Right: Georgia first baseman Rich Poythress leads the Bulldogs batting .370 with 21 HRs and 77 RBIs. (UGA Photo)
The No. 3-seed Ohio State baseball team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and was placed in the Tallahassee Regional to take on the second-seeded Georgia Bulldogs, Friday afternoon. First pitch at Dick Howser Stadium is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
The Bulldogs enter Friday’s contest with a record of 37-22 overall, and finished third in the SEC Eastern Division with an even 15-15 mark in conference play, four full games behind Florida.
Georgia first baseman Rich Poythress is among the SEC leaders in batting (.370), slugging (.718), on-base percentage (.459), runs (64), hits (84), doubles (16), home runs (21) and total bases (163). Freshman third baseman Colby May has started all 59 games and is second on the team with a .336 average. Senior catcher Bryce Massanari has hit 19 home runs, which was second most in the SEC.
The Bulldogs best two starting pitchers are senior righthander Trevor Holder and sophomore righty Justin Grimm. Holder is 7-4 with an 4.34 ERA. He has pitched 85.0 innings and has allowed 41 earned runs on 85 hits with 65 strikeouts and 27 walks. Grimm has lasted 73.0 frames and has surrendered 34 earned runs on 76 hits while fanning 67 and issuing 24 base on balls.
Two of Georgia’s best relievers are senior righthander Will Harvil and junior righthander Dean Weaver. In 45.2 innings pitched, Harvil is 4-2 with a 2.96 earned run average, while Dean Weaver has work 39.0 innings and is 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA to go along with a team-high 10 saves.
The Buckeyes dropped down to a third-seed after losing a pair of games to wrap-up the Big Ten Tournament after rallying to defeat Illinois in the first game.
Last Friday, Indiana took Ohio State and starting pitcher Dean Wolosiansky to the woodshed for eight runs on 12 hits in the first four-plus innings and the Buckeyes couldn’t recover.
Ohio State led 2-0 after 3-1/2 innings, but Indiana scored three times in the home half of the fourth and seven more times in the fifth to put the game away.
Hoosiers’ second baseman Tyler Rogers went 3-for-5 at the plate with a triple and four RBI.
In the elimination game last Saturday against Minnesota, the Golden Gophers scored the game-winning run in the top half of the fourth when center fielder Eric Decker drilled a solo shot off the scoreboard in right-center field at Huntington Park to put Minny ahead 5-4.
The Gophers took a 4-0 lead before the Buckeyes even got a chance to bat, but climbed back into the game quickly, plating three runs themselves in the opening frame.
Michael Stephens, Dan Burkhart, and Ryan Dew each had an RBI singles to trim Minnesota’s lead down to a single run in the first.
The Buckeyes tied the game in the home half of the second when Stephens added another RBI base hit that scored Cory Kovanda.
In the NCAA Tournament, if Ohio State wins on Friday, the Buckeyes will play the winner of Florida State/Marist on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. If Ohio State loses to Georgia, the Buckeyes will play the loser of the aforementioned game at 12 p.m. ET in Tallahassee.
All of the games in the NCAA Regional will be televised on ESPNU, and WTDA-FM 103.9 in Columbus will also carry every game on your radio dial. BuckeyeBanter.com will live blog every game as well.
Tags: Baseball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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