Bob Todd's Buckeyes are 4-4 heading into an eight-game spring break trip to Bradenton.

March 14, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State, which improved to 4-4 on the season after going 2-1 last week at the Kennel Club Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., next travels to Sarasota and Bradenton, Fla. for its annual spring break trip. The Buckeyes will play eight games in nine days beginning Friday when it meets Northern Iowa at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.

The Buckeyes will play Bucknell on Saturday, Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday and Illinois-Chicago on Monday before taking Tuesday off. The team will return to play Vermont on Wednesday, Cornell on Thursday, Dartmouth on Friday before closing with a rematch against Cornell on Saturday.

Jason Zoeller (So., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy) led the Buckeyes last week at the Kennel Club Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., where the team went 2-1 with wins over North Florida and Rider and a loss to Bradley The Buckeye infielder was 8-for-15 with two doubles, a triple and two home runs to knock in seven runs. He scored six times as well and finished the three games with a slugging percentage of 1.200 and did not walk or strikeout. Wes Schirtzinger (So., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) batted .500 with seven hits, scored twice and batted in two runs and Ronnie Bourquin (So., Canton, Ohio/Canton South) was .462 in the three games in his 6-for-13 effort that included three doubles, one home run and four RBI. Ohio State batted .350 last week and finished with a .602 slugging percentage. Cory Leubke (Fr., Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local) started the Rider game and though he did not factor into the decision, he allowed only one run from seven hits in 5.2 innings and had six strikeouts against only one walk.

Ed Smith Stadium is located at 2700 12th Street in Sarasota. The baseball fields at IMG Academy are located at 5500 34th Street West in Bradenton.

Baseball Spring Break Schedule
Friday, March 18	   vs. Northern Iowa	Sarasota, Fla. (Ed Smith Stadium)	2 p.m.
Saturday, March 19   vs. Bucknell	          Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)	10:30 a.m.
Sunday, March 20	   vs. UW-Milwaukee	Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)	2 p.m.
Monday, March 21	   vs. Illinois-Chicago	Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)	2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 23  vs. Vermont	         Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)	3 p.m.
Thursday, March 24   vs. Cornell	         Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)	2:30 p.m.
Friday, March 25	   vs. Dartmouth	         Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)	3 p.m.
Saturday, March 26	   vs. Cornell	         Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)	11:30 a.m.