Baseball: The Buckeye look to finish the 2019 season strong
By: Khalid Hashi
Currently at 5th place in the Big Ten Conference the Ohio State baseball team hopes to find some consistency with just 15 matches left in the season. The Buckeyes have been a team that has found themselves winning and losing games in bunches. With a record of 6–6 in conference play, the buckeyes must perform better with 12 of the last 15 matchups being inner conference games.
After the Buckeyes 5–13 loss to Northwestern on Friday April 5th, Head Coach Greg Beals said “We’re doing some great things but we can not afford to dig ourselves holes early in the match and expect to be bailed out night after night. I believe in our guys and they know what needs to be done to get back in the Win column” when asked what he thought his team could’ve done differently against the Wildcats. The Buckeyes would go on to tie for their longest losing streak of the season with 5 straight loses.
It didn’t take long for the buckeyes to flip the switch as they went on a 4 game winning streak against Ohio, Dayton, and Michigan. Junior Dominic Canzone is confident in the Buckeyes chances at winning the Big Ten but also mentioned “We’re a close group of guys and we’re taking this thing one game at a time.” when asked about how he feels about this team’s ability to come together late in the season and finish the season strong.
Outfielder Canzone has been a bright spot for this Buckeyes team as he was recognized to the Big Ten Watch List prior to the season. He was also listed as the 4th and 7th best Big Ten prospect by outlets such as D1 Baseball, Perfect Game, and Baseball America. He is having his best season yet and on April 15 he received Big Ten Player of the Week Honors.
The buckeyes currently sit 8th in the conference but are still in the mix to make the Big Ten tournament. Ohio State sits only 3 games behind 2nd place in the conference.
2019 was one of Ohio State’s largest signing classes. 10 recruits (8 from Ohio and 2 from Indiana) have signed with the Buckeyes giving them well needed depth. Head Coach Greg Beals said “The needs of the program have successfully been met with this group and we believe they have the ability to make an immediate impact — This group has a chance to do something special here at The Ohio State University.”
Freshman Zach Dezenzo has earned meaningful minutes with this team starting 38 of the 41 games played (17 at 3rd base and 21 at shortstop). He has already been named Big Ten Freshman of the week twice (March 18th and April 22nd) for his performances.
Senior Brad Cherry is having his best season as a Buckeye with career highs in almost every statistical category (R, HR’s, H, and RBI’s) with 15 matches still to go. Cherry as well as the other 5 seniors look to finish this season with a Big Ten championship and potentially a National title.
Ohio State looks to improve their win streak to 3 straight when they face off against Iowa, Friday April 26th at the Bill Davis Stadium.
