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Big 10 2008 Baseball Preview

JCOSU86

Go Buckeyes!
Staff member
  • Rivals (Free)

    With the first season of the uniform start date approaching, the Big Ten feels like it has something to prove.
    Just don't tell that to Michigan.
    The Wolverines shocked the nation last season by eliminating top-seeded Vanderbilt from the postseason. However, that feat is a distant memory and they have their sights set on something better, a June trip to Omaha, Neb.

    Continued....
     
    What are the expectations for the Buckeyes in baseball this season?
    We're still a year or 2 away from being a serious threat to get to Omaha (IMO), but that #1 recruiting class from last year should help us quite a bit.
    How big is college baseball up there? We don't have a MLB within 6 hours or so from here, so College ball is a pretty big deal.
     
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    Nutriaitch;1086370; said:
    What are the expectations for the Buckeyes in baseball this season?
    We're still a year or 2 away from being a serious threat to get to Omaha (IMO), but that #1 recruiting class from last year should help us quite a bit.
    How big is college baseball up there? We don't have a MLB within 6 hours or so from here, so College ball is a pretty big deal.

    not sure what to expect this year, we lost our by far best pitcher last year Corey Luebke, It will be tough to replace him

    Dan DeLucia, who was all big 10 in 2006 is back after an elbow injury last year, hopefully he can bounce back to his old self
     
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    buckeyemania11;1086559; said:
    not sure what to expect this year, we lost our by far best pitcher last year Corey Luebke, It will be tough to replace him

    Dan DeLucia, who was all big 10 in 2006 is back after an elbow injury last year, hopefully he can bounce back to his old self

    We have a lot of guys coming back this year. Something like 10 positions players who have started at least 1 game is going to be back, and our Ace pitcher (Jared Bradford) is coming back.

    Bradford was named a PreSeason All-American this year, and he's on the watch list for the Wade Wallace award.

    I'm looking forward to the season. It's been 2 years since we've gone to the Regionals (after hosting something like 14 straight). Individual game tickets went on sale today, so this evening, I'm going to pull out the calendar and see what games I'll be able to attend.
     
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    LSU is an elite baseball program. While I'd love to see a game against them, I don't think it would be a good game for them. Not quite an OSU-YSU type game, but certainly not a game that the Tigers would have anything to gain.

    Our best game, in my opinion, is with Texas A&M in College Station, TX at the end of Feb.
     
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    JCOSU86;1086791; said:
    LSU is an elite baseball program.

    Thanks to Smoke Laval, that's not exactly true anymore. We didn't even qualify for the SEC tourney last year.:smash: But now going into Manieri's 2nd season, I have a lot of hope. His teams at ND were routinely ranked pretty high in fielding % (something we've lacked the last few years) and team ERA (another achilles heel). Plus unlike his fat predcessor, he understand recuiting college baseball.

    Smoke went after all the big fish (1st and 2nd round draft picks). Most of them took the money and never showed up on campus, leaving us with a lower talent level than Tulane and UL-L. Coach Manieri on ther hand is goping after a few potential high picks, but mostly 3rd and 4th round guys. These fellers are staying in school to better their draft stock, and in turn improving our talent level.


    JCOSU86;1086791; said:
    While I'd love to see a game against them, I don't think it would be a good game for them. Not quite an OSU-YSU type game, but certainly not a game that the Tigers would have anything to gain.

    Our best game, in my opinion, is with Texas A&M in College Station, TX at the end of Feb.

    If you look at some of the nobodies we open with, I'd think OSU has to be better than them. I'd like to see a series with someone like y'all. We're already playing Indiana and Michigan St., but Duquense and Stetson don't really catch my attention.

    I'm hoping that for the '09 season opener when we open our new stadium we get a decent match-up. Obviously, I want it to be someone we'll beat, but I'd like to also be someone with a decent name too.
     
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    Nutriaitch;1086826; said:
    How do y'all feel about the new "uniform" scheduling rules? Do y'all feel like it'll help close the gap between the warm weather schools and colder weathered ones?

    It's got to even the playing field somewhat. Still, if you're a Northern team, you have to come down here and play some good competition early in the year to keep that SOS up.
     
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    I am not claiming to be a close follower of LSU baseball, but I do know they have had their fair share of success. A down year or two will not take away their elite status, in my opinion. Hell, OSU lost a Liberty Bowl to Air Force in the 90's :lol:

    I believe the uniform start date will help somewhat, but OSU still plays their first 15 games on the road. See the link in my sig for their complete schedule.
     
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    JCOSU86;1087004; said:
    I am not claiming to be a close follower of LSU baseball, but I do know they have had their fair share of success. A down year or two will not take away their elite status, in my opinion. Hell, OSU lost a Liberty Bowl to Air Force in the 90's :lol:

    The '90s were GREAT for LSU baseball. We had an air of invincibility about us. We knew we were going to win, and other teams were definitely intimidated by that. It's only been 7 years since our last National title, but it feels like forever sincee it's more than twice as long as we've gone between championships since the 1st one in '91.

    JCOSU86;1087004; said:
    I believe the uniform start date will help somewhat, but OSU still plays their first 15 games on the road. See the link in my sig for their complete schedule.


    Having to play so much on the road is tough, but can help really strengthen a team. While I think the uniform schedule will have some benefits, I don't think it'll be that much. The better baseball talent comes from the warmer climates because these kids can play organized ball literally all year long from the time they're about 7-8 years old. Naturally, if you do something that much, you should become better at than someone who only does it half as much.

    Maybe the fact that the southern schools aren't playing as much any more, some of these warm weather kids will start migrating North a little more often. If that happens, then yes it'll balance things out a bit.
     
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    JCOSU86;1087004; said:
    I am not claiming to be a close follower of LSU baseball, but I do know they have had their fair share of success. A down year or two will not take away their elite status, in my opinion. Hell, OSU lost a Liberty Bowl to Air Force in the 90's :lol:

    I believe the uniform start date will help somewhat, but OSU still plays their first 15 games on the road. See the link in my sig for their complete schedule.

    I don't think the start date change will ever change the starting out on the road thing. It's not much different weatherwise the first of March or the first of February. What is changing though is the number of days you have to squeeze a season into. That's the biggest change. We used to play 3 maybe 4 games a week, now it's 4 to 6. Fortunately, that's a good thing for developing pitching depth, a key factor when it comes to end of season play. The Big Ten has been forcing teams to do this with the 4 game weekend series. Down here it's still 3, but we've had to add alot of DH's early in the season and alot of Tues. Wed. OOC games later on. The first week of the season is a good example. Fri. the 22nd we have Maryland, then Maryland again Sat., with the nightcap against Virginia Tech. Sun. its Va. Tech again, followed by College of Charleston Tues. The next weekend, same scenario. So basically you have 5 games in 5 days, two days off, then 5 more in 5 or 6 days. As you can see, you better have a pitching staff and a deep one or it's trouble. To be clear Nutriaitch, the we in the above refers to where I work, not tOSU.
     
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