http://collegebaseball360.com/analysis-bob-todds-time-had-come-at-osu/ http://collegebaseball360.com/analysis-bob-todds-time-had-come-at-osu/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 12:19:30 +0000 http://collegebaseball360.com/?p=10024

www.simplesharebuttons.com

Collegebaseball360.com contributor Chris Webb runs the blog Buckeyestatebaseball.com.  He lives in Columbus, OH, and provides his thoughts on Bob Todd’s recent retirement as well as the current state of the Ohio State baseball program.

By Chris Webb

The spring of 2010 has been a bit of a struggle for me. While I could go on at great length at how much it sucks that my car was totaled while I was not driving it, life happens. The upper resporitory turned viral eye infection has not been overly pleasant, but again those things happen. What has caused me the most disdain and provided the most discomfort is what has transpired on the baseball diamond.

Ken Griffey Jr. isn’t Ken Griffey Jr.

Junior is reason number one as to why I am a baseball fan, writer, ex-player, junkie, nut, whatever. As a kid in the early 90s none captured my imagination like the Kid. So much is the fact I thought he name was King Griffey Jr. and he automatically was the best baseball player by being the King. As I now watch Baseball Tonight or SportsCenter I cringe whenever I see a Mariners highlight knowing Junior is a shell of the greatness he once possessed.

The same can be said of Ohio State baseball.

When the calendar changed to 2010 for Buckeye baseball faithful the resounding thought was “our year”. The players would say they practiced and prepped harder than before in hopes that the season would take Ohio State baseball to a place they last saw 42 seasons ago. Instead of taking a step towards Omaha the members of the Ohio State baseball team are walking through the Oval as conference tournaments are underway across the country.

It is easy to say the season was a bust. It was, there is no way around it. It is one thing for Michigan to go from first to seventh from 2008 to 2009, they lost a handful of extremely talented underclassmen to the MLB Draft and returned little from their championship team. Ohio State? This was a team that lost three players to graduation, returned eight starters in the field, the entire weekend rotation. Instead of being the toast of Columbus the Bucks are the butt of jokes around college baseball.

Bob Todd retired after winning 1,024 games in his Hall of Fame career. (OSU photo)

Which is unfortunate because the student-athletes and program deserve better, and this fall from grace was a longtime coming.

As Bob Todd retires as head coach of the baseball team at Ohio State there is no denying that the program is better for his time. With 901 wins, seven Big Ten titles, another eight tournament crowns, and never a losing season, Coach Todd has done more than any coach in Ohio State baseball history.

Yet his resume is void of one major accomplishment, a trip to Omaha, and he leaves a program that needs rebuilding.

I am fully aware of the context and the difficulty of such a task. A trip to Omaha is a major achievement for any program and many fail to come close to the final field of eight. However it is hard to bleed Scarlet & Gray while having baseball in your blood and not have a bitter taste for Coach Todd’s tenure.

While Ohio State was dominating the Big Ten in the early 90s, they were hardly more than a blip on the radar screen. In racking up five-consecutive 40 win seasons from 1991-1995 Ohio State twice went 0-2 in NCAA Regional play, advancing just once to a Regional final in 1993. The string of great seasons was capped with a 49-9 mark in 1995 which was the best record in the nation, yet the Bucks were blown out 20-6 by Kansas in game one of the Regional before falling 6-5 to Jacksonville to end the season.

Regardless of national shortcomings, Ohio State was the premier program in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes dominated the diamonds across the Big Ten just as football powered through the gridiron. Coach Todd had made Ohio State a conference powerhouse after being a cellar-dweller in the season leading to his arrival.

Riding the wave of momentum, construction was set forth for a new baseball stadium, one that became Bill Davis Stadium. The stadium which will host the Big Ten Tournament this week ironically, now in its 14th season cost $4.7 million to construct. While Ohio State was showing an interest in upgrading facilities throughout its Department of Athletics, soon after the Schottenstein Center and Jesse Owens Stadium were constructed  as well as renovations to Ohio Stadium, Coach Todd provided Ohio State a program to pour money into.

Bill Davis Stadium hosts the Big Ten Tournament this week, but the Buckeyes won't be playing in it. (OSU photo)

With a decade of conference and regional success and a state-of-the-art facility in his back pocket, Coach Todd was primed to take Ohio State to the next level.

Initially it appeared the Buckeyes were there.

In just year three of Bill Davis, the stadium would be home to a NCAA Regional and Super Regional. At 50-14, 25-3 in the Big Ten, the 1999 season provided Coach Todd with his shining moment. Sweeping through the Regional field, Ohio State hosted Cal-State Fullerton with a shot to advance to Omaha. For a team that rattled off winning streaks of 14 and 21 games during the course of the season, winning two would seem to be not a problem.

Unfortunately Ohio State would again be exposed on the national level. A 23-3 loss at Miami early in the season, coupled with Ohio State being outscored 24-7 by the Titans after taking game one of the Super Regional, left many wondering if Ohio State could truly compete on a national level. While the future would answer that question, the first 11 years of Todd’s tenure provided optimism for Buckeye baseball in the new millenium.

The optimism would turn into misery.

Ohio State would again host a Regional, doing so in 2001, but in doing so Ohio State would begin to be exposed to a changing collegiate baseball environment.

Perhaps victims of their own success, Ohio State began to see programs across the Big Ten show a renewed interest in a once-proud sport. Interest and, more importantly, money began to stream into the baseball programs across the Midwest. Where Ohio State had done so five years prior, discussion to increase facilities were soon heard around the Big Ten.

Though easily the top dog in the Big Ten still, was Ohio State starting to lose grip on an Ohio stranglehold? The rising program at Kent State would reach a program high as the Flashes were the team to knock off Ohio State in the Columbus Regional, ending the 2001 season with yet another 0-and-2 Regional showing.

Either unknowing of the changing environment or steadfast in set ways, little changed for Coach Todd in the early 2000s compared to the 1990s. While the Bucks continued their conference supremacy, failing to finish out of the top two in the Big Ten from 2001-2004, the program already had four 20-loss seasons in the decade’s first five years, a number that topped the three such seasons in the 1990s.

Beyond the diamond, college baseball itself was undergoing changes.

A sport that once received little notice was finding a home and voice on the internet. With the likes of Eric Sorenson and Mark Etheridge those who loved the game started to fill the college baseball void. Though small in product, with the internet an infinite audience could be reached as attention was slowly turning towards the college game. Online blogs and sites began to creep up providing analysis and opinions on the game that once were falling on deaf ears were being heard.

This would be a wave Ohio State failed to jump on. Relying on the raw number of wins, Coach Todd neglected building a RPI-favorable schedule for his teams. With the idea of reaching 40 wins to secure a Regional at-large berth, pushovers would line the schedule. Instead of facing stiffer competition to prep for an improving Big Ten or Regional field, the fascination with obtaining as many wins as possible was there.

Not only did Ohio State lose touch of what an elite program needed to do, the grip on the Big Ten continued to lessen. Four of the decade’s first five seasons yielded 12 or more conference losses, just twice in the 1990s did this happen. Yet by winning the Big Ten Tournament Ohio State would still advance to Regional play in 2002 and 2003, with the 2003 season joining the 2001 campaign as a season Ohio State hosted a Super Regional. Yet again the Bucks fell short as Southwest Missouri State swept the Super Regional.

The last half of the decade would prove that the game had indeed passed Coach Todd and a once dominate Ohio State program quickly became middle-of-the-pack.

The run of 12 or more conference losses would extend through the 2000s, ending at eight seasons with an 18-6 mark in 2009. Equally as long was the drought Ohio State suffered in winning a Big Ten championship, compared to how Ohio State won five-consecutive titles from 91-95. The run in the mid-90s ended with a 6th place 15-13 Big Ten mark. In 2007 and 2008 Ohio State fell to a .500 conference program going 15-15 each season finishing sixth and fifth, respectively.

Getting hot at the right time was needed in 2005 and 2007 as Ohio State won the conference’s automatic bid, even though they finished the conference season tied for fourth and sixth respectively, while having seasons the RPI rated to be well beyond those of the contending at-large teams.

New York Yankee Nick Swisher starred at Ohio St. from 2000-2002. (Courtesy Getty Images)

Along with the ongoing issues on the field, resentment off of the field began to invade the Buckeye clubhouse. While his players of the 1990s speak fondly of Coach Todd, a different sentiment is struck with those of the latter half of his career. While notable alumni of various Big Ten and Midwest schools openly give back and speak of their time at such and such U in favor, Ohio State’s biggest star, Nick Swisher is silent and nowhere to be found.

For those who would travel to Bill Davis Stadium in the late-2000s, you would think the stadium was little more than an extension of Union Cemetary found up the street on Olentangy River Road. The exuberance and passion that separates the collegiate game from the professional world could be found everywhere but Columbus. Winning cures all, yet the bottom-feeders of the Big Ten would show more fire and joy of donning their uniform than those who wore the Scarlet & Gray. Not only was Ohio State not winning, the Buckeyes at times seemed to want to be anywhere but on the diamond.

The little pomp on the field was matched by declining fanfare in the stands.

A program that boasted attendance figures that once rivaled elite programs in the nation saw a steady decline in those who entered the Bill Davis gates. In 2005 Ohio State was 23rd in the nation in average attendance with an average crowd of 2,570 per game. The number would fall to 2,260 in 2006 a mark that finished 26th. The slide continued in 2007 with 27th best average attendance of 2,073. In 2008 Ohio State fell out of the top 30, down to 32 at 1,863. Then in 2009 the number would shrink to 1,768, 35th best.

A prolonged drought in championship seasons, disdain in the clubhouse, and now a shrinking fanbase or more importantly, a decline in support and money into the program. The were ills abound with Ohio State baseball as Coach Todd entered the final season of his contract. The program was appearing to be in shambles.

All of that seemed to change after 2009.

A year after the championship drought was ended, 40-wins put down in the record books, and a trip to a Regional, Ohio State baseball was supposed to be back. Yeah it was back, back to be a middle of the road team again.

2010 saw Ohio State fail to win 30 games for the first time under Coach Todd. Another first was the Buckeyes finished below .500 in the Big Ten at 11-13. Yet another first was Ohio State closing the season dropping their last five conference series. Before 2010 Ohio State never lost more than two series in a row.

From a conference powerhouse, to conference elite, to middle of the road, to out of the picture, the bottom had fallen out of Ohio State baseball. For the first time ever, Ohio State’s expected operating budget for the baseball program topped the $1 million mark. A million dollar program was now being passed by Northwestern, a school which does not fulfill the allotted 11.7 scholarships. Providing the program’s biggest black eye were back-to-back losses to Webber International, and Rollins. Institutions that are respectively NAIA and DII, with enrollments smaller than one freshman dorm at Ohio State.

Ironically Coach Todd’s lowest of moments might save the future of Ohio State baseball.

After dropping a pair of midweek games to nationally ranked Louisville, a team in-region which has risen to national prominence including a trip to Omaha in the last five seasons, Coach Todd announced he was retiring at season’s end. Citing the lack of desire and passion for the game Coach Todd stated he wanted to get out before it was too late, the thought of retiring and spending more time with his family had come to him during the spring trip.

In missing the Big Ten Tournament for just the second time in 20 years, while finishing with a conference losing record for the first time since 1987, a season that started with no current Buckeye yet born.  Energy, time, and passion is needed to return Ohio State to where it once was, while then taking the final step that eluded Coach Todd.

While myself, and hopefully every Buckeye alum, fan, parent, and player is thankful for what Coach Todd has done for Ohio State in his 23 years. Instead of forcing Ohio State to not renew his contract, Coach Todd knew he no longer had it in him to be the coach at Ohio State. While the memories of the 1990s are great, like Junior, Ohio State is a shell of what it once was.

Coach Bob Todd by the numbers

• 1,052-559-2 overall
• 413-236 in the Big Ten
• Seven Big Ten Championships (1991-95, 99, 2001, 09)
• Eight Big Ten Tournament Championships (1991, 94, 95, 97, 2002, 03, 05, 07)
• 13 NCAA Regional Appearances (1991-95, 97, 99, 2001-2003, 05, 07, 09)
• 2 Super Regional Appearance (2001, 2003)
• 22 years of 30 or more victories (1987-2009)
• Never a losing season
• 72 professional signed players
• 19 All-Americans
• Eight Academic All-Americans

www.simplesharebuttons.com

]]> http://collegebaseball360.com/analysis-bob-todds-time-had-come-at-osu/feed/ 0

Collegebaseball360.com contributor Chase Titleman from Road2rosenblatt.com checks-in with a look at where coaches could be headed (and where some already are headed) during the off season.

Bob Todd retired after 23 seasons at Ohio State.

A natural power harbinger for the developing Big-10 Network, but given Todd’s apparent success – or to some – “the lack of success” at the school, is there a serious contender with head coaching experience from outside the great lakes region who would consider the position?

The Todd debate is a convoluted affair as most of his supporters are thrilled with the 837 all-time victories, but the corporate power players are less than enthralled, especially considering the closest he came to Omaha were Super Regional losses in 2003 and 1999.

Todd, who has been a head coach at the Division I level for 37 of the 39 years he has been coaching, is one of the few in coaching who has achieved the much revered 1000-win milestone, and he is a member of the College Coaches Association Hall of Fame, as voted in 2009.

A winner of eight Big-10 regular season titles and eight Conference Tournament championships, as well as 13 trips to the post season tournament, is this – perhaps – as good as Ohio State can expect for a northern program with such a talented coach guiding the ship?

The obvious question to ask is if Todd couldn’t get it done with all of his credentials and accomplishments…who can?

Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell certainly can, but the former assistant at Ole Miss who led Louisville to the College World Series in 2007 has his sight set on a bigger horizon as he is rumored to favor a return to the SEC, where both the climate and fertile recruiting grounds harbor greater hopes of reaching college baseball’s promise land on an annual basis.

Gary Gilmore and Coastal Carolina have won 35 straight Big South Conference games.

With openings rumored at both Tennessee and Georgia by seasons end, McDonnell will have to fend off stiff challenges within the region, especially from Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore, who won his 600th game in a 7-2 win over Radford last week.

Gilmore, who is 600-300 in 21 seasons heading the Chanticleer ship, is currently in the middle of his most successful campaign as Coastal Carolina (47-7, 25-0 Big South) is a major player in the race for the national championship this season.

Not that he is necessarily looking, but if ever there was a season that led Gilmore to the SEC, this would be it as his overall coaching record of 853-402 certainly fits the SEC criteria of success, and he has a trip to a super-regional to tack on his rising resume.

Another rising star within the SEC footprint is Western Kentucky’s Chris Finwood, who had his most successful season last year in guiding the Hilltoppers to their first 40-win season in 21 years.

No stranger himself to the post-seasons of the past, but this season his Topper program has struggled to maintain the high benchmark the program has recently established, falling all the way to 5th in the Sun Belt Conference standings with a little over a week to go in the regular season.

Finwood may no longer be a “Flavor of the Month,” hire the SEC is so duly noted for, and he may in fact need another year or two of seasoning before getting his SEC invitation.

But with McDonnell waiting patiently in the wings for an SEC opening to occur, his decision to return to the SEC could set off a potentially wild off-season of coaching changes across the landscape of college baseball.

Imagine the following scenario:

McDonnell takes the Georgia job, which opens up Louisville.  Gilmore then takes the Tennessee position, which opens up Coastal Carolina.  Would Finwood be interested in the lateral move to Coastal, or would his sights be set upon the beautiful ballpark in Louisville?  Would Louisville even be interested in Finwood considering the program’s latest fall?

Would the assistants under McDonnell or Gimore stay to take over Louisville and Coastal, or would they follow their leader to the SEC schools of Tennessee and Georgia and the land of higher paychecks and greater prestige?

And who knows, given the surreal and unrealistic demands of the SEC, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see Mississippi State or even Kentucky open as well, which would send the carousel into an absolute shark frenzy, and potentially leading college administrators to some stressful and sleepless nights.

Which brings us back to UNLV and the urgency that Jim Livengood is faced with for the various scenario’s must be keeping him up at night wondering how to attack and take advantage of the timing surrounding his baseball opening.

Given the current opportunities at low profile schools, such as Ohio State and the Air Force Academy, coupled with what would now be potentially high profile openings at Louisville and Coastal Carolina, two teams that could end up in Omaha this season, should Livengood wait until the end of the post-season, which could extend the Rebels coaching search into July and risk trying to sell UNLV as a destination job when so many are jockeying for high profile positions, or should he strike while the opportunity is hot in taking the best assistant coaches the country has to offer?

Florida took this option three seasons ago in hiring Clemson assistant coach Kevin O’Sullivan after Florida failed to make the post-season and look where the Gators are now…a solid Top-5 program and a legitimate contender with a solid pitching staff to win the national championship.

Given this scenario, Livengood should narrow his focus to two longtime successful assistant coaches who have major west coast ties and get his program moving in the right direction now while the irons are hot.

In most circumstances, the failure to reach postseason play would be a fatal doom to many assistant coaches looking for head coaching positions as the “Flavor of the Month” factor is a vital key for young coaches looking to capitalize on a masterful season.

However, with both Oklahoma State and Washington in the midst of youthful rebuilding projects, ironically, the timing may be just right for assistant coaches Dave Nakama (Washington) and Billy Jones (Oklahoma State) to capitalize on the marketplace for they are not involved with the daily preparations on the post-season “Road to Omaha.”

Both are no strangers to post-season play as Nakama has been to Omaha with the Stanford Cardinal on more than one occasion, even participating in a national championship game in recent past, while Jones has been as close to Omaha as you can get without actually getting there, losing in game three of the super’s at both NC State and Oklahoma State, programs that were largely built on his recruiting efforts.

Livengood must face the music for UNLV is not a destination job to most, but rather a stepping stone job one can use to reach greater fortunes. He won’t attract names like McDonnell, Gilmore or Finwood for they would simply see a move to UNLV as a lateral move, or worse yet, a step down in stature.

For Jones and Nakama, however, who are no strangers to multiple second place finishes in multiple coaching searches across the country in the last decade, UNLV would in fact be the destination job that Livengood so intends to sell considering both have experienced the trials and tribulations of developing various schools into successful programs and recognize the importance of not only the timing, but the opportunity itself.

Plus their age, with both now over 40, is likely to make both realize the fragility of the opportunity.  Both can neither afford to take any job, for the job they take at their age may certainly be their last chance at the coaching carousel.

The ironic timing of the situation is that UNLV is not just any run of the mill coaching job.  It is a sleeping giant waiting for the right mix of coaching intelligence and fortitude to mold it into success.

With the Mountain West Conference on the verge of a possible automatic BCS invitation in the near future, the conference and its member schools may just be awash in revenue sooner than later.

With outstanding facilities and a state government friendly to the dynamic needs of the corporate world, UNLV could be a major player in the Western region if the right coach is hired, and the right coach is someone who recognizes that you can get to Omaha from Las Vegas if you are willing to develop the foundation and commit the time to see it to fruition.

If Livengood is serious about building a program in “Sin City,” he should focus on hiring a coach who is not intent on building a program for 5 years, padding his resume only to move on to greater exploits, which is exactly why Nakama and Jones make so much sense from the long term viewpoint.

If the small school baseball powers – all within the 500 radial mile footprint of UNLV – schools such as Cal-State-Fullerton, Cal-Irvine, Long Beach State or UC-San Diego can achieve success on the baseball diamond without a cash-cow football program generating substantial revenue for the entire athletic department, the Rebels certainly should have a major advantage over this list of baseball Titans in the west if they can get their act together.

In today’s climate of player motivation and team communication, you need a coach who can garnish the will of the athletes to grind out a championship.

You need a coach who can sell not only his institution, city or state, but himself.  You need a coach who can manage the educational demands of the classroom and the professional baseball aspirations of the family.  You need a coach who can sell the corporate sponsors within his region with excellent speaking and entertaining skill sets, as well as a grounded sense that the program is not about his personal coaching recognition, reputation and fame, but the recognition, reputation and fame of the university and the players who represent it.

For Livengood, he needs a coach who has been through the grind and recognizes that UNLV is not a stepping stone job and who isn’t going to bolt 5 years down the line, which is a rare combination when considering the current recycled head coaching candidates.

It is time for Livengood to give either Billy Jones or David Nakama, two often forgotten names among the coaching fraternity, a chance to develop a program that will one day play on the fertile soil in Omaha on a regular basis.

The Jones File

Jones began his coaching career in 1997 at Green River Community College in Washington State following in the footsteps of his coaching mentor Dan Spencer, who after over a decade of work at Oregon State and two national championship rings later, is now the head coach at Texas Tech.

Oklahoma State assistant Billy Jones

Green River College, under the direction of Jones, won the NWAACC’s Western Region championship in 1998 and a year later Spencer, then the lead assistant coach at Oregon State University under head coach Pat Casey, offered Jones the volunteer assistant position where he earned his degree in Liberal Studies.

Noted as an outstanding hitting coach (he hit .433 as a player at Lower Columbia College), his Green River wood bat program once hit 60 home runs in just 36 games.

The strong hitting trend has followed Billy’s coaching pursuits across the country as the Oklahoma State program led the Big-12 in home runs and batting average in 2005, his first season in Stillwater, and by year three at the school the Cowboys led the conference in batting average, home runs and slugging percentage altogether.

The 2008 team alone had 8 members in the starting line-up who hit .317 or higher!

A noted players coach, Jones developed national recruiting classes at both NC State and Oklahoma State after being mentored by Arizona State coach Pat Murphy, where he was the Director of Baseball Operations for two seasons.

While in Raleigh, North Carolina – Jones helped guide the Wolf Pack to two NCAA Regional appearances in three seasons and was one of five finalists for the Baseball America National Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2003.

Although he coaches outfielders and hitting at present with the Cowboys, his troops at NC State improved their team fielding percentage every year, from .958 in 2002, to .966 in 2003 to .976 (4th best in the nation) in 2004, the year NC State lost in the super-regional finals.

Former Oklahoma State volunteer assistant coach Trevor Brown, who now works as the Northwest Area Scout for the Minnesota Twins Organization, has nothing but glowing words for his coaching mentor Jones.

Brown, a former NAIA All-American who won a national championship at Lewis and Clarke State College under the direction of Ed Cheff, claims that “Jones is the best coach he has worked for or played under in terms of getting the most talent out of his players.  “He has an innate ability to connect to all players of differing backgrounds as he approaches each player individually, playing to their strengths and masking their weaknesses to improve player performance.”

Brown played for both Cheff (Lewis & Clarke State) and Donny Harrel (the current head coach at Seattle University) at Lane Community College, and although not taking anything away from those other coaches, believes Jones has a special talent in developing players compared to most of the coaches around the country today.

“His players have extreme loyalty and he is somewhat of a master in identifying and recruiting diamond-in-the-rough type players and developing them into All-Americans and professional baseball prospects.  It would be a shame not to see him lead his own program in the near future as he is certainly qualified and well equipped to run a championship level program.”

The Nakama File

After spending 10 plus seasons at Stanford University, Dave Nakama has moved up north in the PAC-10 Conference joining coach Lindsey Meggs initial staff at Washington in 2010.

Washington assistant Dave Nakama

At Stanford, Nakama worked with the infielders and hitters while coaching first base, and was a central figure in recruiting, helping the Cardinal land four top-10 recruiting classes in the last 8 years according to BaseballAmerica.com

During his decade on “The Farm,” Nakama helped the team to four PAC-10 Championships, five NCAA regional titles and four trips to the College World Series.

Among the many he mentored as coach, Boston Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie, first-rounder John Mayberry Jr., and Seattle Mariners farmhand Chris Minaker stand out among a crowded and talented athletic baseball crop that populated the Stanford dugout.

Under Nakama’s watchful eye, the Cardinal posted their five best seasons for fielding percentage in school history, including a .977 mark in 2005 where they committed 51 errors in 59 games.  All in all, Nakama led the Cardinal to five top-10 finishes in his last eight years at the school, including another .977 mark in his last season.

According to Husky coach Lindsey Meggs, who worked with Nakama at Chico State and San Francisco State, “having Dave on the staff is like having another head coach in the dugout…he has all the intangibles needed to be a head coach as he can manage the game both offensively and defensively, and more importantly, he knows the PAC-10 Conference inside and out.”

Having personally watched Nakama work with the En Fuego Academy program in Seattle, he has an innate ability to communicate with young athletes and what impresses me the most is his genuine interest in helping players move on in college baseball, even if his school (currently the Huskies) isn’t on the players list of schools as he believes the college decision is one of the five defining choices a young man will make in his lifetime.

Like Jones, who has Junior College and collegiate summer-ball coaching experience, Nakama spent five seasons as the head coach at Mission Junior College (Santa Clara, CA), leading his squad to the California State Tournament in each of his final two seasons, earning conference Coach of the Year honors in 1996.

Although Nakama would be a great hire at UNLV, which is a job he wouldn’t turn down, the natural position for the Hawaiian native and perhaps the job he covets most is the Hawaii job.

A graduate from Kaiser High School in Honolulu and a former head and assistant coach for the collegiate summer-ball Hawaii Island Movers, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Nakama isn’t named the program’s next head coach.

That is if someone like UNLV doesn’t beat Hawaii to the punch.

The question athletic director Livengood should seriously consider is what other coaching candidates have ties to so many successful coaches and championships programs in comparison to Jones or Nakama?

Jones has worked with Pat Casey and Pat Murphy, no strangers themselves to the College World Series.

Since leaving NC State, the Wolf-Pack have not sustained the barometer set by Jones who led them to a super-regional.  Jones has also worked with Frank Anderson, who came to Oklahoma State after winning a national championship on the Texas staff in 2005.

For coach Nakama, is there another assistant coach in the country who has worked for two coaching icons like Mark Marquess at Stanford or Lindsey Meggs at Chico State?

With four trips to the College World Series and team records in fielding percentage, not to mention his recruiting prowess, what exactly is Livengood looking at to eliminate Nakama?

The same can be said of Jones.

The Last Notebook Of The Regular Season…

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.

FIU’s Wittels Heads This Week’s “By The Numbers”…

Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)

45…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels.  The sophomore had at least one hit in each of FIU’s three wins over South Alabama over the weekend to tie Roger Schmuck of Arizona State (1971) for the third longest Division One hitting streak of all-time.

47…Game hitting streak by Phil Stephenson of Wichita State in 1981 for the second longest streak in NCAA history.  Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura’s 58 game streak (which ended at the 1987 College World Series) is the longest in DI history.

3…Teams that have qualified for the 2010 NCAA Baseball Tournament.  San Diego and Cal State Fullerton joined Ivy League champ Dartmouth by claiming the their regular season crowns over the weekend.  San Diego won the WCC thanks to losses by Portland, while Fullerton claimed at least a share of the Big West after sweeping Long Beach State.  The Titans own the tie-breaker with UC Irvine and need just one win or one Cal State Northridge loss to win the title outright.

18-2…Fullerton’s record in its last 20 games since losing game one of its series vs. Irvine back on April 9th.

19…Straight NCAA Tournament appearances Fullerton will make when it plays in its NCAA regional this season.  It’s the third longest active streak in the nation behind Miami (37) and Florida State (32).

47…Days it took to complete TCU‘s 19-17 win in 12 innings over Air Force to clinch the 2010 Mountain West

Matt Purke (TCU photo)

Conference Championship.  The game began on March 28th in Colorado Springs, and was suspended due to weather.  It resumed in the 7th inning Friday afternoon in Ft. Worth with TCU leading 16-15.

12…Strikeouts by TCU pitcher Matt Purke, who gave-up just a run on five hits in six innings of relief in that game to improve to 10-0.  The freshman is the Horned Frog’s regular Friday starter.

8…Home runs TCU hit in that game to help the Horned Frogs to a new school record total of 84 HR hit this season.  The record had stood since 1998.

3…Weekend wins by Kentucky (29-23, 12-15) over LSU to hand the defending national champions their fourth straight SEC series loss.  The Tigers (34-18, 12-15) have lost 11 of their last 12 SEC games and 12 of their last 14 games overall.

19…Years since Kentucky had last swept a weekend series from LSU.

21…Years since LSU played in the NCAA Tournament but did not host a Regional.  The Tigers played in College Station Texas that year.  LSU has hosted 18 NCAA Regionals since then, but could find themselves on the road when the tournament starts this year.

16-8…Score by which Indiana trailed Kentucky heading into the bottom of the 8th inning of Tuesday’s game vs. Kentucky.  The Hoosiers plated five runs with two outs in the 8th and then added three more in the 9th to force extra innings before Michael Early’s walk-off hit gave IU an improbable 18-17 victory.

0-for-6…What Early was at the plate in the game prior to drilling a pitch off the left field wall to plate Dylan Smith with the game-winning run.

4 & 7…Home runs hit and RBI’s by St. John’s left fielder Jeremy Baltz in Friday’s 8-5 win over #6 Louisville (the Red

Jeremy Baltz (SJU photo)

Storm lost the other two games in the series).  The freshman leads St. John’s with a .412 average, 18 home runs and 68 RBIs this season.

14-0…Northwestern’s lead over Michigan in the middle of the third inning Sunday in Ann Arbor.

15-14…The final score of Michigan’s comeback win over the Wildcats.  The game ended on Mike Dufek’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

5 2/3…Scoreless innings pitched by Wolverine reliever Matt Miller to pick-up the win.  The junior struck out seven and gave-up just two hits to keep the Wildcats scoreless while Michigan scored the last nine of its 15 unanswered runs.

14…Straight games Virginia has won after sweeping North Carolina over the weekend.  North Carolina (32-20, 11-16) had won eight straight and 10 of its last 11 games heading into the series with the Cavs (43-9, 21-6).

2…Walk-off hits the Cavaliers needed to pull off the sweep.  John Barr’s 2-out RBI single capped Saturday’s game one 3-2 victory,  while John Hicks ended Sunday’s 5-3 win with a 3-run home run.

900…Wins at Ohio State by head coach Bob Todd after Sunday’s 11-6 win over Iowa for the Buckeyes’ lone win of the 3-game series.  Todd will retire at season’s end.

7…Scoreless innings pitched by South Carolina’s bullpen in a 3-game weekend sweep of Arkansas.  Five relievers combined to give-up just two hits after starter Tyler Webb left after giving-up three runs in three innings in Sunday’s 5-3 win to cap the sweep.

33…Consecutive Big South Conference games won by #5 Coastal Carolina (45-6, 23-0) after a 3-game sweep of #39 Liberty (37-15, 18-6).  The Chanticleers remain in good shape to receive a top 8 national seed after sweeping the second place team in their conference.

14,619…Fans who saw Florida’s 3-game sweep of Georgia over the weekend in Gainesville.  It’s the best 3-game attendance figure in program history.  Florida (37-12, 20-7) and South Carolina (41-11, 29-7) are tied for first place in the SEC East.  They go head to head this weekend.

4…Straight SEC series won by Auburn after taking two of three games from Tennessee.  The Tigers (35-17, 17-10) now lead the SEC West.

15…Years since Auburn last won the SEC’s Western Division.  They close the regular season this weekend at Ole Miss.

Anthony Rendon (Rice photo)

10…Run deficit faced by Rice as the Owls prepared to bat in the bottom of the third inning Sunday vs. Southern Mississippi.

19…Unanswered runs Rice scored to beat the Golden Eagles 21-14.  Anthony Rendon paced the Owls, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and 4 RBIs to help Rice lock-up the top seed in the Conference USA Tournament.

7…RBIs by USM’s B.A. Vollmuth in the loss.  The sophomore shortstop belted a pair of home runs himself, including a grand slam.

1,000…Career wins by Arizona head coach Andy Lopez after his Wildcats topped #1 Arizona State 12-4 Sunday night in Tucson.  Lopez is the 16th active coach and the 46th all-time Division One coach to reach the milestone.

1…Loss by ASU’s Merrill Kelly (9-1) this season after giving-up six runs (five earned) in just 3 2/3 IP-his shortest start of the season.  The 12 runs are the most given-up by the Sun Devils this year.

25…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Rhode Island’s Tim Boyce (a new URI school record).  The senior struck out 10 and gave-up just two singles with his second straight complete game shutout in Friday’s 6-0 win over Richmond.

27 1/3…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Wichita State’s Jordan Cooper after Friday’s 3-0 win over Missouri State.  The sophomore fanned 14 and struck out at least one batter in every inning to improve to 8-2.

69…Walks issued to UT Arlington outfielder Michael Choice this season to set a new Southland Conference single season record.  Choice is batting .401 with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs for the Mavericks (26-26).  He was walked

Tony Nix (UC Riverside photo)

intentionally in the first inning of Sunday’s 11-8 win over Lamar to set the record.

19…Times Choice has been intentionally walked this season to help him lead the nation with his 69 free passes 2010.

10…Big Ten teams that are all still alive in the race to qualify for next week’s 6-team Big Ten Tournament. Four  teams, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, and Iowa, are tied for fifth place.

.266…UC Riverside’s Tony Nix’s season batting average entering last week’s action.

.341…Nix’s current average after a week in which he was 17-for-26 with three home runs, five doubles, a triple, 11 runs scored, and 15 RBIs.  Nix had a stretch during which he had nine straight hits, including a 6-for-6 game against Loyola Marymount.

4…Home runs hit by Bucknell’s Paul Shribman to help the #4 seed Bison beat #1 seed Army in the Patriot League’s best two of three semifinal series.  Shribman belted a grand slam in the series clinching win and finished the weekend by batting 8-for-13 with 9 RBIs and 7 runs scored.  Bucknell faces #3 seed Holy Cross in this weekend’s Patriot League Championship Series.

A By The Numbers Look At Week 12 Action…

Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)

58…NCAA record hitting streak set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987.  Wittels needs hits in five more games to to Wichita State’s Phil Stephenson (1981) for the second longest streak in D1 history.

3 & 7…Home runs and RBIs by Wittels’ teammate, Mike Martinez, in the same game Wittels hit safely for the 41st game to help FIU down Arkansas State 15-4.

21…Game winning streak by Texas snapped in Friday’s 2-1 loss at Kansas State.  It’s the first ever home win against a number one ranked team for the Wildcats.

2…Consecutive Big 12 regular season titles for the Longhorns (41-8, 21-3), which clinched this year’s championship with wins in the last two games of the series with the Wildcats (32-15, 11-9), who are in third place in the Big 12.  Texas Tech (26-12, 12-9) is in second place.

50…Mile per hour wind gusts Saturday afternoon in the Buffalo, NY area where Canisius beat Manhattan 23-20.

Steve McQuail (Canisius photo)

68…RBIs this season by Canisus’ Steve McQuail-a new Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference single-season record-after the junior drove in 6 runs with the help of a grand slam in the Griffs’ win.  The previous record of 67 RBIs had stood since 1993.

3…Grand slams hit this season by McQuail, who is 8-for-9 with 24 RBIs this season with the bases loaded.

9…Saves this season by UCLA pitcher Dan Klein-the most for a Bruin pitcher since 1993.

28…Innings pitched without allowing an earned run by # 32 New Mexico’s Willy Kesler prior  to allowing a one out two run home run in the top of the 9th inning in Saturday’s 3-2 win over #12 TCU.

140…Pitches needed by Kesler (5-1) to pick-up his third complete game of the season.

6…Straight games New Mexico had lost to TCU prior to Saturday’s victory.

9 & 67…Home runs and total bases by TCU in Sunday’s series-clinching 26-4 win over New Mexico in Albuquerque.  The home runs ties a new single-game program record, while the total bases sets a new school record.  In addition to the nine long balls, the Horned Frogs tallied 20 singles, four doubles and a triple.

2 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by TCU’s Aaron Schultz, who was 4-for-4 with a double in the victory.

Aaron Schultz (Photo courtesy Brett Davis)

16…Straight series wins by the Horned Frogs dating back to last season.  TCU (36-10, 13-4) leads New Mexico (31-17, 13-7) by three games in the Mountain West Conference standings.

24-1…Record of TCU’s weekend pitching rotation.  Kyle Winkler (7-1) suffered his first loss Saturday to the Lobos, while Matt Purke (9-0) and Stephen Maxwell (8-0) remain unbeaten.

13…Combined earned runs given-up by Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray and LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo in Friday’s 15-16 game won by the Tigers.

15…Strikeouts by San Diego’s Kyle Blair in Friday’s 2-0 win over Portland. Blair (7-3) gave-up just one hit in the complete game effort.

2…Outs in the 9th inning when Blair’s no-hit bid ended thanks to a double by Portland’s Kris Kauppila.

14…Wins with no losses in WCC play for San Diego after winning the first two games of the series.

3…Outs recorded on a ground ball off the bat of #30 Texas State’s Jeff McVaney in Saturday’s 5-2 upset loss to McNeese State.  Steven Irvine, Matt Fontenot and Bryn Thompson combined on the 5-4-3 triple play.

1…NCAA bid officially locked-up when Dartmouth beat Columbia 11-5 in Sunday’s deciding game three of the Ivy League Championship Series.

Quintavious Drains

4…Pitchers, Cole Green of Texas, Anthony Meo of Coastal Carolina, Quintavious Drains of Jackson State, and Pittsburgh’s Cory Baker, who share the Division One lead with 10 wins this season.

1,022…Career wins by Ohio State’s Bob Todd, who announced his retirement last week after 27 years as a college baseball head coach.  Todd has 898 wins in his time in Columbus.  His Buckeyes dropped two of three games to Illinois over the weekend after he announced his intentions to step down at the end of this season.

13…Runs scored by Tennessee in Saturday’s 25-5 win at Georgia.  The Vols hit four home runs in the inning and scored 9 runs before an out was recorded.

52…Total bases for the Vols in the game to break the previous program record of 47.

0 & 11…Runs allowed and strikeouts recorded in 8.0 IP by Arkansas’ Mike Bolsinger in Sunday’s 7-0 series-clinching win at Ole Miss.  The Rebels’ 1-7 batters combined to go 0-for-22 in the loss. The win has the Razorbacks (36-11, 15-8) tied with the Rebels (34-14, 15-8) tied for first place in the SEC’s Western Division.

2…Wins by #44 Kentucky ( 25-21, 8-15) over South Carolina (36-10, 17-6) to keep the Wildcats’ NCAA hopes alive.  The SEC series win is just the second of the season for the Wildcats.

10…Consecutive SEC series South Carolina had won (dating back to last season) prior to losing two of three games in Lexington.  The Gamecocks are now tied for first place in the SEC’s Eastern Division with Florida (33-11, 17-6), which took two of three games vs. Alabama over the weekend.  The Gamecocks and Gators meet in Columbia in two weeks in the final weekend of the regular season.

Rob Folsom's walk-off double capped Oregon State's sweep of Oregon (OSU photo)

3…Games won by #47  Oregon State (24-17, 7-11) over # 20 Oregon (30-18, 10-11) to give the Beavers just their second Pac 10 series win of 2010.

11 of 12…Games Oregon State had lost prior to sweeping its weekend series vs. the Ducks.

8…Teams within three games of one another in the Pac 10 Conference race.  Arizona State is 39-5 overall and leads the conference race with a 14-4 mark.  Cal (11-9) UCLA (10-8) and Stanford (10-8) are all tied for second place at four games back, followed by Arizona (9-9), Oregon (10-11), Washington State (8-9), Washington (8-10), and Oregon State (7-11).

4…Games won by Fresno State (30-20, 11-5) at #48 New Mexico State (35-16-1, 13-6-1) to move ahead of the Aggies and into first place in the WAC standings.

23…Years since Auburn (33-15, 15-9) had swept a series from Mississippi State prior to taking three games from the Bulldogs over the weekend.  The Tigers are in second place in the SEC East.

3…Consecutive SEC series lost by defending national champion LSU (34-14, 12-11) after dropping two of three vs. Vanderbilt of the weekend. The Bayou Bengals  are in fourth place in the SEC East.

11…Home runs hit this season by Notre Dame outfielder Ryan Connolly, who is the only Irish player with double digit long balls.  Connolly also leads the Irish with a .367 batting average and 1.140 OPS.

4…Home runs hit by Connolly from 2006-2009.  The fifth-year senior missed all of 2006 and most of the next three seasons due to shoulder injuries.  All four of his previous career home runs were hit over the last 13 games of the 2009 campaign.

10…RBIs by West Virginia’s Grant Buckner in Saturday’s 22-6 win over the Irish.  The third baseman was 4-for-5 with three home runs, while setting a new school record for single-game RBIs to help the Mountaineers to their first Big East series sweep of the season.

Todd Is Winningest Coach In OSU History

Retiring head coach Bob Todd has a record of 897-471-2 at Ohio State. (Photo courtesy OSU)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - After 39 years as a baseball coach, including 37 years on the Division I collegiate level, Ohio State head baseball coach Bob Todd will end his coaching career at the conclusion of the 2010 season. The 61-year-old Todd informed his team, the defending Big Ten Conference champion and vying for a second consecutive championship, of his decision to resign from his position, and retire from coaching, Wednesday following the game with Louisville.

“I think I’m ready,” said Todd, the winningest coach in Ohio State history with 897 wins. “I always said I wanted a career and not just a job. I think I found that. I still feel good and I love this game because it has been a very enjoyable and prominent part of my life and that of my family, but I have always felt I’d rather leave this game too early than too late.”

“Bob Todd’s dedication and passion for Ohio State baseball is immeasurable,” Ohio State Director of Athletics Gene Smith said. “He has personified Buckeye Baseball for 23 seasons and has guided our program onto the national landscape. Most importantly, he has impacted countless numbers of young men that have played for us and his legacy will live through them. We will always appreciate everything he has done for The Ohio State University.”

CLICK HERE to see video of Todd speaking with Columbus area media about his pending retirement.

A Legacy of Achievement

There isn’t much that Todd, a 1971 graduate of Missouri with a master’s from Missouri-St. Louis, hasn’t experienced. He is a member of two Halls of Fame – the American Baseball Coaches Association (2009) and the Ohio State Varsity “O” (2008) – and earlier this season – Feb. 21 vs. Richmond – he coached his 1,000th victory, becoming just the 41st Division I coach to achieve the milestone.

Milestone accomplishments don’t begin to tell the story of Todd’s coaching legacy, which includes two years at Ritenour High School in St. Louis, Mo., nearly 10 years as an assistant coach to Gene McArtor at Missouri, four years as a head coach at Kent State, 23 years here at Ohio State and two stints as a coach with Team USA. The following achievements can help frame the career journey, though:

• Todd has never had a losing season in 27 years as a head coach.
• He has never won fewer than 30 games at Ohio State and he has won at least 40 games 11 times, including a school-record 52 in 1991 and 50 in 1999.
• He is the first and only five-time winner of the Big Ten’s Coach of the Year award.
• His teams have won seven Big Ten championships and eight Big Ten Tournament titles for 15 combined conference titles.
• Every player who has played four years at Ohio State has been a Big Ten or Big Ten Tournament champion.
• Seventy-two of his players have signed Major League Baseball contracts, 19 have been named All-America and eight have earned Academic All-America distinction.
• The Buckeyes have played in 13 NCAA Regionals under Todd and have hosted two NCAA Super Regionals.

Proud & Respectful Champions

The coach of Ohio State’s oldest varsity sport has emphasized pride, hard work and respect for both opponents and tradition as the key attributes for any player who puts on the school’s jersey and colors. That’s why his Buckeyes don’t just have a history of winning championships, they have a history of competing to the last out for championships. Who can forget…

• The 2007 team becoming the first sixth-seed to win the Big Ten Tournament;
• The 2005 team winning 15 of its final 17 games just to make the Big Ten tourney and then winning four more to qualify for the NCAAs;
• The finish in 2003 – winning the Auburn Regional – and coming within two wins of the College World Series despite losing Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and All-American Scott Lewis in the final Big Ten series;
• The 1999 team that won 50 games, won a school-record 21 consecutive games and broke new ground in college baseball by being one of two northern schools to host an NCAA regional;
• Ohio State coming within one win of the 1999 College World Series;
• The 1995 team winning three Big Ten Tournament games in one day – May 21 over Purdue and Minnesota twice – to win the championship;
• The 1994 squad’s best-in the nation 49-9 record, including a dominant 25-2 record in the Big Ten, the first of two 25-win Big Ten seasons (1999 was the other); and
• The 1991 team’s – Todd’s fourth at Ohio State – school-record 52 wins and NCAA appearance, ending an eight-year NCAA dry spell for the Scarlet and Gray.

Best in the Big Ten

No program in the Big Ten has won more games since 1988 than Ohio State, Todd’s first season in Columbus. In fact, no program in the Big Ten has won or accomplished more of anything than Todd’s Ohio State teams over the last 22 years. Consider these records and accomplishments since 1988:

• Ohio State has won more Big Ten championships – seven – than any other school.
• No team comes close to the eight Big Ten Tournament titles that Ohio State has won.
• Ohio State’s 13 NCAA appearances are tied for tops in the league with Minnesota.
• Ohio State was the first school to host an NCAA Super Regional and it is the only Big Ten school to host two Super Regionals.
• No team has more overall wins or Big Ten Conference wins than Ohio State’s 873 and 402, respectively.
• No coach has more Big Ten Coach of the Year honors than Todd’s five.

OSU’s 10th Coach

Just the 10th head coach in OSU history, Todd’s all-time head coaching record is 1,021-553-2. He was 124-82 at Kent State between 1984-87 and he is currently just three wins shy of 900 Ohio State wins with an 897-471-2 mark.

Todd’s teams are 392-224 in Big Ten Conference play. His teams have won 20 or more conference games six times and they have played in the Big Ten tournament 21 times, missing only once. Ohio State has played in the tournament the last 13 seasons, the longest current streak by any team and the Big Ten record.

Outside the Lines

Highly respected in college baseball, Todd has served on numerous national committees, most notably the prestigious NCAA Division I Baseball Committee, which he served from 1998-2004.

More importantly for the baseball program and Ohio State fans, Todd was the energy behind the building of Bill Davis Stadium, Ohio State’s 4,450-seat stadium that raised the bar for college stadiums in the Big Ten and sparked stadium upgrades throughout. The team is playing its 14th season in the stadium this year.

Todd and his wife, Glenda, have four grown children – Scott, a 1996 Ohio State graduate and a four-year baseball letterwinner; Jeff, a 1997 graduate and three-year baseball letterman at Southern Mississippi; Brad, a 2001 graduate and two-year wrestling letterman at Ohio State and Stacey, a 2003 graduate and three-time field hockey letterwinner at Ohio State.

Todd and Glenda reside in Worthington, a Columbus suburb, and they also have a home in Florida, which is about to be frequented a little more by the entire Todd family, a growing family that now includes seven grandchildren, all of whom are about to see “Grandpa” a little more.

(Courtesy OSU Sports Information)

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.

Webb1

Segment #1

Webb

Segment #2

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
————————————————