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“The Ohio State baseball team embarks on its 135th season this weekend when it travels to Port Charlotte, Fla., for four games beginning Friday at the Snowbird Classic.”
-Ohio State Buckeyes
Spring sports are officially underway for Ohio State, and the baseball team took to the field on Friday morning to kick off the Buckeyes’ 135th season. They’ll open the 2018 season with the Snowbird Classic down in Port Charlotte, Florida.
The Buckeyes blasted past UW-Milwuakee in their first matchup in Friday’s double-header, claiming an 11-7 victory thanks to a five-run rally in the bottom of the eighth. In their second game of the day, Ohio State was able to keep Canisius at bay, winning 6-4, but went scoreless through seven innings. A 2-0 start is exactly what the Buckeyes needed, as they work to get back to the top of the Big Ten after a bit of a derailed 2017 season.
The 2018 Ohio State baseball team returns 22 letter-winners, including 13 members of the 2016 Big Ten championship team and 10 newcomers. It’ll be a long time before the Buckeyes are playing in front of their home crowd though, with 17 road games scheduled before the home opener.
Ohio State vs. Canisius | Saturday, Feb. 17 @ 3:30 p.m. ET
Live Stats | Twitter Updates
Ohio State vs. UW-Milwaukee | Sunday, Feb. 18 @ 1 p.m. ET
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“Alec Yoder and Sean Melton finished inside the top eight in the all-around on day one at the Winter Cup Thursday evening at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino.”
-Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State men’s gymnastics team has set themselves up for a big finish on Saturday, following day one of the Winter Cup on Thursday. Not only did two of the Buckeyes finish in the top eight of the all-around competition, but two others nabbed top spots in single events.
Sean Melton finished the day with the fifth-highest all-around score (82.850) thanks in part to his No. 1 score on the rings (14.550), No. 6 on the floor (14.100) and No. 7 on the high bar (13.500).
Similarly, Alec Yoder finished with the eighth-highest all-around score (82.400), coming in at No. 2 in both the rings (13.150) and parallel bars (14.150). Other Buckeyes to make a splash include Sean Junior Neighbarger who finished No. 4 on the vault (14.550) and Max Andryushchenko — who competed among the junior athletes — finished with the third-best score on the vault (14.200).
Next up, are the Winter Cup finals on Saturday night, kicking off late-night at 10:15 p.m. ET.
“A trio of Buckeyes - Tre Leclaire, Jake Withers and Jesse King - have come one step closer to representing Team Canada at the 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championships this summer, the organization announced.”
-Ohio State Buckeyes
Somehow we are already in Week 3 of the lacrosse season, and one current and two former members of the Ohio State lacrosse team are eyeing some incredible post-season playing opportunities. The 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championships will take place in Netanya, Israel from July 12-21, and there’s a chance that Team Canada features three Buckeyes in the competition.
There are 34 players currently on the Team Canada training roster, including Leclaire, Withers, and King, with the team choosing 23 players to fill out their final roster ahead of the world championships. The coaches have already dismissed around a dozen players to get down to 34 players, so the Buckeyes have already made it through one round of cuts.
Leclaire is the only Buckeye still playing at Ohio State, but did help Team Canada win a silver medal at the 2016 U19 World Championships — a competition in which he scored 11 goals and claimed three assists in six games.
King graduated from Ohio State in 2015, and left Columbus as the school’s fourth all-time leading scorer, and played for Team Canada (and winning gold) in the 2014 World Championships.
Withers is just one year removed from playing for the Buckeyes, where he finished his collegiate career as the program’s all-time leader in ground balls and had 614 (Yay, Columbus) face-off wins.
All Ohio State Teams’ Weekend Schedule
| Team | Match-up | When |
|---|---|---|
| Team | Match-up | When |
| Women's Track & Field | Buckeye Tune Up | Friday, All Day |
| Men's Track & Field | Buckeye Tune Up | Friday, All Day |
| Synchronized Swimming | @ Arizona | Friday, All Day |
| Fencing | @ Junior Olmypics (Memphis, TN) | Friday, All Day |
| Women's Swimming | Big Ten Championships (Columbus) | Friday, All Day |
| Baseball | vs. UW-Milwaukee (Port Charlotte, FL) | Friday, 11 am |
| Men's Tennis | vs. Duke (Seattle, WA) | Friday, Noon |
| Baseball | vs. Canisius (Port Charlotte, FL) | Friday, 2 pm |
| Softball | vs. NC State (ACC/Big Ten Challenge) | Friday, 4 pm |
| Women's Hockey | Bemidji State | Friday, 6:07 pm |
| Women's Lacrosse | Detroit Mercy | Friday, 7 pm |
| Men's Hockey | @ Minnesota | Friday, 9 pm |
| Synchronized Swimming | @ Arizona | Saturday, All Day |
| Fencing | @ Junior Olmypics (Memphis, TN) | Saturday, All Day |
| Rifle | NCAA Qualifier (Columbus) | Saturday, All Day |
| Women's Swimming | Big Ten Championships (Columbus) | Saturday, All Day |
| Softball | vs. Louisville (ACC/Big Ten Challenge) | Saturday, 10 am |
| Men's Lacrosse | Hofstra | Saturday, Noon |
| Softball | vs. NC State (ACC/Big Ten Challenge) | Saturday, 12:30 pm |
| Men's Gymnastics | @ Winter Cup (Las Vegas) | Saturday, TBA |
| Women's Hockey | Bemidji State | Saturday, 3:07 pm |
| Baseball | vs. UW-Milwaukee (Port Charlotte, FL) | Saturday, 3:30 pm |
| Women's Gymnastics | Western Michigan | Saturday, 4 pm |
| Men's Hockey | @ Minnesota | Saturday, 5 pm |
| Fencing | @ Junior Olmypics (Memphis, TN) | Sunday, All Day |
| Men's Golf | Puerto Rico Classic | Sunday, All Day |
| Softball | vs. Louisville (ACC/Big Ten Challenge) | Sunday, 10 am |
| Women's Basketball | Purdue | Sunday, 1 pm |
| Men's Basketball | @ Michigan | Sunday, 1 pm |
| Baseball | vs. UW-Milwaukee (Port Charlotte, FL) | Sunday, 1 pm |
| Men's Volleyball | Quincy | Sunday, 2 pm |
| Wrestling | @ NC State | Sunday, 4:30 pm |
STICK TO SPORTS
- Don’t miss out on Presidents’ Day sales throughout the weekend! (Woot! Sales.)
- Ohio State president, Michael Drake, has joined 250+ of his colleagues to encourage Congress to come up with a bipartisan agreement to protect Dreamers.
- Evan Turner chose during an interview to get Draymond Green to pay up for some Buckeye-Spartan bets they made. (It sounded like two: football and basketball.) But Turner leaves him with, “Big Ten for life. Keep it classy.”