Ohio State Athletics Good Stuff

Athletes of the Week
·         Blaz Rola, a four-time All-American on the Ohio State men’s tennis team, won the 2013 NCAA Singles Championship with a 7-6(8), 6-4 win over No. 3 Jarmere Jenkins of Virginia Monday afternoon at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex/Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. Rola, the Buckeyes’ first NCAA singles champion in program history, adds the individual singles title to a list of impressive career achievements which includes winning the 2012 NCAA Doubles Championship with Chase Buchanan, a Buckeye letterwinner from 2009-2012. Rola, a three-time unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection, defeated 11 ranked singles opponents in dual matches and an additional six ranked opponents en route to the NCAA singles championship title.
 
Sophomore track and field athlete Katie Borchers broke her own Ohio State record in the 800m with a time of 2:05.56 Thursday, finishing second in her heat and ninth overall to advance to Friday night’s semifinal race. Borchers, a Russia, Ohio, product, then secured the first national championship appearance of her career one day later after finishing fourth in her heat and 10th overall in a time of 2:06.03.
 
Baseball (35-23)
Head Coach: Greg Beals
·         No. 2 seed Ohio State won its Big Ten Tournament-opening game against No. 3 seed Nebraska when Troy Kuhn plated Pat Porter with a bases-loaded walk-off walk for a 3-2 victory Thursday at Target Field.
·         Zach Ratcliff tallied his second-career multi hit game, both coming in his last three contests. He tied his career high with three hits.
·         The Buckeyes improved to 33-5 on the season when scoring three or more runs.
·         After he came on to get the final out of the seventh, Ryan Riga allowed one earned run while striking out 11 in 16.0 innings pitched over his last eight appearances.
·         Brett McKinney tossed another scoreless inning and has allowed one earned run while striking out 21 in 15.2 innings pitched over his last 13 appearances.
·         Ohio State baseball dropped an 11-3 decision to top-seeded Indiana Friday evening at Target Field.
·         Kuhn finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI while Joe Ciamacco went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and a run scored.
·         Kuhn notched his sixth-career multi-hit game and tied his career high with three RBI.
·         Ohio State was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament after a 5-0 loss to No. 3 seed Nebraska Saturday afternoon at Target Field.
·         Jacob Bosiokovic notched his 14th multi-hit game of the season while Ryan Cypret made the start as a designated hitter after missing the last six games with a broken finger.
 
No. 3 Rowing
Head Coach: Andy Teitelbaum
·         Ohio State had a bye week; the Buckeyes return to action at the 2013 NCAA Championships May 31-June 2 at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Ind.
 
No. 5 Men’s Tennis (35-3)
Head Coach: Ty Tucker
·         Blaz Rola, a four-time All-American on the Ohio State men’s tennis team, won the 2013 NCAA Singles Championship with a 7-6(8), 6-4 win over No. 3 Jarmere Jenkins of Virginia Monday afternoon at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex/Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.
·         Rola, the Buckeyes’ first NCAA singles champion in program history, adds the individual singles title to a list of impressive career achievements which includes winning the 2012 NCAA Doubles Championship with Chase Buchanan, a Buckeye letterwinner from 2009-2012.
·         Rola advanced to the 2013 NCAA Singles Championship final after beating No. 41 Japie De Klerk of Tulsa, 6-2, 6-3, Sunday afternoon at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex/Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.
·         Peter Kobelt and Rola advanced to the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship Wednesday afternoon at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex/Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.
·         Rola started the day of Buckeye wins with a 6-2, 7-6(4) victory vs. Ben McLachlan of California.
·         Starting nearly an hour behind schedule, Kobelt, the Big Ten Conference’s automatic qualifier, also recorded an impressive opening-round win, beating Duke’s Fred Saba, 6-3, 6-2.
·         Kobelt began his second-round match vs. UCLA’s Dennis Novikov outdoors, but rain forced play indoors in the first set. The Buckeye junior from New Albany, Ohio, would go on to drop the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (1), before rallying for a second-set tiebreaker win, 7-6(5). In the third and deciding set, Kobelt cruised to a 6-1 victory.
·         Rola played his entire match vs. Malte Stropp of Mississippi State indoors. For the second-consecutive match, Rola, won in straight sets, beating Stropp, 6-1, 6-4.
·         Kobelt and Connor Smith, ranked 12th in the ITA polls, lost in the opening round of the 32-doubles field Thursday afternoon. The Buckeye pair faced No. 2 seed Henrique Cunha and Raphael Hemmeler of Duke and dropped a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 decision.
·         Rola advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship Friday afternoon following a 6-3, 6-2 win over Tsvetan Mihov of South Carolina at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex/Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.
·         For the third-consecutive time of the tournament, Rola won his match in straight sets to improve to 29-1 overall as an at-large selection.
·         Seventh seed Kobelt dropped a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Sebastian Fanselow of Pepperdine in the round of 16. He finishes the 2012-13 season as an All-American with a 36-9 overall record. Kobelt’s 36 victories this season are a tie for the team best with senior Connor Smith, who wrapped up the campaign with a 36-7 record.
 
No. 23 Men’s Track & Field
Head Coach: Ed Beathea
·         Seniors Michael Hartfield and Korbin Smith were the first two Buckeyes to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships taking place in Eugene, Ore., June 5-8. Hartfield and Smith each finished in the top 12 overall in the long jump at the NCAA East Regional competition Thursday afternoon in Greensboro, N.C.
·         Hartfield, the Ohio State outdoor record holder in the event, used a jump of 7.66m (25-1.75) to finish third overall. The Manchester, Conn., native will be making his third straight appearance in the long jump at the championships, his best finish coming in 2012 when he finished 10th.
·         Smith used a jump of 7.38m (24-2.50) to finish 10th and make the NCAA championships for the first time in this event. He finished one spot out at the regional in 2011 with a 13th place finish and placed 23rd at the 2012 regional competition.
·         Freshman Billy Stanley and sophomore Antonio Blanks became the next Buckeyes to secure bids to next month’s NCAA championships with impressive performances in the javelin and 400m hurdles, respectively, Friday at the 2013 NCAA East Regional Preliminaries in Greensboro, N.C.
·         Stanley, the 2013 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and conference- and school-record holder in the javelin, cleared 73.02m (239-7.00) on his first and only attempt of the day to place second overall.
·         Blanks, a sophomore from Dayton, will compete in the 400m hurdles at the national championships for the second year in a row. A First Team All-American in the event as a freshman in 2012, Blanks finished third in his heat and seventh overall in a time of 51.52 to move on to Eugene.
·         Ohio State rose to the occasion Saturday evening at the 2013 NCAA East Regional Preliminaries in Greensboro, N.C., as three individuals and two relay teams advanced to next month’s NCAA championship meet.
·         The Buckeye 4x100m relay team – sophomore Devin Smith, sophomore Timothy Faust, sophomore Nick Batcha, and junior Demoye Bogle started the night off right by punching a ticket to Eugene with a sixth-place time of 39.85.
·         Next on the track was senior Chris Fallon in the 1500m semifinal.  Fallon managed a slow pace in the second of two heats to place third in his section and sixth overall in a time of 3:48.00, securing his first career trip to the NCAA outdoor meet.
·         Bogle returned to track one hour after the conclusion of the 4x100m to compete in the semifinals of the 110m hurdles. Clocking a season-best time of 13.82, Bogle finished fifth in his heat and 12th overall to move on to the national championships for the second-consecutive season.
·         Faust followed up the 4x100m performance with a fifth-place finish in his heat and 11th-place finish overall in the 200m semifinals in a time of 20.83, good for his first trip to the national championships as a Buckeye.
·         Wrapping the weekend up in style was the Ohio State 4x400m relay team. Freshman Champ Page, Smith, senior Marvel Brooks and sophomore Antonio Blanks combined for a fifth-place and season-best time of 3:07.07 to claim a spot in the NCAA championship field.
·         Ohio State competes at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore.
 
Women’s Track & Field
Head Coach: Karen Dennis
·         Senior Alexis Thomas and sophomore Katie Borchers will represent the Ohio State women’s track and field team at the NCAA championships in Eugene, Ore., June 5-8, after successfully navigating intense competition in the hammer throw and 800m run Friday at the 2013 NCAA East Regional Preliminaries in Greensboro, N.C.
·         Thomas, a native of Huber Heights, Ohio, and the two-time defending Big Ten champion in the hammer throw, will make her second-consecutive trip to the national finals in the event after placing fifth overall at 62.57m (205-3.00).
·         Borchers, a Russia, Ohio, product, secured the first national championship appearance of her career after finishing fourth in her heat and 10th overall in a time of 2:06.03, one day after setting a school record of 2:05.56 in the preliminary round. Borchers broke her own Ohio State record in the 800m with a time of 2:05.56, finishing second in her heat and ninth overall Thursday.
·         The Buckeye 4x100m relay team – senior Ashlee Abraham, sophomore Aisha Cavin, senior Christienne Linton and junior Adenike Pedro – secured its spot in the NCAA championship field by placing second in its heat and fifth overall in a time of 44.56.
·         Later in the evening, Abraham punched a ticket to Eugene in the 200m with personal-best time of 23.50, finishing second in her semifinal heat and sixth overall.
·         Ohio State competes at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore.