Feb. 23, 2012

Weekly Release

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State baseball team travels to Atlanta this weekend to take on No. 10 Georgia Tech in a three-game set at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Buckeyes face the Yellow Jackets at 4 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

Ohio State is coming off a 2-1 start to the 2012 season at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge. The Buckeyes fell to USF on opening day before defeating Seton Hall and Connecticut, two 2011 NCAA Tournament teams, in the final two games.

ON THE BUMP
Game 1: RHP Brett McKinney (0-1, 7.36 ERA)
        vs. RHP Buck Farmer (0-1, 3.00 ERA)
Game 2: LHP Brian King (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
        vs. RHP Matt Grimes (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Greg Greve (0-0, 7.71 ERA)
        vs. RHP Dusty Isaacs (1-0, 1.29 ERA)

SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH
The Yellow Jackets went 3-1 on their opening weekend. After dropping their first game against Kent State, Georgia Tech defeated Winthrop (twice) and Kent State by a total of 16-5 in its final two contests. Sophomore right-hander Matt Grimes tossed 7.0 scoreless innings against Winthrop, allowing just one hit while striking out seven.

Georgia Tech holds a 12-5-1 lead in the all-time series with Ohio State, with the Buckeyes taking the last matchup, a 7-4 win in the 1993 NCAA Atlantic Regional in Atlanta.

BEALS VS. HALL
This weekend will mark the first time that Ohio State head coach Greg Beals will face off against his college coach at Kent State and current Georgia Tech head coach, Danny Hall.

Hall led the Golden Flashes from 1988-93 while Beals was a three-year letterwinner from 1989-91. Beals tallied three All-MAC selections while Hall was named MAC Coach of the Year twice.

DEZSE BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Josh Dezse, a 1B/RHP on the Ohio State baseball team, was named Big Ten Player of the Week, the conference office announced Feb. 20.

Dezse went 7-for-14 on the weekend with a home run, five RBI and four runs scored as the Buckeyes went 2-1 in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge. The Powell, Ohio, native had multi-hit games in all three contests last weekend, highlighted by a three-hit performance Friday against USF and a 2-for-4 effort with a home run and four RBI Sunday against Connecticut.

NEWCOMERS STEPPING UP
Pitchers making their first apprearance in a Buckeye uniform - Brian King, Jaron Long and Trace Dempsey - combined to give up one earned run while striking out six over 10 innings the opening weekend at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.

DEZSE PICKS UP PRESEASON HONORS
Ohio State sophomore 1B/RHP Josh Dezse has been named an NCBWA third team preseason All-American and a third team preseason All-American by CollegeSportsMadness.com. Dezse also was named to the watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball player in the country.

The Powell, Ohio, native led the Buckeyes with a .332 batting average and 42 runs batted in. He tied for the team lead with four home runs while going 4-2 with a team-high six saves and 32 strikeouts in 27.2 innings pitched. Dezse led the Buckeyes with 12 multiple RBI games and tied for third on the team with 17 multi-hit games.

Dezse became the 10th Buckeye to garner Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors after earning Big Ten Freshman of the Week laurels four times during the season and Player of the Week honors twice. In addition, he was named a Freshman All-American by the NCBWA and Louisville Slugger.

A NEW LOOK
The Ohio State baseball program honored Nick Swisher with a field dedication ceremony Nov. 3 at the newly-renovated Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. Current Buckeyes, fans and media were on hand to recognize Swisher for his generosity in giving the program $500,000 to help install a new turf field.

Selected by the Oakland Athletics with the 16th overall pick of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft, Swisher also spent time with the White Sox before heading to his current home with the New York Yankees where he was a part of the 2009 World Champion team and named an American League All-Star the following season. In his professional career, the Columbus native has seen action in 1,061 games and has amassed 185 home runs.

The current Buckeyes open the 2012 home campaign March 16 against Austin Peay in the first game at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.

HEAD COACH Greg Beals
Head coach Greg Beals is just the 11th head coach in Ohio State history and only the fourth in the last 60 years. He has a 271-230 career record and is in his 10th season as a collegiate head coach.

16th SEASON AT BILL DAVIS STADIUM
Ohio State is 246-122 all-time at Bill Davis Stadium for a fine .670 winning percentage. Ohio State is 142-79 vs. the Big Ten Conference at home.

UP NEXT
The Buckeyes take on Michigan, Western Michigan and Villanova at the Snowbird Classic March 2-4 in Port Charlotte, Fla.