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Baseball
Wimmers, Buckeyes Take Care of Business on Opening Weekend
Coach Todd Wins 1,000 th Game
By Brandon CastelWith the lineup he had coming back after last season, Ohio State baseball coach Bob Todd knew his team was going to be able to put runs on the scoreboard in 2010.
Bob Todd
File Photo by Jim DavidsonHe may not have expected it to be with such ferocity on the opening weekend, however, as the 14th-ranked Buckeyes (3-0) pounded their three opponents Jacksonville, Fla. to the tune of 40-12 to pick up their first three victories of the season.
“When you take a look at the nine or 10 people we’re going to put out there on a daily basis, you have to like them,” said Todd, who picked up the 1,000th win of his head coaching career on the trip.
“They’re experienced, they’ve understood what it takes to compete a little bit at this level and I like their talent level.”
After beating North Florida 4-2 on opening day behind a sparkling performance from ace Alex Wimmers, the Buckeyes smashed Florida A&M 16-1 Saturday before demolishing Richmond by a score of 20-9 on Sunday for coach Todd’s 1,000 th win.
“I have been in coaching for a long time and had some very talented players and assistant coaches,” the hall of famer told ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
“To win 1,000 is a great honor for me.”
It may not have been the most satisfying victory of his 24-year career at Ohio State, but it had to be one of the more enjoyable. The Buckeyes had 12 players drive in runs including all nine starters as they pounded out 17 hits. They also benefitted from 12 walks, including three by first baseman Matt Streng, who also tallied two hits while scoring a game-high five runs.
Chris Griffin, nephew of Buckeye legend Archie Griffin, came off the bench to collect three hits and a pair of RBI, but the big hit of the day came off the bat of right fielder Brian DeLucia. The brother of former OSU pitching ace Dan DeLucia smashed a three-run home run in the third inning as the Buckeyes scored nine to take a commanding 11-4 lead.
They tacked on nine more, reaching the 40 run mark in the first three games of the season for the first time since 1996. Michael Stephens did most of the damage in game No. 2 with four hits and five RBI against Florida A&M, including his first home run of the season. Streng and Zach Hurley each had three hits in the game. Catcher Dan Burkhart, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, drove in three runs.
But hitting was never going to be the problem for this OSU team. With their entire starting lineup back save for captain Justin “Gus” Miller, the Buckeyes were expected to mash the ball in 2010. The question is can they keep their opponents from doing the same.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt when you look at the veteran ball club that we’ve got, pitching is really going to be a key to the success of this team,” Todd said.
Alex Wimmers
File Photo by Jim DavidsonWimmers took care of his responsibility as the Friday night starter with a brilliant performance in the season opener. The right-hander from Cincinnati pitched six shutout innings against North Florida, striking out nine while giving up one base hit. He allowed just two balls to get out of the infield on his way to being named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week.
Fellow junior Drew Rucinski closed out the game with three strong innings of relief. He also closed out Sunday’s game with two more solid innings.
“First couple weeks he is going to be our closer. But at some point he might be our No. 3 starter,” Todd said of the Oklahoma native nicknamed “Boomer.”
“We used him as a setup guy all last year, so he’s really been flexible.”
The question mark on this team is where the outs are going to come from after Wimmers and Rucinski. Dean Wolosiansky was average in the No. 2 starter role last season, and the Buckeyes are already dealing with a number of injuries on their pitching staff, including Ross Oltorik, who is out for the year. Oltorik had been penciled in as the team's number two starter until his recent injury.
“The problem we’ve had is still a carryover from last season. We had two or three pitchers who were operated on in the spring and in the summer and a lot of them are still going through rehab,” Todd said of lefties Andrew Armstrong and Eric Best.
“They’re not 100 percent yet and the first couple weeks that going to hinder what we do.”
The Buckeyes won’t have Best for a short while and may not have Armstrong at all. That forced them to thrust freshman Brett McKinney into a starter role the opening weekend. The youngster out of Hamilton Badin responded with five shutout innings in his first-ever collegiate outing. He struck out eight and walked two while allowing four hits in OSU’s 16-1 win over Florida A&M.
“McKinney is going to be the key. You never know what you’re going to get out of freshmen but he’s going to get opportunities,” Todd said of the 6-foot-2 right-hander.
“What he showed us in the fall is that he’s going to have a chance to contribute and contribute quick.”
The Buckeyes will head back to Florida this coming weekend for the Big Ten/Big East Challenge. They face South Florida Friday with Wimmers on the mound at Progress Energy Park in St. Petersburg. Saturday they face Notre Dame at Bright House Field in Clearwater before returning to St. Pete Sunday for a matchup with Cincinnati at Raymond A. Naimoli Complex.
Baseball Notes; It's a game of Numbers:
* 11 players have been in the starting batting order thus far this season. Those 11 have come through with 41 hits in 112 official at bats for a gaudy .366 collective batting average. That group has also already collected 21 walks.
* The 11 non-pitchers who have had starts this season are six of six in stolen base attempts.
* Catcher Dan Burkhart is hitting a cool .500 with six hits in 12 at bats last weekend. He also has two walks and five RBI to his credit.
* Outfielder Mike Stephens currently leads the Buckeyes with six RBI in three games. Stephens knocked in a team-high 63 runs in 61 games last season.
* Ryan Dew led the Buckeyes last season with a .388 batting average in 60 games. Dew is off to a slow start this season, hitting just .231 after the first weekend of play. He has been walked a team-high four times however.
* The Buckeyes went yard three times last weekend, with Stephens, Brian DeLucia and Brad Hallberg each hitting one homerun. Stephens led OSU in homers last year with 14.
* OSU pitching got off to surprisingly strong start. After three games the OSU staff is sporting a mserly 2.33 era.
* OSU's starting rotation of Alex Wimmers, Brett McKinney and Dean Wolosianski completed 15 2/3 innings and gave up a total of 13 hits and two earned runs. Eight of the hits and both of the runs came against Wolosianski.
* As a team, OSU is hitting .364 while opponents are hitting .254 against Buckeye pitching.
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