Olympic Sports Recap: Men’s Tennis Wins 4th Straight B1G Tourney Title, Softball Sweeps Illinois

While nine former Ohio State football players were drafted and four more signed to NFL teams as undrafted free agents, the Olympic-sport student-athletes competed for their respective teams. School records were toppled and many teams concluded their regular seasons during the past week. The Ohio State men’s tennis team highlighted a successful week for the Buckeyes, winning its fourth-straight Big Ten tournament title. What follows are brief recaps of the past week’s events with links to the press releases.

Men’s Tennis

The No. 1 Ohio State men’s tennis team won its fourth consecutive Big Ten tournament title, defeating Illinois, 4-1, on April 28. The Buckeyes reached the finals by rallying to knock off Michigan, 4-2, in the semifinals. Graduating seniors Martin Joyce and Hunter Tubert finished their career 57-0 against Big Ten opponents and as four-time tournament champions.

Track & Field (Men’s and Women’s)

The Ohio State track and field team dominated the 34th Annual Jesse Owens Classic, finishing with 32 top-three finishes, many personal bests and a new school record.

The Buckeyes dominated the women’s shot put, with Sade Olatoye and Adelaide Aquilla taking first and second. Olatoye won gold with a toss of 17.32 meters, besting her previous school record of 16.90m. Aquilla notched a personal best at 16.46m. Olatoye, who owns four Ohio State records, didn’t stop there, winning the women’s discus throw (48.63m).

Nick Gray won the men’s 100m dash, clocking in with a time of 10.18 seconds, just one hundredth of a second shy of his record-breaking time of 10.17 seconds.

Gray, Tavonte Mott, Eric Harrison Jr. and Tyler Johnson teamed up to win the 4x100m relay. The squad posted a blazing 39.40 seconds.

Baseball

The Ohio State baseball team fell, 4-2, against Iowa at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium on April 26.

Iowa right-handed starter Cole McDonald earned the win, allowing six hits, one walk, while striking out eight in eight innings to improve to 4-3.

Freshman righthander Garrett Burhenn took the loss despite a solid outing, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks. He also notched seven strikeouts across eight innings, but dropped to 5-3 on the year. Iowa closer Grant Leonard came through with save No. 10 for the Hawkeyes.

“Give McDonald credit, the guy is a senior and has been around the block and made some critical pitches when he needed to,” said head coach Greg Beals. “He kept our guys off-balanced using all four pitches. Garrett pitched well and we played clean behind him. We hit four doubles tonight and hit the ball hard, but the difference in the ball game was two-out RBIs.”

The Buckeyes lost 11-4 against Iowa at Bill Davis Stadium on April 27. Ohio State tied the game at 3 in the sixth inning, but Iowa scored four runs on five hits in the top of the seventh, giving it the edge to take the series win.

Dillon Dingler hit 3 for 5 at the plate, while Brady Cherry went 2 for 5 and hit a home run. Matt Carpenter hit 2 for 5 with one RBI and one run scored. Dominic Canzone also homered in the loss.

The Scarlet and Gray bounced back with a 5-1 victory against Iowa to avoid a sweep at home on April 28. Ohio State lefthander Griffan Smith pitched well in cold and windy conditions, limiting Iowa to one run on three hits with six strikeouts in six innings and improved to 5-2. Sophomore Brent Todys led the way for the Buckeyes at the dish, tallying three hits and three RBI. With the win, Ohio State improved to 24-20 overall and 7-8 in Big Ten action, while the Hawkeyes dropped to 26-16 overall and 11-7 in conference play.

Canzone extended his reached-base streak to 40 straight games, which is the longest by a Buckeye since Nick Swisher reached safely in 51 straight games in 2002. Canzone also extended his hit streak to 17 straight games, which is the program’s longest since Ryan Meade and Tony Kennedy had 17-game hit streaks in 2008.

Dingler also extended his reached-base streak to 20 straight games.

Softball

Starting pitcher Morgan Ray continued her impressive senior campaign, tossing a five-inning no-hitter in a 9-0 victory against Illinois at Buckeye Field on April 26.. The win secured head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly’s 11th consecutive 30-win season.

Ray picked up her sixth straight win and No. 15 on the season in her dominant performance. The Frenchtown, Mt., native faced the minimum 15 batters, recorded four strikeouts and did not allow a base runner until a fifth-inning walk. Ray became the first Buckeye in 12 years to throw multiple no-hitters in the same season. The Buckeyes supported Ray with timely hitting, with a .625 average (5 of 8) with two outs.

The Buckeyes clinched a series win against Illinois with a 9-2 victory at Buckeye Field on April 27. Niki Carver hit 2 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored. Kaitlyn Coffman also notched two hits, and added one run batted in and one run scored. Lilli Piper tallied two runs and one hit.

Ohio State swept Illinois with a 5-4 comeback victory on senior day at Buckeye Field on April 28. The win gives the Buckeyes their longest win streak of the season at eight games, improving their overall record to 32-14 and their conference mark to 15-5. The Fighting Illini fell to 27-22 overall and 6-14 in the Big Ten. The Ohio State sweep was its first of Illinois since 2009.

Piper recorded her 200th hit in the finale and added two walks and two runs scored. Piper batted .600 with three hits, seven walks, two RBI, seven runs scored and a 1.200 slugging percentage on the series.

Men’s Golf

The Ohio State men’s golf team tied for seventh place at 50-over par at the Big Ten Championship, shooting a one-over 281, largely because of senior Will Grimmer’s final round of 67.

The Wissahickon course at the Philadelphia Cricket Club was difficult for the entire field, with high winds and wet conditions making it tough to topple the par 70, 7,119-yard championship layout, which yielded only 13 rounds under par for the tournament.

Senior Caleb Ramirez led the way for the Buckeyes, with rounds of 71, 78 and 71 to finished 10 over for 11th place.

Senior Will Voetsch also finished strong, with rounds of 71, 80 and 71 to tie for 21st at 12-over par.

Grimmer’s tournament did not start well, turning in rounds of 77 and 81. But the senior persevered to post the fourth-best score of the tournament, sinking five birdies against two bogeys for a final round of 67. He finished tied for 31st place at 15-over par.

Women’s Tennis

The No. 25 women’s tennis team fell, 4-0, to No. 29 Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Lincoln, Neb. on April 26. The Buckeyes dropped to 19-6 on the season, while the Wildcats improved to 15-9 and advanced to face Michigan in the semifinals.

Women’s Lacrosse

The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team put forth a valiant effort against No. 5 Northwestern, but fell, 17-12, at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on April 25. The Wildcats used a five-goal run late in the game to seal the win. The Scarlet and Gray conclude the regular season nearly doubling its win column from a year ago, finishing with a record of 9-8 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten. Northwestern’s regular season ended with a 12-4 overall record and 5-1 in conference action.

Men’s Lacrosse

The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team lost its regular-season finale, 13-10, to Michigan in Ann Arbor on April 26. Jackson Reid tied his career high with five goals and Justin Inacio won a school-record 23 of 25 face-offs, but it was not enough. The Buckeyes finished their regular season 8-4 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten, while the Wolverines are 4-9 and 1-4 in conference play.

[divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”2″ divider_color=”default”][nectar_btn size=”jumbo” button_style=”regular” button_color_2=”Accent-Color” icon_family=”none” url=”http://www.buckeyesports.com/boards/” text=”Join The Conversation”]