Senior co-captain and outfielder Steve Caravati, the 2004 Big Ten Player of the Year, was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament.

June 1, 2005

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NO. 34 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
(39-18; 17-12 Big Ten)
at
NCAA CORVALLIS REGIONAL
June 3-6, 2005
Goss Stadium at Coleman Field (2,600)
Corvallis, Ore.

First Game: at Oregon State
Friday, June 3, 8:05 p.m., EDT

OHIO STATE RADIO/INTERNET
NPR 820 (WOSU-AM) o www.wosu.org
Neil Sika and Paul Barnes

REGIONAL APPEARANCES (17)
1951, 1955, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999*, 2001, 2002, 2003*, 2005
* super regional appearances

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES APPEARANCES (4)
1951, 1965, 1966*, 1967
* national champions

PROBABLE OHIO STATE PITCHING
G1  36  Dan DeLucia, LHP    5-5, 3.12 ERA, 53K, 86.2IP
G2   6  Mike Madsen, RHP    7-3, 4.06 ERA, 47K 68.2IP
G3  39  Trent Luyster, LHP  7-3, 4.43 ERA, 47K, 87.1IP
G4  19  Cory Luebke,.LHP    4-2, 3.55 ERA, 54K, 71.0IP

COLUMBUS, Ohio - No. 34 Ohio State claimed its seventh Big Ten tournament championship last Sunday with a 14-6 victory over Minnesota in Champaign, Ill. to earn the Big Ten's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, which gets underway with regional play Friday. The Buckeyes, who are making their 17th appearance overall and the 11th since 1991, were awarded the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Corvallis Regional at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field and will play regional host and national No. 8 seed Oregon State Friday at 9:05 p.m., EDT.

Joining the Buckeyes and Beavers in Corvalis will be Virginia, the No. 2 seed, and St. John's, the No. 3 seed. Those teams will open the regional Friday with a game at 3:05 p.m. followed by the Ohio State vs. Oregon State game at 9:05 p.m. The losers of the two games Friday will play Saturday at 4:05 p.m., while the winners will meet Saturday at 9:05 p.m. The winner of game three will play the loser of game five on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. with the winner advancing to play the undefeated team in the championship Sunday at 9:05 p.m. If the undefeated team loses, the second championship game will be played Monday at 5:05 p.m. with the winner of that game moving on to the super regional round against the winner of the NCAA Long Beach Regional.

Oregon State (41-9) won the Pacific-10 regular season championship by taking two of three games from Southern California, May 20-22, while Virginia (41-18), the No. 6 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference advanced to the championship game of its conference tournament before losing to Georgia Tech. St. John's (39-16) was the top seed in the Big East Conference tournament, won by Notre Dame.

The Buckeyes won the Big Ten tournament championship as the fifth-seed for the third time in four years with wins over Michigan (7-3 in 13 innings), Purdue (6-5) and Minnesota (15-6) before a loss to the Golden Gophers forced a second championship game with a ninth-inning 4-3 win Saturday. Ohio State stormed back in the second championship game Sunday to win 14-6 and lock down the automatic bid to the tournament.

All of Ohio State's postseason games will be broadcast on the radio by NPR 820 (WOSU-AM) and on the Internet at www.wosu.org. Neil Sika and Paul Barnes will have the radio call.

ABOUT OHIO STATE
Ohio State is 39-18 after going 4-1 to win the Big Ten tournament as the fifth seed and enters the NCAA tournament as one of the nation's hottest teams as winners of 19 of its last 22 games. The Buckeyes batted .365 in five games in the Big Ten tournament after getting to the championship round undefeated. Minnesota forced a second championship game after getting a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 win, but Ohio State jumped out to an 11-1 lead after four innings and cruised to a 14-6 win.

Senior co-captain and outfielder Steve Caravati, the 2004 Big Ten Player of the Year, was named the Most Outstanding Player of this year's tournament after batting .667 with a tournament-record 14 hits and 26 total bases. He had four doubles, one triple and two home runs to help bat in eight runs and score eight times. He had a slugging percentage of 1.238 and an on-base percentage of .692. Matt Angle (outfielder), Wes Schirtzinger (designated hitter) and Dan DeLucia (pitcher) also were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. Ohio State beat Michigan (7-3 in 13 innings), Purdue (6-5) and Minnesota (15-6) to get to the championship round.

Senior co-captain and centerfielder Mike Rabin leads all Buckeyes who have played at least 50 games with his .333 batting average. He has 64 hits and has driven in 28 runs, while scoring 43 times. Angle, a freshman rightfielder, and Eric Fryer, a freshman catcher, are batting .318, while sophomore second baseman Jason Zoeller is batting .316. He paces the squad with 65 hits and has scored a team-best 48 runs. Senior first baseman Paul Farinacci has driven in 53 runs to lead the squad, which is batting .312. Caravati, who missed 11 games with a pulled hamstring early in the season, is batting .371 in 45 games. He has 52 hits, 33 RBI and 33 runs scored.

Ohio State is fielding at a .971 clip and led the Big Ten with a 3.81 ERA. Freshman lefty Cory Luebke led the team with 54 strikeouts, though DeLucia, a sophomore lefty, got the win in the championship game Sunday to improve to 5-5 on the year, has the best ERA on the staff at 3.12. Senior righty Mike Madsen and senior lefty Trent Luyster each are 7-3 on the year and each pitched complete games to help get the Buckeyes to the championship round.

OHIO STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNEY
The appearance in the NCAA tournament the 17th in Ohio State history and the 11th under 18th-year head coach Bob Todd, who has guided the Buckeyes to the tournament in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003. The Buckeyes also have made appearances in 1951, 1955, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1982. Ohio State has four appearances in the College World Series - 1951, 1965, 1966 and 1967. Ohio State was the runner-up in 1965 and won the last baseball national championship by a Big Ten team in 1966. Todd has not missed the tournament in consecutive years since he first guided the Buckeyes to the tournament in 1991.

Ohio State has made three appearances in the NCAA tournament since 2000, but has not played in the tournament since 2003 when it came within two wins of advancing to its first College World Series since 1967.

Ohio State is the only Big Ten team to appear in more than one NCAA Super Regional. Its most recent trip was in 2003 when the team finished as the runner-up to Southwest Missouri State at Bill Davis Stadium in Columbus, Ohio after sweeping through the Auburn Regional with a 10-8 win over Clemson and a pair of wins of national No. 4 seed Auburn, 6-2 and 9-7. The other time Ohio State played host to a super regional was in 1999 when it welcomed Cal State-Fullerton to Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeyes downed the Titans 10-7 in the opener to get within one win of Omaha, but lost 11-5 and 13-2 to end the season. Penn State is the only other Big Ten team to play in a super regional. Todd is 17-20 all-time in the NCAA tournament.

In the old eight-team regional format (prior to 1999), the Buckeyes came within one game of the College World Series two other times under Todd, who became the Buckeyes' coach in 1988. The Buckeyes were the runner-up in 1992 at LSU (losing to Cal State-Fullerton) and in 1993 at Georgia Tech (losing to Wichita State).

OHIO STATE AT THE CWS
Thirty-nine years ago, the Ohio State Buckeyes ruled college baseball. OSU defeated Oklahoma State, 8-2, and won the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The following year, in 1967, the Buckeyes returned to Omaha and were eliminated in two games. Since that time, OSU has never made it back to the College World Series. Ohio State has appeared a total of four times at the CWS (1951, 1965, 1966 and 1967). The Buckeyes have compiled a 9-7 record with one national championship (1966) and one runner-up finish (1965).

FARTHEST WEST FOR REGIONAL
When Ohio State gets on a plane for the ninth time this season to fly to Corvallis, Ore., for the NCAA regional this week, it will be the farthest the Buckeyes have had to go for an NCAA regional. Ohio State has not been sent west of Austin, Texas for regional play. The Buckeyes went 0-2 at Texas' Disch-Falk Stadium in 1982. Ohio State has made 11 appearances in the tournament in regional play and made five other appearances in the old district playoffs.

Previous Regional Appearances
2003  Auburn, Ala.          3-0
2002  South Bend, Ind.      2-2
2001  Columbus, Ohio        0-2
1999  Columbus, Ohio        3-0
1997  Starkville, Miss.     0-2
1995  Oklahoma City, Okla.  0-2
1994  Tallahassee, Fla.     1-2
1993  Atlanta, Ga.          3-2
1992  Baton Rouge, La.      2-2
1991  Wichita, Kan.         2-2
1982  Austin, Texas         0-2
Does not include district playoffs

LOWEST SEED SINCE CREATION OF SUPER REGIONAL ROUND
Since the NCAA went from eight, eight-team regionals to 16 four-team regionals for the 1999 season, this marks the first time the Buckeyes have been a No. 4 seed. Ohio State was the No. 1 seed in 1999 in Columbus, was the No. 2 seed in 2001 in Columbus, was the No. 3 seed in 2002 in South Bend and was the No. 3 seed in 2003 at Auburn. The Buckeyes were the No. 5 seed in the 1997 Mideast Regional in Starkville, Miss.

TWO BIG TEN TEAMS IN REGIONALS
For the fourth time in the last six seasons, at least two Big Ten teams will participate in the NCAA tournament. In addition to Ohio State, which earned the league's automatic bid by winning the Big Ten tournament, Michigan was sent to the NCAA Atlanta Regional after finishing 41-17 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten tournament. The two teams tied for fourth during the regular season. The Buckeyes are making their 11th appearance since 1990 and their fifth in the last seven years, while Michigan is in the tournament for the first time since 1999. The 11 appearances by the Buckeyes since 1990 are the most by a conference school during that time, followed by Minnesota's 10. The eight other Big Ten teams have made eight combined appearances since 1990.

AGAINST 2005 TOURNAMENT TEAMS
The Buckeyes have played five times that made it to the NCAA tournament this year and are 4-2 against those opponents. Ohio State beat North Carolina, the No. 2 seed in Gainesville, Fla, 2-1 on March 5, Ohio State's fourth game of the year. The next day, it lost to Arizona State 3-0. The Sun Devils are the No. 2 seed in Tempe, Ariz. The Buckeyes then beat Illinois-Chicago, the No. 4 seed in Lincoln, Neb., 4-2 on March 21. Ohio State posted a 3-2 win over Miami (Ohio), the No. 3 seed in Austin, Texas, on May 17 and split two meetings with Michigan, the No. 3 seed in Atlanta, Ga., losing 11-3 on April 22 before winning a 13-inning game, 7-3, to open the Big Ten tournament last week in Champaign, Ill.

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Oregon State is 41-9 overall and finished 19-5 atop the Pac-10 conference after taking two of three games from Southern California May 20-22. The Beavers won 11 games in a row before falling to the Trojans in the season finale, but won 21 of 25 games on their home field, Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. Outfielder Jacoby Ellisbury leads the team with a .415 batting average, 86 hits, 17 doubles, six home runs, 45 runs scored and is second with 42 RBI. As a team the Beavers are batting .315 and have a .970 fielding percentage. Ohio State is expected to face sophomore right-handed pitcher Dallas Buck, who is 11-1 on the year with 109 strikeouts and a 1.93 ERA in 107.0 innings. The pitching staff has an ERA of 3.02.

AGAINST OREGON STATE
Ohio State leads the all-time series with Oregon State 2-1. The series goes back to only 1990 when the Buckeyes won 11-10. Oregon State won 13-0 in the first meeting in 2000, but Ohio State came back the next day to beat the Beavers 8-3.

Series History (Ohio State leads 2-1)
March 20, 1990 Ohio State 11, Oregon State 10
March 18, 2000 Oregon State 13, Ohio State 0
March 19, 2000 Ohio State 8, Oregon State 3

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS
No. 2 seed Virginia is 41-18 overall and finished 14-14 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers lost 4-3 to Georgia Tech in the championship game Sunday and are making their fifth NCAA tournament appearance in the history of the program. Virginia is 17-5 over its last 22 games and is 10-13 away from home, where it was 31-5. The Cavaliers are batting .293 and own a fielding percentage of .975. Ryan Zimmerman leads the team at the plate, batting .399 and also leads the team with 91 hits, 18 doubles, 58 RBI and 50 runs scored. The Virginia pitching staff has a 2.73 ERA and is paced by Jeff Kamrath, who is 9-3 and has 74 strikeouts and a 2.23 ERA in 93.0 innings.

AGAINST VIRGINIA
A meeting at the NCAA Corvallis Regional would be the first meeting between Ohio State and Virginia.

ABOUT THE RED STORM
St. John's is the No. 3 seed in Corvallis and is 39-16. The Red Storm won the Big East regular season championship with a 19-4 record to earn the top seed in the Big East tournament at Somerset Park in New Jersey. Of the everyday players, Greg Thomson led the team with a .377 batting average, 21 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 43 RBI. P.J. Antoniato batted .370 and led the team with 80 hits and 63 runs. St. John's is batting .299 as a team and posts a .968 fielding percentage. Craig Hansen is one of the best closers in the nation and is 2-2 with 14 saves and 77 strikeouts to go with a 1.41 ERA in 30 appearances totaling 57.1 innings. Anthony Varvaro is 9-3 with 115 strikeouts and a 2.32 ERA in 85.1 innings. The St. John's pitching staff has a 3.04 ERA and is holding opponents to a .211 batting average.

AGAINST ST. JOHN'S
Ohio State leads the series against St. John's 2-0 going back to 1966, when the teams met at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The Buckeyes went on to win the national championship, beating Southern California twice by scores of 1-0 and 8-2.

Series History (Ohio State leads 2-0)
June 15, 1966 Ohio State 8, St. John's 7
March 5, 2000 Ohio State 8, St. John's 3

IN THE RANKINGS
The Buckeyes finally cracked one of the four national polls this week and rank 34th in the weekly NCBWA Top 35 poll. Ohio State also received votes in the SportsWeekly/ESPN Coaches poll, equivalent to 35th. Ohio State received votes in both the polls last week, but were not ranked nationally until winning the Big Ten tournament last weekend.

Oregon State is the No. 2 team by Baseball America, SportsWeekly/ESPN and NCBWA. It is third in the Collegiate Baseball poll. St. John's is ranked 28th in the NCBWA, while Virginia is not ranked in any of the four polls, but is receiving votes in both the SportsWeekly/ESPN and NCBWA polls.

CHECKING OUT RPI
Two prominent college baseball websites track RPIs of all 290 Division I teams. Though not official, Warrennolan.com ranks Oregon State's RPI at 11th, Virginia's at 22nd, St. John's at 52 and Ohio State's at 62. The Psuedo-RPI published by Boyd's World lists Oregon State at 13th, Virginia at 24th, St. John's at 55th and Ohio State at 64th.

OHIO STATE WINS SEVENTH BIG TEN TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
The Buckeyes beat Minnesota 14-6 last Sunday at Illinois Field in Champaign, Ill., to win their seventh ever Big Ten tournament championship and the third in the last four years. Ohio State opened the tournament by beating No. 4 seed Michigan 7-3 in 13 innings and then beat No. 2 seed Purdue 6-5 in the top of the ninth. The Buckeyes got to the championship with a 15-6 over No. 6 seed Minnesota and then after the Gophers eliminated Purdue, they gave the Buckeyes a taste of their own medicine with a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to force a second championship game.

The Buckeyes scored four runs in the top of the 13th inning, including a three-run home run by Paul Farinacci to down Michigan to win their opening game of the Big Ten tournament. With the score knotted 3-3 after each team scored one run in the 12th, Jason Zoeller gave the Buckeyes the lead on an RBI double over the head of Michigan third baseman's head that sailed down the left-field line. Farinacci deposited his second home run of the season over the left-field fence and Rory Meister struck out the side to strand runners at the corners in the bottom of the inning.

Wes Schirtzinger drove in Steve Caravati with a single to right in the top of the ninth inning to lift Ohio State over Purdue 6-5 in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. The win was the sixth straight for the Buckeyes in their last at bat and moved them on to the semifinal. Caravati beat out an infield single with one out in the ninth and then stole second before moving to third on a ground out. In the bottom of the inning, Caravati made a great diving catch for the third out of the inning and strand the tying-run at third.

The Buckeyes moved to the championship by beating Minnesota 15-6. Ohio State had to fight back from a 6-3 hole to tie the game and then erupted for nine runs in the bottom of the seventh. Caravati was a perfect 4-for-4 with three RBI and scored four times. Designated hitter Adam Schneider also went 4-for-4 with two RBI and scored two runs. Caravati had one single, two doubles and one home run, while Schneider had one single to go with three doubles. Eric Fryer was 3-for-4.

The Buckeyes were within two outs of celebrating a Big Ten tournament championship when Meister walked his third batter in the bottom of the ninth before Joe Maciej worked the count full before lifting a ball over the right-field fence and give Minnesota a 4-3 victory to force a second championship game. Caravati later called it the most heart-breaking loss during his Ohio State career.

Minnesota and Ohio State would play for the tournament championship for the fourth straight season in a winner-take-all matchup on Sunday. The Buckeyes jumped out to an 11-1 lead through four inning and the cruised to a 14-6 victory over Minnesota for their seventh Big Ten tournament championship and the third in the last four years. Mike Rabin went 4-for-4 and scored a career-high five times, while Caravati went 3-for-3 and knocked in four runs while scoring three times.

MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER HONORS GO TO CARAVATI
Steve Caravati was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten tournament after batting 14-for-21 (.667) in the five games. He had four doubles, one triple and two home runs, while knocking in eight runs and scoring another eight himself. He was joined on the all-tournament team by freshman outfielder Matt Angle, junior left-handed pitcher Dan DeLucia and sophomore designated hitter Wes Schirtzinger. Caravati is the ninth Buckeyes to earn recognition as the most outstanding player at the tournament, joining Brett Garrard (2003), Joe Wilkins (2002), Mike Lockwood (1997), Scott Kaczmar (co-1995); Mike Repasky (1994), Matt Beaumont (1993), Keith Klodnick (1991) and Jeff King (co-1982).

BIG TEN TOURNEY APPEARANCE WAS IN JEOPARDY
After falling into last place in the Big Ten standings after a 10-1 loss at home to Indiana April 29, the Buckeyes were not even sure they would qualify for the six-team Big Ten tournament. Wins in 15 of the next 17 games put Ohio State in a fourth-place tie with Michigan, but because the Wolverines won the only meeting in a snow-shortened series, they owned the tie breaker. Bob Todd's Buckeyes have missed the Big Ten tournament only once in his 18 seasons and that was in 1996 when only four teams qualified for the league tournament.

TWO BUCKEYES NAMED ALL-BIG TEN
Centerfielder Mike Rabin and starting pitcher Dan DeLucia were the only two Ohio State representatives on 2005 All-Big Ten teams released May 24 by the conference office. The teams were selected by a vote of the Big Ten head coaches.

Rabin, a outfielder from West Chester, Ohio (Lakota East), earned first-team honors. He leads Ohio State with a .333 batting average (64-for-192). He has six doubles, two home runs, 28 RBI and 43 runs scored. He also has stolen 14-of-18 bases. The senior co-captain batted .364 in 29 Big Ten games this season. Four of five total outfield assists came in conference play. Rabin has 19 total outfield assists in his career. He ranks second in school history with 817 career at bats (only six away from the school record) and is sixth with 246 career hits. He also has 48 career stolen bases to rank fifth.

DeLucia, a sophomore from Columbus, Ohio (Bishop Watterson), earned third-team honors. He leads the Buckeyes with a 3.12 ERA and is 5-5 with 53 strikeouts in 86.2 innings. He finished 3-4 in the Big Ten with wins over Purdue, Penn State and Northwestern. DeLucia is 8-8 in his second year at Ohio State and has started 23 of his 28 appearances and pitched 131.2 innings, the third most on the pitching staff.

Cody Caughenbaugh was honored by the conference as the school's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Caughenbaugh owns a .274 batting average as the team's designated hitter. He has 26 hits with six doubles, one triple and two home runs, and has driven in 24 runs and scored 14 times. On May 5, he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Baseball Team. He was named to the first of two teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America and is will appear on the ballot for Academic All-America honors later this month.

40-WIN SEASONS
With one more win Ohio State would win at least 40 games for the 10th time in Bob Todd's 18 years as the head coach of the Buckeyes. After taking over prior to the 1988 season, his teams have never won fewer than 32 games and have averaged 40.3 wins, including this season's 39 victories. His teams have won at least 50 games twice, including a school record 52 wins in 1991. The 1999 team had 50 victories.

SINCE 2000
The Buckeyes are the winningest program in the Big Ten since the 2000 with a record of 237-125-1 (.654). No team in the conference has more wins or a better winning percentage. Minnesota is second with a record of 210-145 (.592). The Buckeyes have two 40-win seasons since 2000 compared to only one by Minnesota. Minnesota has made four appearances in the NCAA tournament since 2000, while this is the fifth by Ohio State.

2005 OHIO STATE SENIORS
Ohio State's six seniors is a group that includes three student-athletes who have been a part of the program for five years. Brett Hatcher and co-captains Steve Caravati and Mike Rabin were freshmen in 2001. The three are 200-102-1 and were members of the last Big Ten championship team (2001). In 2002, they were joined by Paul Farinacci, Trent Luyster and Mike Madsen and the six have been part of three Big Ten tournament championship teams (2002, 2003 and 2005) and were on the team that swept through the 2003 Auburn Regional. That team returned to Columbus for the second super regional appearance in program history and came within two wins of reaching the College World Series. Since 2002, this group of six Buckeyes has combined to lead Ohio State to a record of 157-84-1, the best record by any school in the Big Ten during the same period.

BUCKEYE FRESHMEN
Ohio State has a tradition of freshmen excelling on the diamond as evidenced by the eight Buckeye freshmen who have been named Big Ten Freshman of the Year since the award was created in 1988. Ohio State won four straight from 1999 through 2002 and current Buckeye Jacob Howell won the award last season.

The 2005 freshman class has not disappointed either. Five freshmen have seen significant playing time, including catcher Eric Fryer, outfielder Matt Angle and pitchers Cory Luebke, Rory Meister and Dan Barker. Fryer is tied for second on the team with a .318 batting average and has started 48 of his 50 games. He finished second in the league with his .400 batting in conference games with 26 starts in 27 games. Angle is batting .318 and has 37 starts in 51 total games. Luebke is 4-2 with a 3.55 ERA, while Meister is 8-1 with four saves in 25 relief appearances. Barker has made three starts in 10 games and is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA.

BASEBALL AMERICA NAMES LUEBKE TO MID-SEASON ALL-FROSH TEAM
Ohio State freshman left-handed pitcher Cory Luebke was named to Baseball America's mid-season Freshman All-America Team in April. Luebke, a 18th-round draft by of the Pittsburgh Pirates last summer, is one of four starting pitchers to appear on the list. He joins James Adkins (LHP, Tennessee), David Prince (LHP, Vanderbilt) and Nick Schmidt (LHP, Arkansas).

CAUGHENBAUGH NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Ohio State designated hitter Cody Caughenbaugh was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Baseball Team, announced last Thursday. Caughenbaugh was a named to the first of two teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Caughenbaugh, a red-shirt junior from Newark, Ohio, is a mechanical engineering major and carries a 3.69 GPA in his fourth year of study. He was named the top freshman mechanical engineering student at Ohio State after his first year and the top sophomore mechanical engineering student after his second year. On the field, Caughenbaugh has appeared in 38 games this season with 23 starts. The Licking Valley High School graduate is batting .247 (26-for-95) with six doubles, one triple and two home runs and has driven in 24 runs and scored another 14. Caughenbaugh was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Baseball Team in 2004, as a second-team member.

The Academic All-District IV Team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. To be nominated, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher. Team members are selected by a vote of CoSIDA members within the district. The academic all-district team is part of the Academic All-America program.

OSU SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
A total of 16 baseball players were recognized as OSU Scholar-Athletes at the annual Scholar-Athlete banquet May 25 at the Great Columbus Convention Center. To be named an OSU Scholar-Athlete a student-athlete must have a minimum GPA of 3.00. Cody Caughenbaugh was recognized for a fourth time, while Trey Fausnaugh, Jacob Howell, Mike Madsen and Jedidiah Stephen were recognized for the third time in their careers.

Name               Class   Award
Matt Angle          Fr.     1st
Cody Caughenbaugh   Sr.     4th
Dan DeLucia         So.     2nd
Trey Fausnaugh      Jr.     3rd
Nick Feucht         So.     2nd
Eric Fryer          Fr.     1st
Jacob Howell        Jr.     3rd
Josh Hula           Fr.     1st
Tony Kennedy        So.     2nd
Cory Luebke         Fr.     1st
Mike Madsen         Sr.     3rd
Dan McCauley        Fr.     1st
Rory Meister        So.     2nd
Aaron Pikkaraninen  Fr.     1st
Jedidiah Stephen    Jr.     3rd
Jason Zoeller       So.     1st

BIG TEN STATISTICS RANKINGS
In the Big Ten rankings that were released this week, Ohio State is tied with Illinois for third in team batting (.312), behind Michigan (.319), Indiana (.315); ranked first in team ERA (3.81); and first in fielding (.971). In conference-only stats, the Buckeyes ranked fourth in team batting (.309), second in team ERA (4.39) and were fourth in team fielding (.968).

Not a single Buckeye has a batting average ranked in the Top 10 in the league. Ranking individual ERAs, Dan DeLucia is fifth with his 3.12, while teammate Cory Luebke is seventh with his 3.55 ERA. For overall games, Paul Farinacci leads the Big Ten with 19 doubles. Fourteen starts by Trent Luyster and DeLucia tied for the most in the Big Ten. In conference only games, true freshman Eric Fryer finished second with his .400 batting average. Mike Madsen's 3.40 ERA ranked seventh, while DeLucia's Big Ten ERA of 3.88 ranked 10th.

OSU RETURNS TO WIN COLUMN AS BUCKEYES RETURN TO LINEUP
One thing that can be said for Ohio State this season is that it has had to fight back through injuries. 2004 Big Ten Player of the Year Steve Caravati missed 12 games after pulling his hamstring in the season opener against Middle Tennessee in Dothan, Ala. Then, last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Jacob Howell, missed 12 games after he injured his shoulder at North Florida on March 11. Those two players finally returned to the lineup at Illinois, but it took a while for them to return to 100 percent.

Mike Madsen, a third-team All-Big Ten selection last season, missed two scheduled starts and did not make the trip to Jacksonville after suffering from tendinitis in his right arm following early season appearances as the team's No. 1 starter against Middle Tennessee and Georgia.

The Buckeyes also lost third baseman Ronnie Bourquin in the third game of the Illinois series after he broke a bone in his left thumb. It was a loss to the Buckeye infield, which entered the season on shaky-enough ground having to find replacements at second base and shortstop as well as a new catcher. Bourquin missed 11 games, returning to start the game at Michigan. With everyone back in the lineup since that game, the Buckeyes are 17-4 and have won 17 of their last 20 games.

OHIO STATE HOME ATTENDANCE
The Buckeyes drew 10,876 fans for the Minnesota series the final weekend of the regular season. Ohio State drew 3,012 fans on Friday, 5,128 fans Saturday and 2,736 sat through rain showers to watch the series finale Sunday. In 18 home dates this season, Ohio State drew 45,666 fans, an average of 2,570 per date, a 22 percent increase from 2,133 last season to rank 27th in the nation and first in the Big Ten. In fact, no other school in the conference ranked in the Top 50 nationally.

BIG TEN RECAPS...
OHIO STATE SWEPT AT ILLINOIS
For only the second time in Bob Todd's 18 years at Ohio State, the Buckeyes were swept in a four-game conference series, April 1-3. Illinois swept the series in grand fashion, winning the finale with a two-run walk-off home run to seal a 6-4 victory and only the sixth-ever sweep against Ohio State since the Big Ten began playing four-game series in 1981. The Illini won the first three games of the series by scores of 7-1, 4-1 and 5-4.

Illinois erupted for five runs on six hits in the sixth inning to hand the Buckeyes a 7-1 loss and snap their 10-game win streak. J.R. Kyes went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs to lead Illinois. Jedidiah Stephen led Ohio State with a single and a double. Paul Farinacci delivered the only OSU run in the top of the second inning. Trent Luyster fell to 4-2 with the loss. Jason Zoeller's 13-game hit streak came to an end.

In game two, the Illini scored all four of their runs in the first inning to down the Buckeyes 4-1. Steve Caravati drove in Zoeller with a double down the left field line in the sixth inning. Zoeller, Caravati and Ronnie Bourquin had the three hits for Ohio State. In the second game of a doubleheader, Illinois dodged a late-inning rally by Ohio State to win 5-4. The Illini had sprinted to a 5-0 lead after the fourth inning before Farinacci delivered his first home run of the season, a grand slam he bounced off the top of the right-field fence in the top of the sixth. The Buckeyes stranded one runner in the seventh when Bourquin was tagged out sliding into first.

The luck of the Buckeyes appeared to change in the series finale when they took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning, but Illinois tied the game in the bottom of the inning before the two-run walk-off home run in the ninth won the game 6-4. Mike Rabin was 3-for-4 in the game, while Zoeller and Chris Macke each had two hits and one RBI. Reliever Trey Fausnaugh gave up the home run to get the loss. The last 0-4 start by Ohio State was in 1987, the year before Todd arrived to Columbus.

BUCKEYES TAKE 3 OF 4 VS. PURDUE
Ohio State took three of four games from Purdue April 8-10 at Bill Davis Stadium. In the Big Ten home opener, the Boilermakers handed the Buckeyes a 7-1 loss, their sixth loss in a row. Ohio State regrouped on Saturday to take both ends of the doubleheader, 6-4 and 5-1, before clinching the series win with a 4-2 victory in game four.

Despite getting a career-high 10 strikeouts from starter Trent Luyster, the Buckeye defense let the game get away from them. Trailing only 3-1 entering the ninth inning, two Purdue hits and two Buckeye errors led to four runs in the inning as the Boilermakers cruised to the six-run victory. It was the sixth straight loss for Ohio State.

Some say the third time is the charm, but for Ohio State head coach Bob Todd, it took seven times to earn his 700th career victory after winning No. 699 on March 30. After Cody Caughenbaugh tied the game 3-3 with a single, Jason Zoeller launched his fourth home run of the season, a three-run blast, to give the Buckeyes a 6-3 lead. Purdue was able to add a run, but Todd and the Buckeyes walked off the field victorious after the 6-4 win. In game three of the series, Jacob Howell was 2-for-2 with two RBI and Mike Madsen pitched his first complete game of the season to give Ohio State a 5-1 triumph to sweep the doubleheader. Madsen struck out six, allowed only four hits in winning his 19th game of his career.

Dan DeLucia and Jeffrey Carroll, both 2003 graduates of Bishop Watterson High School, combined to pitch the Buckeyes to a 4-2 victory in game four to clinch the series win. DeLucia retired the first 14 batters he faced but allowed both runs on seven hits before giving way to Carroll in the eighth. Carroll was touched for only one hit in picking up his first career save.

A FIRST SINCE 'SCRIPT OHIO' DEBUT
The last time Ohio State began its Big Ten schedule 0-5 was 1936, the same year the Ohio State University Marching Band first performed "Script Ohio." That year, Ohio State lost its first nine conference games before finishing 1-10. Other events of 1936: former Ohio State sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and Franklin D. Roosevelt was in his first term as the President of the United States.

SPARTANS WIN SERIES 3-1 Michigan State was trying to do something at Ohio State April 15-17 that no team had ever been able to do before and that was sweep the Buckeyes at Bill Davis Stadium. In the nine-year history of the stadium, only Michigan had won a series on the Buckeyes home turf (2003 and 2004). This time it was different. The Spartans won the first three games of the series (not even the Wolverines did that) to make a sweep possible, but Ohio State won in the bottom of the ninth to thwart the Spartan bid.

Ohio State lost the first three games 2-0, 12-3 and 8-1. It scored only four runs and had only 22 hits in the first three games of the series. The Buckeyes won 8-7 in the series finale, getting an RBI single from freshman Matt Angle to score freshman Eric Fryer, who reached on a hit of his own and then stole second to set up the score. Ohio State relief pitching allowed a grand slam to tie the game in the top of the ninth after leading by as many as five runs two different times. The Buckeyes finished the series with 12 runs on 35 hits, while Michigan State scored 29 runs on 45 hits.

Senior outfielder and co-captain Mike Rabin led the Buckeyes in going 6-for-12 with three runs batted in and two runs scored. He launched his third career home run in the second game of the series. Chris Macke, Jedidiah Stephen and Jacob Howell each delivered four hits in the series, though the Buckeyes hit just .276. Rabin is the leading Buckeye hitter in Big Ten play, batting .342 in the 12 games. He and Paul Farinacci each have three hits, while Farinacci has delivered seven RBI.

For Michigan State, Sean Walker belted three home runs and drove in four RBI, including the grand slam that tied game four in the top of the ninth. He had five hits and a slugging percentage of 1.077. He and teammate Tim Day who pitched an eight-hit complete game in the 2-0 victory on Friday, earned Big Ten player and pitcher of the week for their performances against the Scarlet and Gray.

MICHIGAN DOWNS BUCKEYES 11-3
Ohio State went to Ann Arbor April 22-24 trying to claw its way back into contention for a bid to the Big Ten tournament, instead the Buckeyes and Wolverines played only one of the four games in a snow-shortened series. Michigan relied on the arm of Jim Brauer, who fanned 10, and an eight-run fifth inning to hand Ohio State an 11-3 in the first ever night game at Ray Fisher Stadium. The game was televised nationally by ESPN.

The Wolverines scored twice in the third thanks to one hit and one Buckeye error, but then used six hits and two more errors to score eight in the fifth to build a 10-0 lead. Eric Fryer launched his first home run as a Buckeye, a one-out, solo shot in the sixth inning that he deposited over the fence in left field to put Ohio State on the board. Michigan got the run back in the bottom of the inning. The Buckeyes scored their final two runs of the game in the eighth inning, using hits by Fryer and Mike Rabin, a pair of Michigan errors and a sacrifice fly by Steve Caravati to pull within the 11-3 final score.

Brauer limited the Buckeyes to only one base runner until the sixth inning when Fryer's home run stopped a string of 15 straight retired batters. When he left, he had struck out 10 with only one walk and had allowed all three runs on five hits in 7.1 innings. Derek Feldkamp pitched the rest of the way. The two allowed six hits by Ohio State, three of which came off the bat of Rabin and two off of Fryer. Paul Farinacci delivered the only other Buckeye hit.

OSU TAKES THREE VS. INDIANA
Ohio State had to rebound after its Friday night loss to Indiana to claim the final three games of the series to win the series three games to one, April 29-May 1. Indiana kept the Buckeyes winless on Friday in Big Ten play with a 10-1 triumph before Ohio State came back to win 3-0 and 7-3 in the doubleheader and 10-8 in the series finale.

The Hoosiers jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Ohio State scored its only run of the game in the fourth and then they added two more runs in the seventh before a Buckeye meltdown allowed five more runs to cross the plate in the top of the ninth. Dan DeLucia struck out seven and walked two in giving up five runs (four earned) on nine hits in 6.1 innings before turning over the reigns to the bullpen in the seventh.

In game two, Cory Luebke threw his third complete game as a Buckeye and was supported by runs in the second, fifth and sixth innings as Ohio State recorded its first shutout of the season. Luebke allowed just four hits, walked one and struck out three to improve to 4-2 on the year. Jedidiah Stephen drove in the first run in the second, Steve Caravati knocked in Mike Rabin in the fifth and then Ronnie Bourquin hit his second home run of the year, a solo shot, to lead off the sixth and give OSU the 3-0 win.

In the nightcap, Ohio State pitchers struck out a season-high 12 batters, including a career-best eight strikeouts from Mike Madsen, and Rory Meister earned his first career save as the Buckeyes beat Indiana 7-3 Saturday. Leading 5-3 with runners at the corners and two out in the fifth, Meister came in to retire the final seven batters of the game to earn his first career save. Matt Angle and Jason Zoeller each went 3-for-4. For Madsen, it was his second win in the week after he beat Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.

In the series finale, Ohio State had to fight back from a 4-1 deficit to win 10-8. The Buckeyes tied the game in the fourth and added single runs in the fifth and sixth before Caravati got things going in the seventh with his first home run of the season that sparked a four-run inning. The Buckeyes gave up four runs in the top of the eighth, but Meister came in to preserve the two-run win to get his second straight save.

BUCKEYES SWEEP PENN STATE
Ohio State swept Penn State in State College, Pa., May 7-9 to climb from eighth to fifth in the Big Ten standings. The Buckeyes won their first series opener of the season by an 11-2 score, took the doubleheader by scores of 13-10 and 29-2 and the won 11-6 in the finale for the first sweep in the Big Ten this season and the first since winning four games at Indiana in 2004.

The Buckeyes hit .453 in the four games and outscored the Nittany Lions 64-20 and outslugged them 77-41, including a school record 33 runs in game three. Ohio State had 20 doubles, including a season-high in the game-three route. Ohio State added two triples and had only three home runs in the four games. The Buckeyes touched 44 bases in the 27-run win in the third game. Penn State had 14 errors in the series compared to only three by Ohio State.

Dan DeLucia pitched his first career complete game to fuel the Buckeyes to their first win in a series opener this season. The Buckeyes were winless in the previous five series openers, but sprinted out to a 10-0 lead to help DeLucia earn his third win of the season with the team's 11-2 victory. Mike Rabin was 3-for-3 and walked three times to reach base all six of his plate appearances.

In game two, Ohio State fell behind 9-5 after two innings, but after Brett Hatcher came in for starter Cory Luebke, Nittany Lions bats fell quiet and the Buckeyes came back for a 13-10 victory. Hatcher went 4.1 innings and allowed only one run on four hits with three strikeouts before he gave way to Rory Meister, who picked up his third save. Caravati was 4-for-5 with four RBI and gave the Buckeyes a 10-9 lead with his second of three extra-base hits in the game. Rabin reached in his first to at bats to run his streak to eight consecutive reaches before that was broken up with a ground out in the fourth. Rabin came within five of the 1934 school record of 13 set by John Prosenjak.

It was an unbelievable scene in the nightcap of the Sunday twinbill. The Buckeyes sent 14 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs before the first out of the game could be recorded. The games first 14 batters all scored as the Buckeyes were able to build a 14-0 lead before senior Mike Madsen threw his first pitch. Ohio State added four in the second, five in the third and five more in the fourth to take a 28-0 lead before Penn State plated it first run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The 29 runs were the most in Big Ten play since the Buckeyes won 34-4 at Michigan State in 1999 and the most runs in any game since a 38-15 victory over Toledo in Albuquerque, N.M. in 2002. The Buckeyes used 16 players on offense and only two - Jason Zoeller and Matt Angle - finished the game. All but two of the 16 batted in at least one run and all 16 had at least one hit, led by six players who had three hits each. Cody Caughenbaugh was 2-for-4 and batted in five runs.

Ohio State scored six runs in the first four innings and added two runs in seventh and eighth innings before adding the final run in the ninth as it cruised to an 11-6 victory and a series sweep over Penn State. Caravati led a group of three players that were 3-for-5 in the game. He delivered three RBI and was joined by Angle and Stephen with three-hit efforts.

Rabin, Caravati and Angle each had nine hits in the series. Rabin and Caravati each were 9-for-15 (.600) and Angle was 9-for-21 (.429). The Buckeyes

BUCKEYES CLAIM THREE OF FOUR AT NORTHWESTERN
Ohio State took three of four games at Northwestern May 13-15 in Evanston, Ill., winning game one to run its win streak to nine games before losing the second game of the series 9-6. The Buckeyes battled back to win game three 10-2 and pitched its way past the Wildcats in the finale 1-0.

The Buckeyes came within one game of its longest win streak of the season by downing Northwestern 7-2 on Friday. Ohio State scored six runs in the first inning and added another in the third and got the second straight complete game from Dan DeLucia. The first six Buckeye batters reached base and the Buckeyes scored four runs before an out was in the book and then scored twice more to take a 6-0 lead before Northwestern came to the plate. DeLucia retired the final six batters of the game to improve to 4-4 on the year and struck out four batters without a walk. Eric Fryer was 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead his team.

Ohio State took a 5-1 lead in the top of the third inning, but Northwestern countered with eight runs in the bottom of the inning on its way to a 9-6 win in the second game of the series. The eight-run third equaled the biggest inning against the Buckeyes this season, matching Michigan's eight-run outburst in the fifth in their April 22nd game vs. Ohio State. Fryer added his second home run of the year in the fourth inning to close within the three-run final. Trey Fausnaugh fell to 3-2 this season after coming on in the third for starter Cory Luebke. Ronnie Bourquin led the Buckeyes with three hits and one RBI.

In game three, Ohio State scored five runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-2 lead and then added four more runs, including three in the seventh as it got back in the win column with a 10-2 complete game victory by Mike Madsen. Madsen struck out a career-high nine batters to lead the Buckeyes to their 30th win of the season. It was his third complete game of the season and the sixth of his career. Paul Farinacci led the Buckeyes in going 3-for-4 with two RBI. Jedidiah Stephen was 2-for-4 with three RBI.

The Buckeyes took the finale 1-0 on the arms of starter Trent Luyster and closer Rory Meister, who combined to pitch a two-hit shutout to clinch the series victory. Luyster allowed only two hits in his seven innings before giving way to Meister, who entered in the eighth and retired all six batters he faced to pick up his fourth save of the season. Jacob Howell drove in his fifth RBI of the series when he singled down the left-field line in the second inning to score Jason Zoeller for the only score of the game. It was just the second shutout this season to go with a 3-0 shutout of Indiana in game two of that series April 30.

With the three win, Ohio State has won 11 of its last 12 games and 14 of its last 17. Bourquin led the Buckeyes in Evanston in batting .462 (6-for-13) with two RBI. Fryer, Mike Rabin and Howell each had five hits, while collecting three, four and five RBI, respectively. The Buckeyes batted only .289 but were aided by a 3.48 ERA and a .196 opponent batting average.

OHIO STATE WINS FINAL THREE GAMES VS. MINNESOTA
The Buckeyes opened their series, May 20-22, with Minnesota by losing 9-3, but rebounded to win the final three games of the series all by one-run margins. The game one loss was the sixth of the year in eight Big Ten games, but Ohio State rebounded in game two to win 2-1 before winning 3-2 to sweep the doubleheader. The Buckeyes claimed their second ever series win with a 6-5 victory in the finale. All three wins came in the team's final at bat.

In game one, Minnesota stormed out to a 7-1 lead through 2 1/2 innings and then rode the arm of Matt Loberg to a 9-3 complete game victory. OSU starter Dan DeLucia lasted only 2.1 innings in his shortest start as a Buckeye. He gave up seven runs on five hits to fall to 4-5 on the year. In the ninth inning, Jason Zoeller went long for the sixth time this season, a figure that leads Ohio State.

The score was tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning in the second game of the series and the first game of the doubleheader, but Paul Farinacci singled to left field to score Wes Schirtzinger to lift Ohio State to a 2-1 victory. Starter Mike Madsen pitched 6.2 innings before giving way to Rory Meister in the top of the seventh. He hit his first batter to load the bases and but then caught the next batter looking at strike three before Farinacci's heroics.

There was even more heroics in the nightcap. Farinacci, who won the first game with his RBI single, tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh before Mike Rabin delivered the winning run, pushing a suicide squeeze bunt down the first-base line to beat Minnesota 3-2 in game three. OSU starter Trent Luyster pitched 6.1 innings before giving way to Meister in the top of the seventh. He came in with runners at the corners and got a fly out and a ground out to get out of the inning and set the stage for the second Buckeye win of the series.

It would be hard to follow up the two wins from Saturday, but the Buckeyes did it again breaking a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning with a single by Eric Fryer that scored Zoeller to give Ohio State a 6-5 victory and the first series win over Minnesota since 2001. Cory Luebke got the start and went five innings, and after two other relievers, Meister entered the game in the eighth with runners at second and third and only one out. He got out of it with a strikeout and a pop up to get to the bottom of the eighth and then in the ninth he gave up a two-out double off the wall and walked a batter before getting a third called strike to end the game.

Meister picked up all three wins in the series to go with a 3-2 win over Miami (Ohio) to finished 4-0 on the week and build his own record to 7-0 with four saves. Fryer was the offensive leader in the series, going 8-for-12 (.667) with eight singles and one RBI. Farinacci finished 5-for-12 (.417) with three RBI to build his team lead to 48 RBI on the year. Zoeller also finished with five hits, going 5-for-14 (.357).

UP NEXT FOR THE BUCKEYES...
The winner of the NCAA Corvallis Regional and the winner of the NCAA Long Beach Regional will meet in a best-of-three super regional June 10-13 at a site to be determined.