Buckeye Baseball: Home Opener

Ask most people about their trips to Florida, and they'll overwhelm you with all of their good memories along with how they finally caught a glimpse of that yellow round ball in the sky that we don't see much of here in Ohio.

But the 33 men that make up the Ohio State baseball team would not fit into the category of those who are seen leaving the Sunshine State with broad smiles in 2010. That is not because the weather was necessarily bad, but instead because they could not hit the broad side of a barn offensively from March 19 to March 25. The Buckeyes were outscored 24 - 10 by their opponents in their last four spring break games, losing three of those contests, including two straight.

They ended up winning only four of seven games on the trip after beginning the trip with three consecutive victories.

But ironically enough, as soon as the Bucks get back to the notoriously chillier weather and gloomier skies of the Midwest, they start to pull it together.

Since their spring break trip they have won three of four, pushing their record to 16-8.

Getting back on track wasn't all that easy for Ohio State, however. They trailed Toledo on Wednesday by a count of 3-2 going into the bottom of the eighth. Starting pitcher Dean Wolosiansky was roughed up in his five innings of work, giving up two dingers and 11 base hits. And after OSU second baseman Cory Kovanda flew out to right to start the eighth, it looked like the Buckeyes would keep drowning due to inefficient hitting.

But catcher Dan Burkhart walked to get things going for OSU and then crossed home plate courtesy of a Michael Stephens RBI double, which ended up knotting the game up at three. The next batter was first baseman Ryan Dew, who singled to score Stephens.

Just like that OSU was up 4-3, and they were able to hold off the Rockets in the top half of the ninth inning to seal the deal and capture a comeback victory.

The Bucks rode the momentum from the Toledo win into Evanston, Ill., where they took two out of three against the Wildcats to open up Big Ten play this weekend.

Suddenly, everything is better in Paradise, and the baseball Buckeyes look more like the team who took home the 2009 Big Ten crown, rather than a team who had to rely on clutch hitting and a solid bullpen to defeat the Toledo Rockets.

Up next for OSU is the Musketeers of Xavier University, who are 7-20 with a game to be played versus Miami University Tuesday before OSU meets up with them Wednesday. So, hopefully the Buckeyes can forget about the beautiful Florida weather and continue on winning in the colder, gloomier environment they call home.