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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Buckeyes Lose to Iowa 7-2, Drop to 0-2 in Big Ten Play

Hoping to get their first conference win of the season, Ohio State was defeated by the Iowa Hawkeyes 7-2, dropping the Buckeyes to 0-2 in Big Ten conference play.

In the top of the first inning, Iowa's Liz Watkins, after a stellar 4-4 outing at the plate on Saturday, picked up where she left off by giving Iowa an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning via a three run shot over the right field wall. Watkins totaled six rbi on the weekend for the Hawkeyes.

In the bottom half of the first, Buckeye captain Alicia Herron blasted a solo shot to dead center field to cut the deficit to two. The very next inning, freshman Melaina Saalfeld drove in a run on an rbi groundout to second to draw the Buckeyes within one.

Despite the rally by Ohio State, the Hawkeyes would explode for 4 runs, with three runs scoring on a bases loaded double by Hawkeye left fielder Michelle Zoeller. Iowa right-hander Kayla Massey, who went the full seven innings for Iowa, would then quiet the Buckeye bats the rest of the way, walking 2 and striking out three on her way to netting her 9th win of the season. Kasie Kelly dropped to 3-5 on the season for the Buckeyes, only pitching 2 innings while giving up four runs on five hits while striking out three.

The Buckeyes will travel to Minnesota next weekend to take on the Golden Gophers as Ohio State looks for their first win in Big Ten conference play. It will be a two game series the weekend of April 2-3 with Saturday starting at 2:00 pm EST and Sunday starting at 1:00 pm EST.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Buckeyes Drop Big Ten Opener, Come Up Short against Hawkeyes 5-3

It was a frustrating home opener for Ohio State as they dropped their first 2011 game at Buckeye Field Saturday 5-3 to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Iowa took an early lead in the top of the first inning when Hawkeyes catcher Liz Watkins delivered with a two-out rbi single that drove home Chelsea Carmody. Watkins would then hit another two out rbi single in the top of the third to increase the Iowa lead to 2-0 over the Buckeyes.

Ohio State would then battle back, scoring two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning. After loading the bases with no outs, sophomore third baseman Meghan Coletta drove in a run on a fielder's choice to shortstop, scoring Brittany Goodchild from third. With two outs, Melaina Saalfeld delivered an rbi single that brought home pinch runner Alyson Mott to tie the game at 2. The Buckeyes tried to get the lead as Coletta tried to score while Saalfeld got caught in a run down between first and second, but Coletta was tagged out at home to end the inning.

Iowa would then come right back and retake the lead for good, scoring three runs in the top of the fifth via a Johnnie Dowling solo shot,a Watkins two-out rbi double, and a Michelle Zoeller two-out rbi single. Watkins ended up going 4-4 with 3 two-out rbi for Iowa.

After an Evelyn Carrillo solo shot in the 6th inning that drew the Buckeyes within two, Ohio State attempted one last rally in the bottom of the seventh. The Buckeyes loaded the bases with two outs with Coletta trying to come through for her club, but but it was not to be as she struck out to end the inning and wrap up the Hawkeye victory.

For the game, Iowa outhit Ohio State 8-7 with both teams leaving eight runners on base. The win went to Iowa right-hander Chelsea Lyon (9-8), who gave up three runs, all earned, on seven hits while walking five and striking out three. The loss was tagged to Buckeye right-hander Karisa Medrano (2-10) who gave up five runs, four earned, on eight hits while walking five and striking out five.

The Hawkeyes and Buckeyes will conclude this weekend's two game series at Buckeye Field Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Tressel Still The Best Coach For Ohio State

“We’re allowed to say what we think, and that's, I guess, one of the standards that makes our country a little bit different.”

Jim Tressel made this statement while answering a question I asked him about comments made by Terrelle Pryor about former Ohio State quarterback and current ESPN college football broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit at a press conference on January 3 in New Orleans.

“I'm not sure giving opinions is that flattering,” Tressel went on to say.

Today Tressel is learning once again that opinions are not flattering.

While a number of Buckeye fans have rallied to Tressel’s support and most of the media has taken a fair look at Tressel’s situation, some media members, both local and national, have taken an irrational approach to this.

They have called for Tressel’s head and called into question his personal character.

I will not mention names or give links because I don’t want to give them the online traffic and I do not want to get in the business of personally attacking someone because after all as Tressel said, having a right to express your opinion is part of what makes America great.

However, sometimes people say things so idiotic that they need to be corrected.

Yes, Tressel made a mistake.

He admitted it last night.

The biggest mistake Tressel made was not disclosing he had these email conversations in December.

While by the letter of the NCAA law Tressel should have notified someone about the emails when he first got them in April, I can understand why he didn’t.

And I wonder how many of you would have done the same thing Tressel did? I think I may have.

If you spend any time around Tressel you can tell his love for The Ohio State University, his faith, family, friends, and players.

And Ohio State is behind those four other groups, as it should be.

Tressel is a loyalist. He is loyal to his players even to his own determent.

This helps explain Tressel’s decision, but not justify it.

If you want to fire someone for being loyal, and trying to do what, at the time, he thought was best for his employer and the people he cares about then I wonder what kind of person you would want.

The people who want Tressel gone, either don’t realize what kind of man he is or they have some other motivation for wanting him out.

He made a mistake, he is being punished for that mistake, but lets not give someone life in prison for a speeding ticket.

Tressel is not perfect, no one is.

But, Tressel is the best football coach for The Ohio State University.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A Dark Day for the Greatest University

There are tons of reports out there about the recent Jim Tressell "scandal" and only a few things for certain. Jim Tressell withheld information about players during an investigation- which is a violation. Stemming from this, Jim Tressell has been suspended for the first two games of the 2011-2012 season and fined $250,000. He has NOT been fired, but may face further punishment from the NCAA.

So what does this mean?

The Ohio State University has taken a hit in the past 3 months since the report came out of the players who received "improper benefits" (I blame the NCAA for this, but you can hear me talk about this Thursday at 4PM on the National Hour) and now Tressell has been suspended. This is a black eye for Ohio State. I have always looked to Ohio State as above these shennanigans that have gone on in College Football; Ohio State is simply above that.

Well, not any more. These allegations sting me and hurt me deeply. But you have to wonder, if Ohio State- WE- are not above this mess, then who is? I think this speaks more to the state of College Football than anything else. Look at Auburn, USC, Alabama and Florida with their problems. College football is not clean like we try to pretend it is.

In 2004 as a 12 year old kid some one asked me what my favorite level of football was. I said the collegiate level because players have a high level of skill, but they're still amatuers and play for the love of the game; I was so young and naive. I implore you to think back to a team since the inception of the BCS that has won a National Championship and had NO violations in these 12 years.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Ohio State upsets three teams en route to third Big 10 Tournament Championship

What a weekend it was for the Ohio State Women's basketball team.

The Lady Buckeyes after an up-and-down season, rode into the conference tournament as a fifth seed on a six-game win streak and hit the ground running. In their first game against the fourth seed Iowa Hawkeyes, the game was close til about 6 minutes left in the second half when Brittany Johnson started raining threes to allow the Buckeyes to pull away. Johnson finished the game with a career high 23 points and 7 made 3-pointers (5 in the 2nd half) including one from the left corner that banked off the backboard and in. Down the stretch Jamie Printy's 19 points weren't enough to keep her team in the game as Iowa fell to Ohio State 61-71. Jantel Lavender Barely held onto her streak of consecutive double digit scoring games with 11 points and 14 boards.

The next game for the Buckeyes pitted them against #1 seed Michigan state, a team they had beaten twice before in the regular season. This game will be remembered as the Jantel Lavender show. The 4-time Big 10 POY worked against the smaller Big 10 Def-POY Lykendra Johnson all game, and it was no contest. Lavender had 21 pts in the first half, didn't even attempt a shot in the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half, and still ended up with 37 points which broke her previous Big 10 Tournament record for points in a game of 35. Despite allowing MSU to haul in 25 offensive rebounds, Ohio State's defense was the second star of this game. MSU came in regarded as the best defensive team in the conference, but it was Ohio State that held the Spartans to 32% shooting from the field, and 5-25 from behind the arc. Ohio State ended up winning the semifinal game 72-57.

In the Big 10 Tournament Championship on Sunday against #2 seed Penn State, the Buckeyes three-headed attack of Tayler Hill, Samantha Prahalis, and Jantel Lavender was too much for the young Lady Lions team to Handle. The three combined for 63 points (Lavender/Prahalis 23, Hill 17), as Lavender was working down low, Prahalis in the lane, and Hill in transition (and an uncharacteristic 3-5 performance from down town). The defense continued to be the surprise for Ohio State as it forced the #1 offense in the league to just 35% shooting from the field, and held Big 10 FOY Maggie Lucas to just 8 pts on 1-10 shooting. Ohio State got to the line late thanks to 17 Penn State team fouls, and converted from the line making it impossible for the Lions to amount a comeback. Ohio State 84 Penn State 70.

With the win Ohio State ties the Big Ten tournament record for the lowest seed to win the championship. The tournament championship is Ohio State's third in a row, also a Big Ten record. Jantel Lavender has Big Ten Records for Points in a game, career rebounds, career points, FG made in a game among many others. Prahalis, with still one year left in her career, is now 2nd on the all-time tournament assists list, needing just six more to tie Penn State's Helen Darling. Ohio State finishes the tournament on a nine game winning streak, and is arguably the hottest team in the country as four of those nine have come against ranked opponents.

All Big Ten Tournament Team:
Talyer Hill, G, Ohio State
Jantel Lavender, F, Ohio State
Samantha Prahalis, G, Ohio State
Alex Bently, G, Penn State
Maggie Lucas, G, Penn State

Buckeyes fall on Saturday and Sunday to Close out Tulsa Tournament

The Buckeyes left Tulsa, Oklahoma with a bad taste in their mouthes as they dropped a 10-4 decision against Drake on Saturday night and were shut out 8-0 in six innings by Tulsa on Sunday to conclude play in the Holiday Inn Tulsa-City Center Festival.

The Buckeyes fell behind early to Drake when the Bulldogs were able to score two runs in the top of the first inning with one run scoring via an RBI sacrifice fly by Torey Craddock and the other run coming in when Amy Pierce scored just before the Buckeyes tagged out Molly McClelland in a run-down between first and second. Despite base hits by Dee Dee Hillman and Alicia Herron to start off the bottom of the first, the Buckeyes were not able to take advantage as Evelyn Carillo was tagged out while trying to steal second and Leesa Gresham struck out to end the inning.

The very next inning, the Bulldogs took advantage of Buckeye errors to increase their lead. Nicole Randel, after reaching on a OSU fielding error, scored on a Jenna Delong single to open the scoring. Two more runners scored on another Ohio State fielding error as Delong and Jordan Gronewald came around to score. Torey Craddox then followed it with a two-out RBI that was just out of the reach of outfielder Dee Dee Hillman. By the end of the inning, the Bulldogs had scored four runs-all unearned with two outs.

The Buckeyes responded by cutting the deficit in half by way of a three-run home run by Alicia Herron in the second inning, her 3rd dinger of the year. The Bulldogs would get those runs back, scoring two runs in the top of the fourth off of a Jordan Gronewald solo home run and an RBI double by Molly Mollihan.

Alicia Herron struck again in the bottom half of the fourth when she knocked in Melissa Rennie on an RBI double that came very close to leaving the yard. But like the top of fourth, the Bulldogs never let up on offense as they scored two in the top of the fifth. Jenna Delong contributed with an RBI single and Betty West scored from first after a Buckeye throw ended up in the Bulldogs' dugout.

For the game, Ohio State outhit Drake 14-9, but but left 11 players on base and committed four defensive errors. Melanie Nichols dropped to 0-2 on the season for the Buckeyes while Gronewald (1-0) picked up her first win of the season for the Bulldogs.

Sunday did not get much better for the Buckeyes as they ran a Tulsa squad that fired on all cylinders. Like Saturday, Ohio State fell behind early as the Golden Hurricane scored two in the top of the first on two-out RBI doubles by Skylar Swanson and Lacey Middlebrooks. They would tack on three more in the bottom of the third when Tulsa right fielder Lauren Menke knocked out a three-run home run to extend the lead to 5-0 over the Buckeyes. Tulsa would go on to score three more runs on a fielder's choice in the fourth and a Shelby Blanton RBI single and a Swanson RBI double.

The Buckeyes were not able to do much offensively as Aimee Creger pitched a one hit complete game shutout with eight strikeouts and two walks to pick up her seventh win of the season. Audrey Plant (1-2) was hit with the loss after pitching three innings, giving up five earned runs on five hits and two walks.

Ohio State will try to regroup as they get ready to travel to California to partcipate in the San Diego State Tournament next weekend.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Buckeyes Split First Two Games in Tulsa Tournament

Ohio State split their first two games to kick off the 2011 Holiday Inn Tulsa-City Center Festival, losing 7-4 to North Dakota in the first game and winning 8-0 in five innings against Iowa State in the second game.

In the first game, North Dakota got on the board first in the third inning when Kayelee Schoeny singled up the middle to score Cami Bennett on a rbi single.Ohio State came right back in the bottom half of the inning when Alicia Herron scored on a Leesa Gresham rbi single.

The Buckeyes then took the lead in the bottom of the 4th when, after three straight two-out hits, Brittany Mills smacked a hit down the left field knocking in one run. Mills was followed up by rbi singles by Alicia Herron and Evelyn Carillo.

After North Dakota drew within one of the Buckeyes, Ohio State would tacked on another run as Carillo ended up scoring from third on a wild pitch to make it a 4-2 Buckeye lead. Unfortunately for the Bucks, it was a day where UND would not be denied. North Dakota cut into the lead with a Caralyn Chewing home run to open the top of the sixth. The very next inning, North Dakota loaded the bases and would go on to score 4 runs with three of them coming via a three run shot from Chewing. It was a disappointing loss for Ohio State as Kasie Kelly dropped to 2-3 on the season while Michelle Frank improved to 3-7

After suffering a heartbreaker at the hands of North Dakota, the Buckeyes responded with a great effort against the Iowa State Cyclones. Ohio State took advantage of two Cyclone throwing errors in the second inning when Melissa Rennie and Dee Dee Hillman came all the way around to score for an early 2-0 Buckeye lead.

The Buckeyes offense then went on a tear in the fifth inning when they scored five runs on a Alicia Herron rbi single, a Meghan Coletta rbi single, a Brittany Goodchild two-rbi double, a Melaina Saalfeld rbi sacrifice fly, and Goodchild scoring on a steal of home. All in all, Ohio State recorded five hits in the inning with seven batters reaching base safely. It also proved to be an impressive game for freshman Aubrey Plant. Plant (1-1) shut out the Cyclones on 1 hit while striking out 5 with 2 walks in five innings.

The Buckeyes will continue play in Tulsa on Saturday when they take on Drake at 5:45 pm.