game.  Hill had to go to Kevin Lillis, who gave-up back-to-back RBI hits, including Adam Norton’s game-winning triple.  Gebler has a 1.50 ERA, while his 6 saves are tied for second-best in the Big East.

2…Triples hit and innings pitched by Notre Dame’s David Mills in Tuesday’s 13-6 win over Oakland.  The lefty started the game as the Irish DH and later entered the game on the mound.  He had 2 RBIs and pitched 4 innings in relief to earn another win on Friday in ND’s only win of the Rutgers series.

2…Wins by Pittsburgh over fifth-ranked Louisville in their weekend series at Pitt’s Trees Field.  Losses Friday and Saturday to start the series, combined with a midweek loss to Kentucky, gave the Cardinals their first back-to-back setbacks of the season as well as their first series loss.

4…Runs scored in the top of the 9th inning of Sunday’s series finale to give Louisville a 9-7 win and avoid the series sweep.  Adam Duvall and Ryan Wright each belted two-run home runs to provide the offense.

17…Combined runs surrendered 13 1/3 by Louisville starting pitchers Thomas Royse, Dean Kiekhefer and Gabriel Shaw in the three games vs. Pitt.  Royse (6-1) suffered his first loss in the series-opener.  Shaw was making his first start of the season in Sunday’s finale after 14 relief outings.

36…Combined runs that same trio had surrendered in 104 1/3 previous innings pitched this season.

Alex Wimmers

14…Strikeouts with no walks by Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers (7-0) in Friday’s 7-1 win over Indiana.  Hoosier outfielder Alex Dickerson went 0-for-4 in the game to end his 21-game hitting streak.

4…Home runs in as many games to end the week by Duke’s Will Currier.  His 8 RBIs over the weekend helped the Blue Devils take two of three games from #12 Clemson.

2…Hits allowed by Oregon State’s Greg Peavey in Friday’s complete game 4-1 win over #2 UCLA.  Peavy’s efforts handed the Bruins their first consecutive losses after a midweek setback to Cal State Fullerton.

16…Innings needed for UCLA to beat OSU 3-1 in game two of the Pac 10 series on Saturday.  The game lasted 6 hours and 23 minutes.

39…Combined runners left on base by the Bruins (22) and Beavers (17) in Saturday’s marathon.

529…Pitches thrown in the game by a total of 12 pitchers, including eight sent to the mound by Oregon State.

11…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by UCLA pitchers-with seven scoreless frames to end the 16-inning game combined with four shutout half innings to start Sunday’s series finale, which the Bruins won 8-2.

18…Combined pitchers used by LSU (8) and Southern Mississippi (10) in Wednesday’s 6-5 win in 12-innings in Metairie, LA.

2…Wins by Auburn over defending SEC & National Champion LSU in their weekend series at Auburn’s Samford Stadium.  The Tigers win game three 6-5 after a game-ending squeeze bunt by right fielder Justin Fredejas.

1998…The last time Auburn had won a home series vs. LSU prior to the weekend’s wins.  LSU had swept the last two series between the two teams and had won eight of the previous 11 series since 1999.

0…Outs recorded by Auburn starting pitcher Cole Nelson, who surrendered six earned runs on seven hits in Friday’s 14-10 loss to open the series.

0…Hits by Auburn catcher Tony Caldwell, who still had 3 RBIs in Saturday’s 11-7 Auburn win.  Caldwell was 0-for-1, but drove-in his runs with a bases loaded walk and two sac flies.  He also had a sacrifice bunt on the day.

Trent Mummey

7…RBIs in the series by Auburn’s Trent Mummey, who made his first three starts of the year after injuring his ankle prior to the start of the season.  Mummey hit two home runs, including his second career grand slam.

2 of 3…Wins by Oregon in its series at Stanford to give the Ducks their first Pac 10 series win since 1980 and their first Pac 10 road series win since 1976 at Washington.

21…Wins by Oregon through 32 games this season after winning just 17 games all of last year-the first year baseball was played at the school after it was disbanded following the 1981 season.

26…Game hitting streak by Kansas State’s Nick Martini-the longest active D1 streak in the nation this season.  A pair of 21-game hitting streaks ended over the weekend.  Martini had at least one hit in KSU’s series vs. Nebraska.  His streak is a school record and the fifth-longest in Big 12 history.

62…Career stolen bases by Martini’s teammate, Adam Muenster, to set a school record that had held since 1995.  Muenster’s record-breaker came in Sunday’s 8-3 win over the Cornhuskers.

8,540…Fans who saw K-State take two of three games from Nebraska to set a 3-game series attendance record at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan.

9-0…Kentucky’s lead over Alabama heading into the top of the sixth inning of Sunday’s game in Lexington, KY.

11-9…Final score of Alabama’s win in that game.  Jake Smith’s grand slam capped a 5-run sixth inning and the Tide scored five more runs in the 8th and another in the 9th to cap the biggest comeback in school history.

Jason Coats

4…Combined shutout innings pitched by Alabama’s Tyler White and Nathan Kilcrease in Sunday’s improbable comeback.  White got the win to improve to 3-1 while Kilcrease earned his second save.

3…Home runs off three different pitchers by TCU’s Jason Coats in Sunday’s 12-2 win over Houston.   Coats’ efforts helped the Horned Frogs outscore the Cougars 33-3 in the series.

2…Wins by Virginia Tech over #14 Miami in their weekend series.  The Hokies’ first ever series win over the Hurricanes comes a week after their first win over another traditional college baseball power-Florida State.

3…ACC series won by Virginia Tech all of last season.  They have won four of five conference series already this season, with their only loss (a sweep) coming at the hands of Clemson.

Jamie Skagerlind

2…Walk-off home runs in as many days by Bryant first baseman Jamie Skagerlind to help his team win three of four games vs. Central Connecticut State.  Skagerlind’s shot in the bottom of the 10th inning ended Saturday’s 3-2 win in game one of a doubleheader.  His blast to end Sunday’s 7-inning twin bill opener capped a 5-run Bryant rally.  The game-winning blasts are his only home runs of the season.

3…No-hitters thrown last week.  Fresno State’s Greg Gonzalez and Lehigh’s Greg Angelo each tossed 7-inning no-hitters, while Kevin Johnson of West Florida fired the second 9-inning no-no of 2010.  Gonzalez is the first Bulldog to pitch a no-hitter in 34 years, while Angelo had the first at Lehigh since 1988.

11…Shutout innings pitched across two games by North Florida’s John Atteo.  He earned the win with two scoreless innings in Tuesday’s 3-1 upset of Florida State, and then fired a complete game shutout in Sunday’s 10-0 win over USC Upstate.

1,201…Career wins by UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes-who will retire at season’s end-with Atteo’s Sunday victory.

Reigning Big 10 Pitcher of the Yr. Looks To Right Buckeyes

Chris Webb of Buckeyestatebaseball.com is a new contributor to Collegebaseball360.com.  He was at Friday’s 7-1 Ohio State win over Indiana to see OSU’s Alex Wimmers strike out 14 Hoosiers.  Here are his thoughts.

CLICK HERE to see more Friday results and performances.

Columbus, OH– Have you ever shared a hug with a longtime but forgotten friend that just felt right? That felt like for one small moment you were exactly where you needed to be, at exactly the right time?

Today I welcomed home Division I Ohio college baseball.

While I have seen a handful of games this season, wrote about hundreds of others, a certain feeling wasn’t there. Tonight that feeling returned. Led by Alex Wimmers dominating performance over Indiana, Ohio State showed the promised that had them being touted as a potential Omaha-bound team.

This was the team those who bleed Scarlet & Gray hoped and looked for. This was the team leading the way to another great spring of collegiate baseball in Ohio. Finally it felt like Ohio DI baseball is right where it should be.

Buckeyes Cruise in Showdown of Champions

Columbus- Few things in life ultimately live up to it’s hype. That trip to Myrtle Beach? Yeah you’re on vacation one of the 11 days of the year it rains. The bike you bought yourself as a New Year’s resolution to get in shape? It’s still sitting in the garage corner waiting to be rode. For whatever reason, things rarely turn out how you think, hope, and expect them to be.

Alex Wimmers is proving to be an exception of expectations.

Nothing was as hyped up as the right-handed pitcher Wimmers entering the 2010 collegiate baseball season here in Ohio. The Cape Cod League’s #3 prospect, a  Preseason All-American, a projected first-round draft pick, the makings where there, regardless of performance, to fail to meet what was expected of the Buckeye ace. Midway through the season Wimmers has not only met all expectations, he’s exceeding them.

With his first start from the Bill Davis mound this season, Wimmers made sure the cost of attendance was merited for the Scarlet and Gray faithful who braved a stiff wind and temperatures falling into the 40s to support the home team. Assuming one is sane and realizes a 14-strikeout, complete game effort in which he scattered six hits yielding just one run is worth the $5 or $10. Especially when the game features the reigning conference champions and tournament champions, with two teams coming off of Regional showings sharing the field.

While weather may have played a role in limiting the crowd to just 1,269 in attendance, the Hoosier bats needed no thermometer to find out why their bats were ice cold.

After outbursts of 26 and 12 runs in their previous two games, Indiana came into the contest as Wimmers toughest test to date. A leadoff double on a green-lighted 3-0 count, followed by a second-consecutive 3-0 count to the next batter, made it appear that the night was going to be long and un-Wimmerseque. The remainer of the inning showed it would be wise to doubt the All-American.

The 3-0 count quickly turned into the first of many strikeouts, a mere three pitchers later. Then facing the two most dangerous left-handed hitters in the Big Ten in Jerrud Sabourin and Alex Dickerson, strikeout victims two and three were rung up. Sabourin who entered with a .480 average saw the number fall to .466 with a 1-for-4 effort, while Dickerson who entered with a .444 clip and 21-game hitting streak, finished 0-for-4, losing .28 points on his average.

After sending two of the most prolific hitters in the conference down swining, the thought went from an off-night to, lights out night.

“Once he settled down, ther’s no doubt he made it tough on Indiana’s hitters tonight” Coach Bob Todd stated afterwards.

No doubt at all.

In the complete game, Wimmers threw 85 of his 121 pitches for strikes. 12 of the 14 strikeouts were swings-and-misses. While 21 balls were put in play, 28 pitches were swung on and missed by the Hoosiers. After a first inning in which 10 pitches were for balls, over the next six innings, only 11 pitches were balls.

“When he’s on the mound I don’t need a glove in the field” left-fielder Zach Hurley joked after another Wimmers gem. “I think maybe one or two balls all season have come my way.”

It was Hurley who put the Buckeyes out in front, doing enough himself to leave the game to Wimmers. The Buckeye leadoff hitter went 3-for-4 on the evening, drawing a walk, and driving in a run. Hurley also scored the games first run, coming around from first after a leadoff infield single, on a Cory Kovanda double.

“I take pride in being the leadoff hitter. Just trying to get a hit every single time. I’m the first up to represent or offense every game and I just look to get things going with a bang” the senior outfielder who turned down a  professional contract from the Florida Marlins added.

For nearly the entire game it appeared Hurley’s run would stand as the only support Wimmers needed.

“He had all three pitches tonight. He was able to keep hitters off balance with the curveball and change-up… When you have a guy like Alex Wimmers, who is an awfully good pitcher, having all three pitches going for him it’s going to be an awful night for hitters” Todd the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year added.

With nearly a dozen scouts on hand, Wimmers showed why he is a highly-coveted prospect, but a few other Buckeyes would also make a lasting impression on Major League brass.

Providing all of the insurance Wimmers would need, in the bottom of the fourth, a first-pitch, opposite field leadoff

Stephens rounds third after his seventh home run

home run over the right-field wall for center-fielder Michael Stephens made it a 2-0 game. Stephens, the clean-up hitter, joined Hurley and Kovanda  as Buckeyes with multi-hit games, carrying the Ohio State offense.

“You gotta play loose. If you play tight that’s when you make start to make errors. The biggest thing for me is to go out there and have fun. If a team likes you, they’ll take a shot on you, if not you go out there and just enjoy it. For us as seniors, it’s our last year going out in front of Bill Davis and the crowd.” Stephens stated deflecting any additional pressure after a 2-for-4, two run effort, home run, and double effort.

“Mentally, you have t be sharp every game, whether 100 scouts, or no scouts, you have to play the same every game.” Stephens added.

If the performance Wimmers showed is duplicated game in and game out, the reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Year is going to need a second trophycase for the hardware headed his way.

“Felt today I could throw any pitch, any count, against any batter” Wimmers said after the victory moved him to 7-0, a mark matched only by 2007 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Cory Luebke.

“I knew Indiana was a great team coming in. They’re a good fastball-hitting team, and if they weren’t able to lay off my changeup, I’m going to keep going after them until they make an adjustment.”

If the Hoosiers who entered the contest with a .329 team average, the third-best collective average in Big Ten play, what is to expect of Wimmers over the final six weeks?

“I just attack hitters like anyone is the best in the country” Wimmers added.

Expect Wimmers to rise to the occassion with little exception.

Ohio State looks to capture the weekend series tomorrow in hosting Indiana at 1:05 from Bill Davis Stadium. Drew Rucinski will take the mound for Ohio State, opposite Indiana ace Drew Leininger, who enters the contest with a Big Ten leading 1.66 ERA, edging out Wimmers for the top honor after the Buckeye’s one-run complete game lowered his mark to 1.68.

Indiana (14-14, 1-3) @ Ohio State (18-7, 3-1)
———————————————–
Indiana…………. 000 000 010 –  1  6  1
Ohio State………. 100 311 10X –  7 10  2
————————————————

Clash Of Last Year’s Champs On Tap

Ohio State was last year’s regular season Big Ten champion, while Indiana won the conference’s postseason tournament.  Chris Webb from Buckeyestatebaseball.com has provided us with an extensive preview of this weekend’s series in Columbus, OH as well as a Q & A with Indiana head coach Tracy Smith.  Next week Chris and I will record a podcast to talk about this series as well as other key Big Ten happenings.

From here through the conclusion of the season, I’ll provide insight into a Big Ten weekend series here on CollegeBaseball360. – Chris Webb

After a season in which three teams advanced to Regional play in Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio State, all eyes were on the Midwestern conference to see if the 10 schools can continue to make strides in closing the gap between a once-proud conference and the power conferences of the country.

Receiving the most off-season hype and buzz was the Ohio State Buckeyes. After advancing to the finals of the Tallahassee Regional, the Bucks were ranked as high as 14^th in the preseason polls, receiving the lofty ranking by Collegiate Baseball. With 8 everyday starters returning to the lineup and All-American Alex Wimmers anchoring the pitching staff, Ohio State appeared to be the team to return the Big Ten to Omaha.

After a 17-8 start, which has seen inconsistent play throughout, Ohio State has fallen from every ranking and hope the upcoming weekend spurns them into second-half success, playing baseball worthy of a team headed to Omaha.

Bill Davis Stadium

Once the crown jewel of Northern ballparks, Bill Davis Stadium is now in it’s 14^th season as the on-campus home for Ohio State. This weekend Bill Davis welcomes coach Tracy Smith and his Indiana Hoosiers for a key conference clash.

While Ohio State was the Big Ten regular season champion a year ago, Indiana ran through the field in the six-team Big Ten Tournament, held just minutes from Bill Davis at Columbus’ Huntington Park, the home of the AAA Columbus Clippers. In winning the postseason tournament, Indiana advanced to their second-ever NCAA Regional. While the Hoosiers went two-and-que in the Vanderbilt Regional, proof was shown that under Smith, Indiana is not far from becoming a regional power.

With two of the top contenders for the 2010 Big Ten crown squaring off, here is a look within the series.

Indiana Hooisers (14-13 overall 1-2 Big Ten)

@

Ohio State Buckeyes (17-8, 2-1)

Expected Rotation

Game 1 Friday April 9th, 6:35 PM:

LHP Matt Igel (0-3, 9.00) vs. RHP Alex Wimmers (6-0, 1.98)

Game 2 Saturday April 10th, 1:05 PM:

LHP Drew Leininger (4-1, 1.66) vs. RHP Drew Rucinski (3-1, 2.53)

Game 3 Sunday April 11th, 1:05 PM:

RHP Walker Stadley (3-2, 5.06) vs. RHP Dean Wolosiansky (2-3, 5.60)

Team Comparisons

Category…. Indiana…… Ohio State
RPI…………. 131…………… 114
SOS…………. 93……………. 212
IRS…………. 129……………. 89
Hitting…….. .329…………. .344
ERA………… 6.42………….. 4.56
Fielding…… .963………….. .956
HR………….. 41………………. 20
2B…………… 59………………. 46
3B…………… 6…………………. 9
SLG………… .522……………. .479
BB…………… 93……………….. 99
SO…………… 197………………. 112
OBP…………. .404…………….. .412
SB……………. 36-54………….. 13-23
OBA…………. .306…………….. .311
SO…………….. 174………………. 181
BB…………….. 124………………. 78
H………………. 294………………. 283
XBH………….. 90………………… 50
WHIP……….. 1.74………………. 1.63
Saves………… 4…………………… 7

About Indiana

The Hoosiers are coming off of an weekend series versus Michigan where the Wolverines took 2 of 3 on the road winning the first two games 16-10 (10) and 6-4. However the lasting thought of that series is the 26-6 shelling Indiana put on the Maize & Blue in Sunday’s getaway day.

Jerrud Sabourin (IU photo)

A midweek win over Ball State brought Indiana above .500 for the first time all season.

Leading the way offensively for Indiana is the Big Ten’s version of the Bash Bothers in Jerrud Sabourin and Alex Dickerson. Sabourin leads the Hoosiers with a .480 average (59-for-123) with six home runs and 31 RBI. Behind him in the lineup as IU’s cleanup hitter is Dickerson with a .444 average ( 52-for-11), 10 doubles, and a Big Ten leading 12 home runs in route to 39 RBI.

Five other regulars are batting north of .300 to give Indiana its lofty .329 team average. Indiana is aggressive on the bases, and though Sabourin and Dickerson provided powerful bats, the Hoosiers are balanced enough to string off runs going station to station.

On the mound Indiana once again touts an impressive pitcher who will via for Wimmers in the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year race. On the strength of a consecutive scoreless innings streak that reached more than 25 innings, south Drew Leininger is 4-1 with a conference leading 1.66 ERA with 30 strikeouts and nine walks in 43.1 innings. Chris Squires is the Hoosiers’ closer coming in with four saves, a 3.74 ERA, and 2-1 record.

About Ohio State

Ohio State returns home after winning a weekend series in the Windy City against Northwestern. Wins of 11-1 and 11-6 where sandwiched by an 8-2 loss to the Wildcats to give the Bucks it’s 2-1 weekend. In playing just their second game at home of the year, Ohio State defeated Xavier on Wednesday to improve to 17-8 on the year.

While Ohio State enters the weekend with the Big Ten’s top hitting team, and second-best pitching staff, the Buckeyes have yet to string together a series of games where both aspects are in sync. Also leading to the team’s inconsistencies is the performance in the field. A fielding mark of .956 has led to 32 unearned runs crossing the plate for the Bucks’ opposition.

As expected the pitching staff is led by Wimmers who looks to collect his second-consecutive Big Ten Pitcher of the Year award. Drew Rucinski steps into the rotation after starting the season as Ohio State’s closer, the Buckeyes #2 pitcher leads the team with four saves in a sign of his conversion.

Dan Burkhart-#15 (OSU photo)

Offensively Ohio State boasts the Big Ten’s reigning Player of the Year, in catcher Dan Burkhart, giving Ohio State one of the nation’s best battery. Burkhart (.378, 18 RBI) the 3-hole hitter, is surrounded in the lineup by centerfielder Michael Stephens (.384, 6 HR, 23), first baseman Ryan Dew (.368, 3, 23), outfielders Zach Hurley (.373, 5, 26), and Brian DeLucia (.384, 4 21) as the team’s main power source. Infielders Cory Rupert (.400), and Cory Kovanda (.390) set the table for the Buckeyes balanced lineup.

Series History

Ohio State leads the series, 154-98, winning 15 of the 27 conference meetings. Last year the two split two meetings. Ohio State won a non-conference game in Florida 2-0. Indiana won 13-3 in the Big Ten Tournament from Huntington Park. The last series victory for Indiana came in 1996.

Key Matchup

Ohio State starters versus Indiana 3-4-5 hitters. Michael Early (.321-4-14) joins Sabourin and Dickerson as the conference’s most potent middle of the order. Most important is the fact that Sabourin and Dickerson are left-handed hitters which pose a threat to Ohio State’s all right-handed rotation. Obviously if these three are clicking things are in Indiana’s favor. If the Bucks can keep the trio to a .300 average or lower, the Bucks are well on their way to a weekend series victory.

Special Feature: Q&A with Indiana’s Coach Tracy Smith

CW: By now you’re probably tired of talking about it, but last year’s team lost a lot of talent. When a coach has such a removal of talent due to early-entrees leaving via the draft, does the program feel like it’s starting over in a way? Are losses like that “projected” and planned around in recruiting to keep the cupboard as full as possible?

Tracy Smith (IU photo)

TS: Some were projected. We planned to lose the five top 10-round guys, but the ones we did not plan for were the two that signed in the 30-something rounds. We didn’t see that coming until the very end of the season and those are the ones that have impacted this year the most because both those kids were to be in our top 3 in the rotation.

Now, add the injury to Monar the first weekend, we have been without our projected top 3 starters all year. Pretty tough on us, but we have found a way to win some games anyway.

CW: Perhaps an effect of some of the departures is having your son, Casey, early-enroll and in essence play Division I baseball during his senior year of high school.

Where there times before the process when you had to approach the situation different as a parent and coach? And now is the joy of coaching your son one of the biggest thrills of your coaching tenure?

TS: We knew we were going to be thin when O’Gara and Dunning signed late, but it wasn’t until we saw it with our own eyes in the fall did we realize just how thin we were.

Casey was being recruited by a couple of other schools, and once he decided IU was where he wanted to go I started to get this idea of bringing him early. He is a pretty smart kid, and has been around my programs all his life, so I think he saw the opportunity this year which led to his decision.

Coaching your kid is a joy and a challenge at the same time. Given the fact that he decided on the mid-year matriculation into IU so late, we elected not to put him in the dorms. Yes, he is living at home this semester, and this is the challenge I am referring to. If he screws up he not only gets it at school, but he gets it at home and that has made for some interesting dinner conversations.

I have jokingly said that if we are speaking with each other by the end of the year that will be a major accomplishment. All kidding aside, I am thrilled to be coaching my own kid. Far too often in this business we (coaches) invest a significant amount of time developing other people’s kids so it is nice to give your own some of that time.

CW: Speaking of the pitching staff, are you able to update the status of Monar?

TS: He is working his way back slowly. We hope we can get him back at some point, but I am not counting on it.

CW: In stepping in for Monar as the #1 pitcher, Leininger appears to be having an “Arnett-type” year where an outstanding season seemingly comes from nowhere.

What did you see from Drew before this season that an outbreak like this wasn’t out of the question? What so far this season has impressed you the most with his performances?

TS: I would be lying to you if I said I thought he was going to be having this type of season, but we always thought he could have success at this level. He has made some changes to his delivery that have really helped him.

You take that and add that to his already tough mindset and smooth delivery, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. His consistency has been very impressive to me. He locates his pitches well and has consistently hit spots.

CW: Looking at the bats, you’re middle of he line-up is anchored by Sabourin and Dickerson. As the two had very solid 2009 campaigns, as a coach was there a lot of instruction needed for the duo to continue to excel?

Or was it a matter of letting good players be good players and only a matter of time before they picked up where they left off in 2009?

TS: Honestly, I have always believed coaches give themselves too much credit when it comes to players performing well. At IU, we try to instill an attitude of ownership in our kids. If you do well, take the credit. If you do poorly, don’t start pointing fingers.

So with these two, we pretty much give them an environment to develop their already extraordinary talents. Sure, as a coach you make some changes or suggestions that you think will help them, but for the most part if you have a player (or players) like these guys that already have a pretty good understanding of theirs swings, you just set up your bucket of balls behind the L-screen and feed them strikes during BP, the rest pretty much takes care of itself.

CW: Who are some of the players outside of those two that have really played well and filled in for the collective holes left by Josh Phegley, Evan Crawford, Kip Schultz and company?

TS: Freshman Micah Johnson has performed very well. He has provided the power we lost with Schultz and the speed we lost with Crawford. He is a very good player. Mike Earley is starting to give us more consistent at-bats, and from a senior that is what you expect. He also brings a toughness that you would love to see in all your players.

With Phegley, you had a catcher that understood the game. Coming into the year, we had 3 catchers that all bring a little something different to the table. The time we started playing more consistent baseball coincided with the time Dylan Swift took over behind the plate. He may not have the offensive numbers of some of the other guys, but he does a great job of handling our very immature staff during games.

CW: You have been as vocal as any coach in regards to the NCAA’s Universal Start Date and when it should be. Now that we’re in year two, what are your thoughts on the process after having it in a 13-week, and 14-week format?

TS: First, I am impressed that you knew I was vocal about this. I don’t mind the 14-week format, but the additional week was put on the “wrong” end of the season. By adding the additional week on the front end of the season, the NCAA has spoken loud and clear with regard to what it thinks about the schools playing baseball in the north – they don’t really care.

There is no other sport (outside of softball) that has the competitive disadvantages present like college baseball. The advantages and disadvantages, depending on what part of the country you are from, have a HUGE impact on your opportunity for post season play.

I don’t have enough time to give all the reasons, but clearly by adding the week to front of the college baseball season, the rich just got richer!

CW: There was a vote to go back to a 13-week schedule if the 14th week was not added on the back end. Why was that the approach being taken? Doesn’t a 13-week schedule hinder northern programs as much as southern in a compacted schedule?

Or was it just a matter of, we’re not having a 14th week at the front end until Hell freezes over?

TS: We, northern schools, have been dealing with schedule compaction as long as we have been coaching. We were used to it. But, when you add the week on the front end you have eliminated any chance for northern schools to schedule more home games.

More home games usually means a better chance to win. I have always said the term “home field advantage” was created for a reason. By adding the week on the front end, it ensures more road games for the northern schools, thus adding the potential for more RPI points to already inflated RPI numbers of southern conferences.

Many would argue that I am just complaining, and that the baseball is better in the south. Well, that may be true (I don’t agree), but I would like to see how some of these schools would perform early in the season if they were practicing on gym floors with little, or in most cases, no practice time on baseball fields.

I think if guys in the south experienced what the coaches in the north face year in and year out, then maybe they would be more sympathetic to our cause. I doubt it though, because they are at such a competitive advantage right now, why would they want to level the playing field. You got me going, didn’t you?

CW: Now that you are going… Discuss the current state of the Big Ten. It was mentioned last year following the Big Ten Tournament where four teams have had hopes of a Regional selection, with Illinois ultimately falling short, that it is ever-improving.

While on paper the Big Ten appears down from a year ago, what does it say that a program like Michigan State is on the rise as well as your continuing of building the Indiana program?

With OSU, Michigan, and Minnesota as established programs, do you feel the Big Ten is on the verge on taking the next step and perhaps narrowing the gap on the power conferences, and what has led to the revival?

TS: Well, I think the gap is closing. You have a lot of schools investing in their baseball programs, thus increasing expectations on winning.

However, what gets little discussion, and is probably this biggest reason the conference struggles to compete on a national level consistently is the fact that other conferences can over-sign. Teams in the Big Ten that recruit a significant number of high level talent have to lay back and wait to see how the draft plays out on how many guys they are going to lose.

Look what happened to Michigan last year. They win the Big Ten the year before, and fail to qualify for the tournament the next year. Is it because Coach Maloney was a great coach one year and bad one the next? No! He lost a ton of underclassmen and was not able to use their money until the players actually SIGNED a contract in the summer.

Who are you going to find that late to replace that kind of talent? You are not. We are experiencing a little bit of that ourselves this year.

Now, I do believe the Big Ten recognized this as a huge disadvantage for our league and instituted a rule change this year that allows schools to over sign up to one scholarship spread over two players.

It does help, but when other schools are over signing by 6-8 scholarships, the playing field is not even close to being even. The part that drives me nuts is nobody talks about this issue. Everyone wants to talk about weather, and huge stadiums, etc., as being the things the hold our conference back, but it’s not. The issue of over-signing is the real problem.

My friends who coach at southern schools laugh when I tell them that we can’t over-sign kids until our underclassmen physically sign a contact. They are like, “how in the heck do you guys recruit?” I have my response down to a science now, I put my hands behind my back and say, “like this.”

That said, I am not saying I agree with over-signing to the level most southern do it, because it can create some ugly scenarios where kids are “run off.” Again, too many reasons and not enough time to respond. But what I would like to see is some consistency with regard to the issue of over-signing.

I like the limits our conference has put on over-signing. Now, if we could get the rest of the country to buy into the Big Ten Conference’s rules, wouldn’t if be great? However, I say again, why would they? They are at too much of a competitive advantage under the current system to want to change.

As someone who is trying win every game I play, I guess I understand their position. But if the NCAA wants to do what is “right,” it will address the issue of over-signing, and adopt legislation that truly benefits our student-athletes all the while creating a more competitive environment for all of college baseball, not just some of it.

Alright, I am off my soap box.