Around the Oval: Three Teams Fall in the Postseason While Baseball Bolsters its NCAA Tournament Resume

Season's End

Women's Tennis

2016 was the most successful season in program history for the Ohio State women's tennis squad, but it came to a close Saturday afternoon as the No. 4 Buckeyes fell to No. 12 Oklahoma State 4-2 in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals.

The Buckeyes were in trouble early in the match, as Oklahoma State took the doubles point and won the first two singles matches to go up 3-0. To survive, Ohio State needed victories in every remaining match, and they nearly got it. Juniors Sandy Niehaus and Miho Kowase got back to back victories, and No. 3 Francesca Di Lorenzo was ahead in the third set. However, Ferny Angeles Paz fell in a third set thriller, and the Cowgirls advanced.

"It stings right now, obviously. I think that if we can look back on it we had an unbelievable year," said head coach Melissa Schaub in an Ohio State release. "These guys fight really hard, but it didn't go our way today."

Ohio State's first ever national champion Francesca Di Lorenzo (Photo via OSU athletics).

This was a season of firsts for Ohio State. The Buckeyes finish with a 31-3 record – the first time in program history the team has ever won more than 20 matches. The team also achieved its first-ever No. 1 ranking, won its first Big Ten regular season championship, its first Big Ten Tournament championships, hosted its first NCAA Tournament matches, and advanced past the second round for the first time.

This could only be the beginning for this Buckeye squad. The Buckeyes return every starter next season and their leader in Di Lorenzo, who won the program's first-ever national title in the fall, is just a freshman

"It hurts, it hurts right now but we do have everybody in our starting lineup coming back next year," said Schaub. "If we can focus on that and the kind of year that we had I think in a little bit when this starts to wear off we will be really proud of what we were able to accomplish this year."

Men's Tennis

A furious comeback fell just short, Sunday afternoon as the No. 5 Ohio State men's tennis team fell to No. 13 California 4-3 in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.

It was trouble from the start for the Buckeyes as they dropped their first doubles point in 18 matches, and it only got worse in singles play. Ohio State lost all but one first set and Cal appeared to be coasting towards the Final Four – but the Buckeyes battled.

Freshman Martin Joyce got Ohio State on the board first, sweeping his match, then freshman Hugo Di Feo and senior Chris Diaz battled back from first set losses to win their matches in the third set.

With the match tied 3-3, it came down to Court 1 where Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard, the nation's No. 1 ranked player, faced No. 30 Florian Lakat in a third set with the match and the season on the line.

Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Torpegaard couldn't get it done. The sophomore gave it everything he had, fighting off three match points to force a tie-breaker before ultimately falling 8-6. Top-ranked Torpegaard had not lost a dual meet match all season before this weekend, but ended the NCAA Tournament with back to back losses.

"After being down for about two hours, we came back and had our opportunity to win," said Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker after the loss. "That's what you get when you let it slip away from you at the beginning."

The Buckeyes will undoubtedly bounce back next season with the bulk of their talent returning, but they will lose both senior Chris Diaz and redshirt junior Ralf Steinbach to graduation and possibly Mikael Torpegaard if he elects to forgo his final two years of eligibility and go pro.

Softball

Ohio State's softball team made its first NCAA Tournament birth in six years, but the run ended in regional play.

The Buckeyes fell 2-1 in their first game against Arizona, but rebounded with a 6-1 victory over Marist to earn a date with No. 13 Tennessee. Unfortunately, Ohio State couldn't get it done, falling 10-1 and ending their season.

Tennessee broke the game open in the second inning, pushing across six runs and never looking back. The Buckeyes were only able to muster one score, coming on an RBI from senior Maddy McIntyre.

McIntyre played her last game in a Buckeye uniform. She sits near the top of the record books in nearly every offensive category RBI, hits, walks, on-base percentage and home runs. Her teammate Cammi Prantl, who also played her last game, leaves as the school's all-time hits and double leader.

The loss sting, of course, but the future is bright for the Buckeye team. Of the 13 players that saw action against the Volunteers, 10 will be returning, three of which earned All Region honors – freshman Emily Clark, junior Shelby Hursh and junior Alex Bayne.

Making Noise

The Ohio State baseball team needed a series win over No. 24 and Big Ten leading Minnesota this weekend to help bolster its NCAA Tournament resume, and that's exactly what it got. The Buckeyes won 2 of 3 against the Golden Gophers and earned the No. 4 seed in this weekend's Big Ten Tournament. 

Thursday, a ninth inning RBI by second baseman Troy Kuhn lifted the Buckeyes past Minnesota 3-2. The win extended Ohio State's winning streak to seven games, its winning streak against ranked teams to five games, and put the team 1.5 games out of first place in the Big Ten with two games remaining against the conference leaders.

Both streaks and the Big Ten Title hopes ended, Friday as the Golden Gophers bested the Buckeyes 4-3, clinching the conference title and the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State held the lead most of the game until a four run sixth inning put Minnesota up 4-3, and the Buckeyes weren't able to respond. 

Saturday, Ohio State rebounded from the setback in a ten inning thriller, thanks to Buckeye power-hitter Ronnie Dawson's two late-inning home runs. Dawson tied the game at 5 in the the top of the eighth inning, then hit what was eventually the game winning home run in the top of the 10th on an 0-2 pitch.

The 6-5 extra inning win clinched the series for the Buckeyes over the Big Ten regular season champs, and gave Ohio State its sixth win over a ranked team in 10 days. 

"We wish it was like WWE where we could just take the belt, but it's not like that," joked Dawson after the game. "But it's good momentum going into the Big Ten Tournament. I'm excited."

Highlights from the 6-5 comeback win at No. 24 Minnesota.https://t.co/kbroWkVv3o#GoBucks

— The OSU Baseball (@OhioState_BASE) May 21, 2016

With the win, the Buckeyes locked up the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament.

“Yesterday was tough seeing our Big Ten title hopes go down, but it showed a lot of character in our ball club to bounce back today in a very critical baseball game for us," said Ohio State head coach Greg Beals in a release. "We’ve won four straight weekends now and it’s important for us to keep the momentum going into the postseason.”

Ohio State begins its postseason in Omaha, Neb. this week for the Big Ten Tournament where it has one more chance to further bolster its NCAA Tournament resume. According to Buckeye star Ronnie Dawson, the mission is simple. 

"Let's keep it rolling," he said. "The Bucks are here to play. Let's keep it moving."

Ohio State opens Big Ten Tournament play against No. 5 seeded Michigan at 10 p.m. Wednesday night. BTN will have live television coverage.

Other Scores and News

• Women's Golf: Sophomore Rio Watanabe advances to the fourth and final round of the NCAA Championships. She is tied for 15th out of 132 players and ranks fourth out of the players remaining from non-advancing teams. Her Monday tee-time is 4 p.m. As a team, Ohio State finished 22nd, missing the team cut.
• Men's Golf: Senior Tee-k Kelly won the NCAA Kohler Regional, punching his ticket to the NCAA Championships and beating out 74 other golfers for the lone individual slot in the Championships.
• Rowing: Catherine Shields was named B1G Rowing Co-Athlete of the Year, the second time she's earned such honors.

2015-'16 Title Count: 2

• Pistol
• Men's Volleyball