Ohio State baseball earns at-large bid to NCAA tournament

Ohio State baseball officially earned an NCAA tournament bid on Monday, claiming the No. 3 seed in the Greenville regional, with opening games taking place on Friday.

The Buckeyes will be joined by host East Carolina, second-seeded South Carolina, and four seed UNC-Wilmington. Game one for the squad will take place on Friday at 2 p.m. ET against the Gamecocks.

After a disappointing 22-34 campaign in 2017 that saw Ohio State miss the postseason altogether, head coach Greg Beals guided his squad to a bounce-back year. The Buckeyes currently have a 36-22 record, and made the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament as the seventh-seed.

Ohio State’s two losses in the conference tournament came at the hands of Minnesota and Purdue, the two teams that went on to play for the championship. Left fielder Tyler Cowles and relief pitcher Seth Kinker were both named to the All-Tournament team for the Scarlet and Gray.

This marks the second trip to the national tourney for the Buckeyes under Beals. OSU previously participated in 2016 after winning the Big Ten Tournament. That team won a game, but was eliminated after losses to Louisville and Wright State.

East Carolina earned the No. 12 national seed and hosting privileges after posting a 43-16 mark and winning the American Athletic Conference tournament title.

South Carolina comes in 33-24 after placing third in the Southeastern Conference’s East Division. UNC-Wilmington is 37-21, and won the Colonial Athletic Association championship.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 and will be available via streaming on the ESPN app.