Buckeye 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.
Three-Peat
The Ohio State athletic program officially has its first national title of the 2015-16 athletic season courtesy of the pistol team. For the third consecutive year, the Buckeyes are the intercollegiate national champions – a three-peat.
The title is Ohio State's eighth in program history and the first for new head coach Donna Knisley. She took the reigns of the program before this season after Jim Sweeney retired at the end of last season.
Knisley may have been new to the job, but she certainly wasn't new to winning. Having been an assistant for 15 years before being named head coach, Knisley was with the team for seven of the team's eight previous national titles, and even won a state title herself in 1993. Given that, it should come as no shock that it she was able to keep this talented Buckeye squad on top.
This team isn't going away, either. Glenn Zimmerman and Irina Andrianova, two of Ohio State's top shooters, are only sophomores. The pair led the team to a title last season as just freshmen, and they have done it again this season. They have two years of eligibility remaining to continue to dominate.
The title gives the Ohio State athletic program its first title of the 2015-16 season after Buckeyes took home five last season. Where might the next ones come from? The Ohio State synchronized swimming will look to repeat as national champions at next weekend's collegiate national championships in Gainesville, Fla. Eleven Warriors will provide updates.
Home Sweep Home
The Ohio State baseball team played its first home series of the season this weekend, and it turned out to be quite the homecoming party as the Buckeyes swept Hofstra in three games.
The biggest fireworks came in game one, as the Ohio State offense came alive to down the Pride 12-1. Buckeye outfielder Ronnie Dawson exploded on the day, hitting two triples and a home run for five RBIs while senior infielder Nick Sergakis had two doubles, a triple and three RBIs.
This game was a prime example of just how explosive this Buckeye offense has been on the season. The team leads the Big Ten in home runs (19) and RBIs (109), is second in runs scored (117), and third in doubles (38).
: Highlights from the 12-1 win over the Pride tonight. https://t.co/fBXXEPcavn#GoBucks
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioState_BASE) March 19, 2016
The next game was not the same offensive barrage, but it was no less exciting. Trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning, the Buckeyes had a three run rally thanks to Dawson's RBI single and and Troy Kuhn's two RBI single. Redshirt sophomore right Yianni Pavlopoulos got the save in the ninth and OSU got the win 4-2.
Sunday, the Buckeyes completed the weekend sweep of Hofstra with a 2-1 win in a pitchers dual. Senior pitcher John Havird pitched a career-high seven innings, allowing just one run on four Pride hits.
“The last two days were built for pitching and defense with the colder weather and the wind blowing,” said Ohio State head coach Greg Beals in an Ohio State release. “Our pitching was very good."
The sweep is Ohio State's first of the 2016 season and improved the team's record to 11-6-1. The Buckeyes are at home for the next four games, hosting Xavier in a single game Tuesday evening before opening Big Ten play this weekend with a three game series against Northwestern.
Other Scores and News
- No. 3 Wrestling: Finished third as a team at the NCAA Championships. True-freshman Myles Martin and sophomore Kyle Snyder won individual national titles.
- No. 9 Women's Basketball: Defeated Buffalo and West Virginia to advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 next weekend, where they'll face No. 7 seed Tennessee.
- No. 2 Women's Tennis: Lost to No. 12 Miami 4-2, but bounced back over the weekend sweeping both Wisconsin and Minnesota 7-0.
- No. 4 Men's Tennis: Downed No. 16 UCF 4-3 but fell to No. 12 Georgia 4-2.
- No. 4 Men's Volleyball: Beat No. 6 Penn State 3-2, extending its winning streak to 10 matches.
- No. 18 Women's Lacrosse: Defeated Canisius 10-4.
- Men's Lacrosse: Fell to No. 10 Towson in overtime, 10-9 and to No. 1 Denver 15-6.
- Softball: Went 3-1 in this week's San Diego State Tournament defeating San Jose State, Fresno State and Cal Poly but falling to Long Beach State.
2015-16 title count: 1
- Pistol
