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.
St. Patrick's Day weekend brought several high profile setbacks for the Buckeyes. There were, however, patches of brightness around the Oval.
Men's Baseball Rolls to Six Straight Wins
In a little more than a week, the men's baseball team has won six straight games to improve to 13-6.
The streak started last Sunday with a 7-5 win at Coastal Carolina. From there, the Bucks traveled to North Carolina where they took down UNC Wilmington in both chapters of a two game series. Sophomore pitcher Jake Vance secured his first career win by an 8-1 margin in the second game.
With building momentum, the team returned to Columbus this weekend for a three game series against California State University, Northridge.
In the first game, on Friday night, sophomore outfielder Dominic Canzone spurred the Buckeyes to a 2-1 victory in 12 innings. Canzone, who led the team with a .343 batting average last year, continued his stellar second season with five hits. Driving in teammate Nate Romans at top of the 12th inning, Canzone cleared the path to victory for the Bucks.
ICYMI: We won on a walk-off in our home opener last night. Canzone's five-hit performance was the second time a Buckeye has accomplished the feat this year, third time in last seven years.
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioState_BASE) March 17, 2018
https://t.co/yZxiuF3KTx
https://t.co/9J8NMs6jwW#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/5y5cCM6ZyT
The second game of the CSUN series, scheduled for Saturday, was postponed due to weather. That did not deter the Buckeyes, though, who won the first game of their Sunday double-header by a convincing 11-6 margin. Later in the day, the team cemented their weekend sweep with a 7-3 victory at Bill Davis stadium.
Sixth straight win
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioState_BASE) March 18, 2018
First weekend series sweep
Great Sunday #ForTheBoys.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/JIwQeCw4Ka
After a cluster of strong wins, the baseball squad will prepare for home games versus Eastern Michigan and Georgetown this coming week.
Track and Field Shines at Black and Gold Challenge
Junior UCLA transfer Julia Rizk made an immediate impact for the Scarlett and Gray with two gold medal finishes in Ohio State's first outdoor track meet of the season. On Friday, Rizk led the pack a personal-best 4:25.84 in the 1,500 meter race. Making the victory all the more sweet, she was joined by teammates Christine Frederick, who ran a 4:25.98, and Abby Nichols, who finished at 4:26.64, on the medal stand.
Nice start with a 1-2-3 finish and 1-2-3 PRs for the @OhioState_TFXC 1500m women down in Florida. Good to be back outside! pic.twitter.com/v6ATlBbY9B
— Sara Vergote (@vergotes) March 16, 2018
On Saturday, Rizk continued her campaign with a winning 2:11.46 in the 800 meter race. Once again making victory a team affair, Rizk was joined on by Alex Lomong, who ran 1:49.19 to capture the 800 gold on the men's side.
The winning, however, did not end there. Cole Gorski cleared 5.40 meters, a personal best, to win gold in the pole vault. Luke Landis won his first career 5,000 meter race with a time of 14:57.85. The men’s 4x400 meter relay of Drelan Bramwell, Joseph Cooper Jr., Asa Burke and Andre Jeff took the top collegiate honor with a time of 3:06.72. They were matched by the first-place women's team of Beatrice Hannan, Anavia Battle, Tamani Wilson and Karrington Winters, who ran 3:37.87.
The track and field team competes next weekend at USC.
Men's Volleyball Weathers Storm Versus Penn State
The men's volleyball team very nearly suffered crushing defeat at Happy Valley on Friday. After letting the second and third sets of the match slip by close 21-25 and 23-25 scores, Ohio State faced four Penn State match points in the fourth set. With their backs against the wall, the Bucks responded with aplomb and mustered three kills and an ace.
.@OhioState_MVB completes the comeback against Penn State and wins the 5th set 15-12! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/rpHbbbUSvU
— BTN Student U (@BTNStudentU) March 17, 2018
Grinding out the fourth frame 28-26, the team carried momentum into the final set to win 15-12. Senior Nicolas Szerszen led the Buckeyes to victory with a staggering 22 kills on 30 attempts.
The men's volleyball team followed up on the big win at Penn State with a decisive 25-18, 25-18, 25-19 victory at Saint Francis. With that win, the Bucks improved to 15-4 on the season. The team will next compete at Quincy on Friday.
OTHER SCORES AND NEWS
- Women's lacrosse lost to Michigan in the team's Big Ten opener.
- Women's swim and dive finished 13th at NCAA Championships. Standout Liz Li earned a bronze medal in the 50 freestyle.
- Men's lacrosse fell 12-7 to sixth-ranked Denver.
- Softball beat Cal State Fullerton and CSUN, but lost to Grand Canyon and Oklahoma at the Easton Invitational.
- Golfer Jaclyn Lee placed second at the Clover Cup. Her performance led the Buckeyes to a fourth-place team finish.
