2008 Missouri Schedule!

From Simmons Field

Opponents by conference

Big XII
Baylor (3)
Kansas (4)
Kansas State (3)
Nebraska (3)
Oklahoma (3)
Oklahoma State (3)
Texas (3)
Texas A&M (3)
Texas Tech (3)

Missouri Valley
Creighton
Indiana State (4)
Missouri State (2)
Southern Illinois

Big 10
Michigan State
Minnesota (2)

Ohio Valley
Eastern Illinois
Southeastern Missouri St

Mid-American
Toledo (3)

Independent
South Dakota State (2)

Mid-Continent
Western Illinois (2)

Big East
Connecticut

Big West
Cal Poly

CUSA
Central Florida

PAC 10
California

West Coast
San Diego

For the full Schedule click here

Gray Comes From Behind to Win and Force Game 5

FROM PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Team Gray came from a run down in the bottom of the seventh inning to score two runs and win Game 4 of the Scarlet and Gray World Series, 5-4, Thursday at Bill Davis Stadium. The deciding Game 5 will be played at 3 p.m. Friday and admission is free.

It was a game that started off slow with a slight rain in the air and Gray pitcher Theron Minium in control. Behind an early three-run lead, Minium cruised through his six innings of work, allowing just four hits and one earned run with no walks and one strikeout.

He was replaced in the seventh by Rory Meister and Team Scarlet took advantage by scoring three runs off three hits and one error to take a 4-3 lead. All the scoring occurred with two outs and all of the runs were unearned. Tony Kennedy reached on an error and back-to-back walks loaded the bases. Cory Ruppert lined a single to score two runs and Ryan Dew followed with an RBI single to give the Scarlet its first lead of the game.

But back came the Gray, which was down two games to none at one point in the series but has fought back to force Game 5. The first three batters – Nathan Grove, Cory Kovanda and J.B. Shuck – all coaxed walks off Scarlet reliever Brad Hays. Brad Brookbank signaled to left scoring Grove but Kovanda was out at the plate on a fine throw by Michael Arp. Shuck alertly went to third on the throw home, and he scored the winning run when Zach Hurley hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

“The Gray did a nice job coming back to win this game,” coach Bob Todd said. “Theron Minium pitched a real nice game and they led the whole game. They showed some character coming back to win and force a Game 5 after losing that lead in the seventh inning.”

The Gray opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kovanda led off with a walk, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a single to right by Zach Hurley. Gray coach Pete Jenkins then called for a hit-and-run and the execution was perfect as Tyler Engle drilled a double down the left field line and Hurley rounded the bases to score from first.

Team Gray increased the lead to 3-0 in the third with an unearned run. Brookbank reached on an error on the pitcher, moved to third on back-to-back walks and scored on a single to right by Brian DeLucia. Scarlet right fielder Ryan Dew threw out Hurley, who was trying to score on the play from second.

Meanwhile, Minium was easing his way through the first five innings with shutout baseball. He finally surrendered a run in the sixth to the Scarlet, allowing singles by Rupert and Dew with a run scoring on a double play ball, but that did little to dampen his effort on a moist and soggy day at Bill Davis Stadium.

Meister picked up the win while Hays took the loss. Offensively, Ruppert and Dew combined for four hits and three RBI to lead the Scarlet. Ben Toussant also had a pair of hits. No one on the Gray team had more than one hit, but the top four players in the order all scored runs. Hurley had two RBI.

Scarlet and Gray World Series Notes:

• Cory Kovanda is leading all hitters with a .583 average (7-12) and with five runs scored for the Gray.
• The Gray’s Zach Hurley has four RBI and is second to Kovanda with a .417 average (5-12)
• Gray pitchers have a 4.08 earned run average and have allowed 13 earned runs and 11 walks in 28.2 innings with 11 strikeouts.
• Matt Streng and Ryan Dew are leading the Scarlet offensively with .455 and .429 averages, respectively. Streng is 5-for-11 at the plate and Dew is 6-for-14.
• Dew, Cory Ruppert and Ben Toussant have three RBI apiece.
• The pitching staff has a 4.40 ERA with 23 walks and 18 strikeouts in 28.2 innings of work.
• Admission is free to Game 5 of the Scarlet and Gray World Series at 3 p.m. Friday at Bill Davis Stadium.

Ole Miss Fall Checkup

Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com checks in on Mike Bianco's Rebel workouts in the Fall. The article (found here) includes Bianco's reaction to Ole Miss' historical bad luck in the Super Regionals and the joys of added depth.

After a Supers exit to Arizona State last year, this member of the College Baseball Blog sees redemption for the Rebs (no, the South isn't rising again) as the SEC team to beat. Lance Lynn and Cody Satterwhite will be the closest thing to this year's version of the David Price - Casey Weathers combo that Vanderbilt wore to a #1 ranking. Add in solid pitching and positional depth, and the Rebs are well positions to be the #1 seed in the SEC West when the conference descends on Hoover.

Boston College releases 2008 Schedule

The Boston College Eagles have released their 2008 schedule which begins with a three game set against Georgia Southern which starts on February 22nd. Boston College then will play their annual game against the Boston Red Sox on February 29th. The Eagles will then play four games in two days against Mount St. Mary's, St. Bonaventure, Lehigh, and Notre Dame in Palm Beach, Florida. They will then make a trip to Florida International for a three game set before heading down to Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes in both team's conference opener. BC will play 31 games in the ACC conference in 2008 with other road series with Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia, North Carolina, NC State, and a single game with former BC head coach Pete Hughes with the Virginia Tech Hokies. BC will host Florida State, Duke, Wake Forest, and Maryland in their only home ACC series. Boston College will also take part in the Beanpot at Fenway Park on April 16th when they take on Northeastern and will play the championship game on April 23rd. The full schedule is available here.

UPDATE: BC will be hosting Georgia Tech as BC Media Relations made a mistake in the schedule.

Horton grabs first recuit for Oregon

George Horton has received his first commitment for the 2009 season in Darrell Hunter of Thurston High School. Hunter is expected to play shortstop for the Ducks. Hunter turned down two time national champions Oregon State who offered Hunter a 25 percent scholarship but Oregon offered a 35 percent scholarship which forced Hunter to commit immediately. Oregon Live checks in with an article here. Jacob May of The Oregon Daily Emerald talks about the commitment and about George Horton here.

Les Miller Field Project close to completion

The new Fieldturf field at UIC is close to completion so the Flames will be able to practice later in the fall season and open up the home schedule earlier in the year. This is an important project for the Chicago based school as they will become one of 19 Division 1 schools to have this surface. The full release is available here.

Butler 2008 schedule is out

The Butler Bulldogs have released the 2008 schedule. The Bulldogs will open the season on February 29th at Kentucky which is the start of a four game series against the SEC school. The Bulldogs will head the next weekend to Murray State for a three game set. They will face a full Horizon League schedule where the road schedule is highlighted by a trip to UIC on April 4th and 5th. UIC is expected to win the conference title after making the NCAA Tournament in 2007. The home schedule is highlighted by a three game set against Wright State on April 11th and 12th. The conference tournament will take place from May 21st-25th at Eastwood Field which is the home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The full Butler schedule is available here.

Fall Update for October 10th

Many different college baseball teams are in the midst of their fall ball schedule. We have provided links to each school's recap for games that took place on October 10th.

East Carolina

Devin Harris hit two homers and went 3-3 while pitcher Seth Maness pitched five shutout innings to lead the Purple team to an 8-0 victory in Game 1 of the Fall World Series.

North Carolina

Dustin Ackley drove in two runs and Garrett Davis pitched five innings while allowing only three hits as the Sox Slayers knocked off the Carolina Blue Sox to even the intrasquad scrimmage at a game a piece.

Michigan State

Kyle Hortt scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by Justin Potes to lead the White team to a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of the Fall World Series.

NAIA puts out a feature on Jeff Francis

Former University of British Columbia All-American pitcher Jeff Francis has led the Colorado Rockies to the NLCS in the MLB playoffs against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has had a solid season with a 17-9 record with a 4.22 ERA in the most hitter friendly ballpark in MLB. Francis picked up a victory in the NLDS as he led the Rockies to a 4-2 victory in Game 1 over the Philadelphia Phillies The full article from the NAIA is available here.

Thanks to Bob Broughton of T-Bird Baseball (UBC Fan Page) for the link.

Ohio State Fall World Series Game 3 Recap

FROM PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Redshirt freshman Dean Wolosiansky pitched six innings of scoreless ball to lead Team Gray to a series-extending 5-0 win over the Scarlet Wednesday at Bill Davis Stadium. Game 4 of the Scarlet and Gray World Series will take place Thursday starting at 3 p.m.

Wolosiansky, a right-hander from Uniontown, Ohio, scattered three hits and allowed one walk in picking up the victory for the Gray. Drew Malley relieved Wolosiansky in the seventh and pitched one scoreless inning.

The Gray was led offensively by sophomore Cory Kovanda, who had two base hits, scored a run and drove in another. Kovanda is batting .600 during this World Series. Red-shirt freshman Brad Brookbank also had two hits and scored a run. Zach Hurley and David Corna had runs batted in.

“It was good to see Dean go out and pitch six strong innings for us,” Bob Todd, Ohio State head coach, said. “That was coupled with some timely hitting by the Gray.”

Scarlet pitcher Andrew Armstrong, a true freshman, found himself in trouble in the top of the second, but he worked his way out of the jam. He walked two batters around a single to load the bases with no outs. But Armstrong induced a pop out from Dan Burkhart for the first out and then struck out both Corna and Nathan Grove to end the Gray threat.

Armstrong could not escape trouble in the top of the fourth, though, as Team Gray took a 2-0 lead. Armstrong gave up a single to Zach Hurley and then walked the next two batters to load the bases. He coaxed Burkhart to hit into a 6-4-3 double play and Hurley scored. Drew Rucinski then relieved Armstrong and gave up a two-out, RBI single to Corna for the second run. Armstrong allowed two runs on two hits and five walks while striking out four in 3 2/3 innings.

Team Gray added another run in the fifth. Kovanda smacked a single to left and advanced to third on a single by Brookbank. He then scored on a sacrifice fly by Hurley to make the score 3-0.

Gray extended the lead to 4-0 in the sixth as Kovanda stroked his sixth hit of the World Series to drive in Dan Burkhart, who had walked, moved to second on a ground out and advanced to third on a wild pitch. The Gray missed on an opportunity for more runs in the inning when Nathan Grove was picked off third base strayed away too far from third base after a pitch in the dirt.

The fifth and final run was scored in the seventh. Brookbank singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Tyler Engle was hit by a pitch, Brian DeLucia hit a grounder to short. Cory Rupert could not field the ball cleanly for an error, and Brookbank scored on the play.

Southern Miss pitching ahead of hitting

Two weeks into the Southern Miss fall baseball practice, the pitching is ahead of the hitting.

"No question about it," Golden Eagle coach Corky Palmer said.

That's because of a couple of factors. One, most of last season's top pitchers are returning, plus a couple of newcomers have looked good in the past two weeks.

And two, a couple of last season's top hitters who are back are hurt.

"I'm real impressed with Josh Billeaud," Palmer said about the 6-foot-4, 210-pound right-hander from LSU-Eunice Community College. "We knew he threw hard, but didn't know he had such a good curve and changeup. He will help us."

Complete story

Tennessee Announces 2008 Baseball Schedule

Tennessee head baseball coach Todd Raleigh released the team’s 2008 schedule. In addition to the traditional gauntlet of Southeastern Conference opponents, the Volunteers also will square off against four non-conference teams who advanced to NCAA Regional play last season.

Of the 56 scheduled regular-season games, 16 will be against 2007 NCAA Tournament teams. A total of 13 teams on UT’s 2008 schedule turned in a top-64 finish in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) last year.

“This is a good schedule with some really strong opponents, though it’s still not what I’d ultimately like for it to be,” Raleigh said. “We’ve given up some home games this year for the sake of securing multiple home dates with those opponents in the future. When our stadium renovations are complete, I’d like to play close to 40 home games while increasing our strength of schedule across the board.

“Most of this year’s schedule was set before our staff arrived, so our hands were tied in many instances for this first year. With that said, it will still be a challenging season. We’re working extremely hard this fall to prepare.”

Friday, Feb. 22—the new NCAA-mandated uniform start date that will create a true national “Opening Day” for college baseball —will provide Big Orange fans with their first glimpse of the Vols, as UT begins a three-game homestand against Morehead State at Robert M. Lindsay Field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. It is the first of 33 regular-season home games.

The Vols’ pre-conference schedule is highlighted by a return trip to Houston for the Minute Maid College Classic. Tennessee is slated to face Big 12 Conference stalwarts Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma at the event, which takes place at Minute Maid Park, home stadium of the Houston Astros. The Vols also took part in the 2005 Minute Maid College Classic, posting a 1-2 record.

Due to the NCAA’s new start date, there are only three weekends of play before UT enters the conference portion of its schedule. Tennessee’s home SEC series feature matchups against LSU (March 14-16), Florida (April 4-6), Alabama (April 11-13), Vanderbilt (May 2-4) and Kentucky (May 9-11).

The Vols will venture out on the road to battle conference foes Georgia (March 21-23), Auburn (March 28-30), Arkansas (April 18-20) and Mississippi State (April 25-27) before closing out the regular season at South Carolina (May 15-17).

Ole Miss is the only team UT will not face during the 30-game regular-season SEC schedule.

Tennessee has home-and-home series set with ETSU, Furman and Middle Tennessee, non-return road games at Lipscomb, and Tennessee Tech and exclusive home dates with Morehead State, James Madison, Eastern Michigan, Presbyterian College, USC Upstate, Charlotte, Appalachian State, Western Carolina and Belmont.

The Vols’ longest homestand is a nine-game stretch from March 5-16. Tennessee will play four straight road games on five different occasions. And six weeks of the 12-week regular-season schedule will feature multiple midweek games.

The 2008 SEC Tournament is set for May 21-25 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. NCAA Regional play takes place May 30-June 2, with NCAA Super Regionals slated for June 6-9. The NCAA College World Series runs June 14-25 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.

Fox Sports Net South/SEC-TV has announced that it will televise two Tennessee home games. The Vols’ April 5 contest against Florida and May 3 game against Vanderbilt both will be televised regionally on Fox Sports Net South.

SportSouth also will televise a number of UT home games, which will be announced at a later date.

Tennessee Press Release

FSU dismisses Halford from team

Stephen Halford, who is a transfer from UNC-Wilmington, has been dismissed from the FSU baseball program after a violation of team rules. Halford was expected to compete for the starting spot at third base in the 2008 season as Jason Stidham is rehabbing from off-season knee surgery. Stidham is expected to get moved to second base when he recovers. Steven Cardullo is expected to get a serious look at third base this fall and could start in 2008 at the spot. A full article from Steve Ellis of The Tallahassee Democrat is available here.

Ohio State Fall World Series Game 2 Recap

FROM PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Team Scarlet took a 2-0 lead in Ohio State baseball’s Scarlet and Gray World Series by winning Game 2, 9-5, Tuesday at Bill Davis Stadium. The best-of-five series continues at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Diamond Club, the baseball program’s booster organization, will hold a picnic prior to the game starting at 5 p.m. Admission to the park is free.

Freshman pitcher Alex Wimmers started for the Scarlet and picked up the win, allowing just one earned run over four innings. He retired eight batters in a row from the middle of the first to the top of the fourth inning.

“Wimmers pitched well,” Bob Todd, Ohio State coach, said. “I’m pleased with the way he played. He mixed his pitches, he threw strikes and he kept the batters off balance.”

Wimmers started slowly, giving up a leadoff double to Cory Kovanda in the first inning and walking the second batter he faced, J.B. Shuck. Kovanda would eventually score an unearned run, but Wimmers got through the inning by throwing a double play ball. He would then retire the next eight batters he faced and would finish his outing by allowing just three hits and one earned run. He struck out four and walked two.

A potent Scarlet offensive attack supported the freshman Wimmers with four players getting two hits apiece – Cory Ruppert, Ben Toussant, Ryan Dew and Matt Streng. Toussant, Dew and Justin Miller all had two RBI as well.

Trailing 1-0, Team Scarlet roared back in the top of the third, scoring five runs off three hits and three walks. The walks came consecutively to load the bases with one out. Ryan Meade hit a sac fly to score the first run and then Miller lined a two-out, two-run single to right that scored Ruppert and Tony Kennedy. Toussant followed with a two-run home run to left centerfield.

Ryan Dew led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to right center to make the score 6-1.

Team Gray chipped away at the lead with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to close to within 6-3, but the Scarlet came back with two more in the sixth to take an 8-3 lead. Streng doubled down the leftfield line to open the inning, moved to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on Ruppert’s double to right center. Ruppert then scored on a single by Tony Kennedy.

The Scarlet made it 9-3 in the seventh as Toussant doubled to right center and scored on a single by Dew.

The Gray came right back their half of the seventh, loading the bases with nobody out. Zach Hurley drove one run home on a towering single to right centerfield. Only one run scored, though, as the runners could not advance further thinking the ball would be caught. A double play ball followed that scored one more run. Pitcher Brad Hays got the final out on ground out and the Scarlet is now one game away from the coveted fall intra-squad title and a fine meal of steak and ribs.

Josh Edgin started and took the loss for the Gray. He pitched 3.2 innings and gave up six runs, all of them earned, and six hits. J.B. Shuck and Zach Hurley had a pair of hits and Shuck and Cory Kovanda each scored a pair of runs to lead the Gray attack.

USF releases 2008 Schedule

FROM PRESS RELEASE
TAMPA, Fla. – On Tuesday, University of South Florida head coach Lelo Prado announced the release of the 2008 Bulls baseball schedule, a listing that includes six teams (17 games) that competed in the 2007 NCAA Tournament and recorded 40-plus wins last season.

USF’s 56-game schedule spans 21 teams from nine conferences, with 44 games played in the state of Florida and 35 at USF’s Red McEwen Field in Tampa.

“It’s going to be a challenging schedule, with a lot of new faces,” said Prado. “We want to play great teams here at USF. With this schedule, if we do our part, our power rating is going to be there, and if we play the way we are capable of playing, it can get us ready for the conference championship and regional tournament. We want to be one of those teams in the NCAA tournament.”

The Bulls begin the season with 18 of their first 19 contests at home, and the first 26 of 28 games played in the Sunshine State.

“We have got a great home schedule that should be fun for the community to come out and support us,” said Prado. “We want to play the best people in America and we want to bring them to our hometown.”

Opening day for the Bulls is slated for Feb. 22, which begins a three-game home series with Indiana State (Missouri Valley Conference) at Red McEwen Field. After the Friday-Sunday set with the Sycamores, USF hosts a four-day weekend with Oklahoma State and Northwestern Feb. 28-March 2. USF will play OSU Feb. 28 and March 1, split up by the Northwestern games Feb. 29 and March 2.

After earning an NCAA at-large berth, OSU won the Fayetteville Regional, defeating Arkansas twice on the Razorbacks’ home field to advance to the Super Regional. The Cowboys were downed by Louisville in two of three games at the Super Regional, halting the Big XII team’s run to the College World Series.

On March 4 USF will play Florida Gulf Coast, a school that is joining the Atlantic Sun Conference after making a trip to the 2007 NCAA Division II South Regional with a 40-17 record as an independent. The second meeting between the two teams will be in Ft. Myers, Fla., on March 25.

USF will play the 2007 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champion, Bethune-Cookman University, in Daytona Beach, Fla., for the Bulls’ first road game of the season. USF and the Wildcats, who posted a 16-1 conference record last season, will meet four times throughout the season, playing on the East coast March 5 and April 2 and in Tampa April 16 and April 30.

To end the third week of the season, the Bulls play Savannah State, an independent school that registered a 31-23 record last season, in a three-game series in Tampa.

Midweek games with FAU and UNF will be the first of the home-and-away matchups with the in-state opponents. The Bulls play FAU March 11, then again April 22 and host UNF March 12, then travel to Jacksonville March 26.

USF ends their stretch of 14 games in 18 days (Feb. 28-March 16) by opening BIG EAST action with Seton Hall March 14-16 in Tampa. The Bulls beat Seton Hall, who was 25-25 in 2007, in two of three games last season in South Orange, N.J.

Splitting the first two conference weekends will be a two-game set with Oklahoma, March 18-19. The Sooners were 34-24 last season, finishing seventh in the Big XII conference.

USF leaves the state of Florida for the first time in mid-March, traveling to Ohio for a three-game, two-day BIG EAST matchup with Cincinnati. The Bulls and Bearcats, who did not meet during the 2007 season, will play an evening game March 21, then bear down for a double-header Saturday afternoon.

Another first-time meeting between Prado and a BIG EAST school will occur March 28-30 when Georgetown comes to Red McEwen Field. The Bulls’ last meeting with the Hoyas was in 2006, when USF beat the team from Washington, D.C., one out of three games.

On April 1 the Bulls begin a four-game week on the road, beginning at UCF in Orlando, then to Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach on April 2 and off to Morgantown, W.V., April 4-6 for BIG EAST play. USF and UCF will play four times this season, in the Bay Area April 8 and May 6, and in Orlando April 1 and 29.

The second half of USF’s season includes four teams that participated in 2007 NCAA regionals, and one that played in the College World Series.

Prado will face the Louisville Cardinals, the team he coached to a 320-301-1 record in 11 years, in Tampa April 11-13. Last season Louisville beat Oklahoma State, 20-2, in game three of the Super Regional to advance to the 2007 College World series for the first time in school history.

USF and Stetson, who played in the 2007 Tallahassee Regional, will meet twice this season, the first time being in DeLand April 15 and the second a week later at Red McEwen Field April 23. The Bulls topped the Hatters twice last season, by scores of 6-5 and 5-0.

In mid-April the Bulls head to New Jersey to face Rutgers in Piscataway April 18-20 at Bainton Field. Rutgers, the BIG EAST Championship winner, as well as the regular-season BIG EAST co-champion, was eliminated by Oregon State, 5-2, in the Charlottesville Regional to end their quest to Omaha.

USF hosts Villanova April 25-27 before heading back to the Northeast for a three-game series with St. John’s May 9-11. The Bulls lost two regular-season matchups with the Red Storm, but beat the team from Queens, N.Y., 2-0, in the second round of the BIG EAST Championship to knock the conference co-champion out of the tournament. St. John’s did earn an at-large berth to the NCAA regional, but ended its season with a 6-5 loss to Coastal Carolina.

In the final Tuesday-night game of the year, the Bulls look to avenge last season’s ninth-inning 10-5 loss to in-state rival Florida. In 2007 USF gave up seven runs in the ninth inning to drop the game to the SEC opponent.

USF wraps up the season May 15-17 in Tampa against Notre Dame. The Bulls took two from the Fighting Irish in Indiana in 2007. After losing the first game 1-0, USF outscored ND 22-11 in the final two games to win the series.

The 2007 BIG EAST Championship will be held May 21-25 at a location yet to be announced. NCAA championships begin with Regionals (May 30-June 2) and Super Regionals (June 6-8) at campus sites, which lead to the College World Series held at Omaha’s Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium June 14-25 in Nebraska.

Full Schedule available here.

Baseball America ranks Top 25 Recruiting Classes

Baseball America has released their annual rankings of the Top 25 Recruiting Classes. Click on the respective schools for a press release about the incoming class. Thanks to UCLA for posting the entire Top 25 in a press release.

Baseball America's Recruiting Class Rankings

Rank School
1 San Diego
2 Louisiana State
3 Oregon State
4 North Carolina
5 Auburn
6 Notre Dame
7 UCLA
8 Cal State Fullerton
9 Texas
10 Arkansas
11 Missouri
12 Vanderbilt
13 Pepperdine
14 Mississippi
15 Clemson
16 Arizona State
17 Virginia
18 Texas A&M
19 Rice
20 Miami
21 Tennessee
22 Georgia Tech
23 Tulane
24 Georgia
25 UC Riverside

Ohio State Fall World Series Game 1 Recap

FROM PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Scarlet team defeated the Gray, 3-2, to claim Game 1 in the best-of-five Scarlet and Gray World Series Monday at Bill Davis Stadium. Game 2 is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday with Game 3 scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start Wednesday under the lights.

Junior Ben Toussant, who started at second base for the Scarlet, lined a single to left centerfield to score freshman Ryan Meade from second base with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Scarlet the extra-innings win. Meade had singled with one out and moved to second on junior catcher Justin Miller’s two-out single.

Ohio State head coach Bob Todd, in his 21st season as coach, was pleased with the effort of the two teams.

“There were a lot of situations created out on the field today, defensively as well as offensively, and the players came through those situations with a lot of positives,” Todd said. “I am very pleased with how our players responded defensively. They made some good decisions.”

Some terrific defensive plays were turned in by:

• The Gray’s Brian DeLucia, at third, who dove to his right and snared a low liner by Dan Burkhart that would have gone for extra bases;
• Scarlet center fielder Ryan Dew, who made a long run and diving catch off a Brad Brookbank drive; and
• Right fielder Brookbank, who made a similar long run and diving catch to rob Ben Toussant of a hit.

Additionally, Scarlet pitcher Eric Best, a sophomore, caught Gray senior Cory Kovanda trying to steal and one inning later picked off Tyler Engle from first base. And in the seventh inning, Scarlet catcher Justin Miller started a 2-5-2-6-5 pickoff to get Brookbank, who was anticipating a squeeze bunt, out at third.

This game was not just about defense, though. The Gray team, coached by Buckeye assistant Peter Jenkins, scored in the top half of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Freshman first baseman David Corna singled to center and with one out stole second. Two batters later Kovanda stroked a single to center to score Corna. It was the first of three hits on the day for Kovanda, whose day included a triple, run scored and an RBI.

Coach Eric Parker’s Scarlet team scored twice in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Junior third-baseman Justin Miller walked and advanced to second on a single by sophomore center fielder Chris Griffin. Freshman Matt Streng doubled to left to score Miller with Griffin moving to third. Senior Tony Kennedy than hit a sac fly to right to score Griffin.

The Gray came back to tie the score in the top of the sixth. Kovanda led off with a triple to right center and then scored on J.B. Shuck’s single through the left side.

Each team used three pitchers. Best went 5.0 innings for the Scarlet and allowed one earned run off four hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Freshman RHP Tom Popadok pitched a clean 1.2 innings in relief to pick up the win.

Shuck started for the Gray and allowed two runs off six hits. Senior Rory Meister came on in the eighth inning and took the loss.

HTML Box Score

S&G World Series Game 1 Game Notes:

• Gray Starting pitcher J.B. Shuck also hit in the DH role and collected a pair of hits.
• Each of the top seven batters in the Gray’s lineup had at least one hit.
• Ryan Dew, Ryan Meade and Matt Streng each had two hits for the Scarlet.
• The game lasted 2:09 and approximately 200 fans were in attendance.