Ohio State excellence is not exclusive to the football field or the basketball court. Around the Oval is our way of keeping you informed of the amazing things happening with the other 34 varsity sports on campus.
Rowing Prepares for 3-peat
Perhaps the most dominating team in the Ohio State athletic program today is the women's rowing team. The Buckeyes are back-to-back national champions, and won their third Big Ten title in as many years last weekend. The team is undefeated on the season, defeating seven teams currently ranked in the top-20 . They also swept the Big Ten Awards winning Athlete of the Year by Ashley Bauer, Freshmen of the Year by Sarah Davis, and Coach of the Year by head coach Andy Teitelbaum.
They aren't done either. The team qualified for their 16th-consecutive NCAA Championship appearance this week where they will compete for their third straight NCAA title. They enter the weekend as one of the favorites after being the top-ranked team in the country for 9 consecutive weeks.
The NCAA Championships will be in Sacramento Calif. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It will be the Ohio State athletic program's last chance to add a title to their already impressive 2014-15 tally.
Baseball fell out of the field
A month ago, the Buckeye baseball team appeared to be a lock for the NCAA tournament. They were an RPI top-ten team with quality wins over Louisville and Nebraska. They had dominating starting pitching, one of the best bullpens in the country statistically, and were incredibly clutch, rallying to win seemingly every close game in late innings. Pending an epic collapse, Ohio State appeared to be at the very least in the NCAA tournament field. At most, they had a chance to host an NCAA regional.
The impossible collapse happened.
The Buckeyes lost eight of their last nine regular season conference games, but headed into the Big Ten Tournament still in a decent position to make the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State likely needed just one win in the tournament to punch their ticket, but they didn't get it. The team lost 3-2 to Iowa on a heartbreaking two-run walk-off home run, then fell to Indiana 5-3 who effectively stole their bid to the NCAA Tournament with the win.
Any long-shot hopes of a tournament birth were dashed Sunday afternoon when Michigan, who was not expected to make the tournament, won the Big Ten's automatic bid, taking a potential bid away from a bubble team. This extends the team's NCAA Tournament drought to six seasons.
tennis officially finishes season
Although the tennis team finished its season last weekend with a close loss to Texas A&M, a few of the players were still in action this week in the singles and doubles championships. Junior Chris Diaz and freshman Mikael Torpegaard qualified for the singles championships, and the doubles team of senior Kevin Metka and sophomore Ralf Steinbach qualified for the doubles championship.
The results were not great for the Buckeyes. Torpegaard fell in the first round, and Diaz's run ended in the second. In the doubles bracket, Metka and Steinbach fell in the first round, making it the last match of Kevin Metka's Buckeye career. These losses meant the official end to Ohio State's season.
The Buckeyes finished the season 27-9, and 10-1 in the conference. They won their 10th consecutive share of the Big Ten regular season title, and reached their 10th consecutive sweet-sixteen. Despite not being quite as dominant as they have been in previous years, the team certainly put together a season to be proud of.
What's Happening This Week
- Rowing begins their quest to 3-pete Friday, and is also in action Saturday and Sunday
2014-15 'Ship Count: 4
- Football
- Wrestling
- Pistol
- Synchronized Swimming
