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.
Men's Tennis Back To Its Winning Ways
After losing their first Big Ten match since April 2005 last week, falling to Illinois 4-0, the Buckeyes got back to their winning ways this weekend. Ohio State downed Minnesota 4-2 Friday in large part to junior Chris Diaz's performance on Court 2. Diaz won the first set rather easily, but in the second set he found himself trailing 5-2. Diaz battled back, though, and won an impressive four straight games before dominating the tiebreaker 7-1 to lock up an Ohio State victory.
The second match of the weekend took place on Easter Sunday against Wisconsin. The Buckeyes took advantage of the spring weather with their first outdoor match of the season and cruised to a 6-1 win.
The Buckeyes have struggled more than usual this year. Earlier in the season, their NCAA-record 201-match home winning streak ended with a loss against Oklahoma, as well as their 97-match Big Ten Conference winning streak with a loss to Illinois. However, it may not be time to write off this team just yet. The Buckeyes are still ranked No. 11 in the nation, and six of their seven losses have come against teams currently ranked in the top 10. The team certainly has talent; behind the leadership of redshirt seniors Kevin Metka and Hunter Callahan, it is still equipped to make a run at a championship.
Could rowing be the next 'ship?
If you're like every other Ohio State sports fan, you're probably counting championships and wondering where the next one is going to come from. I may have the answer to that.
The Buckeye rowing team has won the past two national championships, and appear to be in good shape for a three-peat. They're currently the top-ranked team in the nation and undefeated on the season. Even more impressively, they already beat the second ranked team in the country, Virginia, in their ACC-Big Ten Challenge meet last Saturday. They still have plenty of challenges left with three top-15 teams remaining on their schedule, starting with Wisconsin in Columbus Saturday. Looking ahead, the NCAA Championships start May 29 in Sacramento, Calif. So stay tuned – that could be the next time we add a team to our 'Ship Count.
baseball buckeyes get the sweep
The Buckeye baseball team keeps on winning. This weekend, they completed a three-game sweep of Penn State which included a pair walk-off wins, giving them six walk-off wins on the season. The first game of the series was won by the Buckeyes relatively easily, 7-1. The next two games were much closer and ended in walk-off fashion.
The first walk off win of the weekend came on Sunday courtesy of a Troy Montgomery single down the right field line that gave Ohio State a 7-6 victory. The second came in a game pitched by Buckeye ace Ryan Riga, who entered the game with a 29-inning shutout streak. That streak did not last: It ended at 30.2 innings when a runner scored due to, of all things, a balk (because of course that's how the streak would end). It turned out to not be Riga's best outing; he later gave up a three-run homer in the fourth and was replaced the next inning. The Buckeye bats did the job though, scoring eight runs including a walk-off double by Troy Kuhn to win the game 8-7.
The Buckeyes' Tuesday and Wednesday games against Toledo and Kent State were cancelled due to inclement weather, and no makeup dates have been announced. The team is in action this weekend with a three-game series against UNLV starting Friday. Sixth-ranked Louisville comes to Columbus for a single game on Tuesday in what looks to be Ohio State's most challenging game yet.
Capital One Cup
It's worth noting that Ohio State is first in the current Men's Capital One Cup Standings. The Capital One Cup is awarded to the best all around athletic program in the country. The winning school is awarded the trophy at the ESPYs in July, along with a $200,000 donation towards the school's student-athlete scholarships.
The scoring splits the sports into two categories for scoring purposes, making football, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, and track worth three times as many points as the other sports. A top-10 finish in a sport gets points towards your school's total, and those points are obviously tiered depending on ranking. It's not the simplest thing to keep track of, but the important thing to know is that right now, the Buckeyes are winning. And hilariously enough, Ohio State is currently ahead of Oregon by 22 (and a half) points. I guess those poor Ducks are never going to escape that score.
Other Scores and News
- Men's lacrosse beat Johns Hopkins, 15-12.
- Women's lacrosse fell to Penn State 14-13 and Duke 15-6.
- Softball lost a series to Nebraska, 1-2.
- Women's gymnastics finished fifth in its regional championship meet.
- Women's tennis beat Texas 4-1.
- Men's volleyball beat Lindenwood 3-0, Quincy 3-1 and Ball State 3-0.
What's Happening This Week
- Men's lacrosse travels to Ann Arbor to face Michigan Saturday.
- Women's lacrosse hosts Maryland on Sunday at 11 a.m. and Rutgers Thursday evening.
- Baseball hosts UNLV for a three-game weekend series, then No. 15 Louisville Tuesday.
- Softball goes to East Lansing for a weekend series, then to Penn State for a Wednesday doubleheader.
- Men's gymnastics competes in an NCAA qualifier Thursday through Saturday.
- Men's volleyball hosts IPFW Saturday for Senior Night.
- Men's tennis hosts Indiana on Friday and Purdue/Wright State in a doubleheader Sunday.
- Women's tennis goes on the road at Iowa Friday and at Nebraska Sunday.
- Men and women's track travel to Oxford, Ohio, for the All-Ohio Championships Friday and Saturday.
2014-15 'Ship Count: 4
- Football
- Wrestling
- Pistol
- Synchronized Swimming
