Using numbers was a cute way to highlight accomplishments, boast about a team’s success, and provided exposure to the occurrences of the season that was. Giving grades is an easy way to tell if a team had a good or bad season. I’ve given my thoughts on what made the 2010 Division I season special to me, now as we conclude our look back at the season that was here are 20 storylines that we won’t soon forget in the Buckeye State.
Coach Todd Retires
Coach Todd leads off the 20 from 2010 for what he meant to the Buckeye program. You can argue about where the program stands, decisions he made, recruiting, scheduling, etc. This is not an argument to be made for the impact Coach Todd had on baseball at Ohio State, and in Ohio in general. For 23 seasons he fielded a winning team, he gave young men the opportunity to pursue a high education, and he established the Big Ten and Midwest’s top program. Coach Todd is going out on his own terms as he deserves.
Coach Stricklin Stays at Kent State
As a result of Todd’s departure there was a vacancy at Ohio State. With the final five finalist being Louisville assistant Chris Lemonis, Indiana Head Coach Tracy Smith (before withdrawing), Ball State Head Coach Greg Beals, Virginia assistant Kevin McMullan, and Kent State Head Coach Scott Stricklin. As Ohio State went with Beals, near simultaneously the Notre Dame coaching position opened. The Irish were heavily after Stricklin but the KSU coach turned down the offer opting to stay in Kent. The impact that Stricklin has had on Kent State is invaluable and for him to stay with the Golden Flashes is one of Ohio’s biggest victory this season.
Kent State Returns to NCAA Regional
We’ve spoke time and time again, but the job Stricklin and his staff did on returning KSU to NCAA postseason play with all that was lost from the 2009 team is remarkable. There is no wonder why/how Stricklin was a finalist for two big-time vacancies. On the field KSU saw the emergence of two dynamic sophomores in Travis Shaw and Kyle McMillen who manned the corner infield positions, as well as Anthony Gallas take his game to the next level in becoming an all-time great Kent State Golden Flash.
Excitement in Chillicothe
How did Kent State advance to their second-consecutive Regional? By winning the most exciting MAC Tournament perhaps ever. KSU won elimination games in back-to-back games in extra inning fashion, the second and crown-clincher coming against seventh-seeded Eastern Michigan who beat the Flashes in the day’s opening round action. EMU’s run through the tournament, KSU’s extra-inning thrillers, Toledo’s extra-inning heartbreak, along with Central Michigan, Ohio, and Bowling Green putting on offensive fireworks made the tournament in Chillicothe memorable as three teams were eliminated in extra-inning fashion over the last three days.
MAC Race One to Remember
The MAC Tournament was the icing on the cake of an incredible MAC regular season race. Kent State and Bowling Green finished tied atop the MAC-East at 18-9. That mark would have been just fourth-best over in the West where Toledo and Ball State finished tied for second at 19-8, a game back behind Central Michigan at 20-7. With five teams having a chance to claim the conference championship going into the final weekend, and five teams that deserved to play in an NCAA Regional the MAC race was exciting to watch start to finish.
Eldemire and Maddox Tee Off for Ohio
Though the Bobcats were well off pace in the MAC race the bash brothers of Gauntlett Eldemire and Robert Maddox gave all plenty of reason to watch Bobcat baseball. As Maddox finished with a 20-20 season hitting 20 home runs and 21 doubles, Eldemire was right behind collect 16 of each. The two finished with slugging percentages of .737 and .726 respectively to pace an Ohio team that launched 79 long balls for the season.
Adam Eaton Shines
Power performances were not kept to the Athens, Ohio area. Over in Oxford at all of 5’9, RedHawk centerfielder Adam Eaton would dazzle with his bat as well. Eaton would lead Miami in a slew of offensive categories, not limited to hits (81), doubles (18), triples (9), and home runs (13). In swiping 30 bases and playing a solid outfield, no player did more in 2010 than Eaton.
Gallas Goes Out Grand
While Kent State outfielder Anthony Gallas had equally an impressive season as the three previously mentioned outfielders, what made 2010 special for Gallas is that is capped a very impressive career. As Gallas batted for a .369 average while collecting 24 doubles, 17 home runs, 81 RBI, and 68 runs the All-Conference season solidified Gallas’ place in KSU and MAC baseball history. Gallas became the KSU leader in career total bases (513), RBIs (224), and walks (135). He is also tied for first in home runs (49) and is second in runs scored (209) and at-bats (890), and third in hits (302) and doubles (60). Gallas is the first player in MAC history to have at least 250 hits, 200 runs, and 200 RBIs for his career.
Dudics Hits, Hits, and Hits Some More
A player has things going good when he has a 10 game hitting streak. A few lucky bounces and its up to 15, to get to 20 takes a great player and a few more lucky bounces. To get to 39? Unheard of. That is the number of games however that Toledo outfielder Chris Dudics had hit in a roll before his streak snapped in the final game of the season as Toledo was eliminated from the MAC Tournament. As mentioned before Toledo was right in the middle of the MAC race until the very end so Dudics was getting the hits to fall when the Rockets needed it most. Quite the individual feat.
Turocy Sets Akron Single-Season Record
2010 was not a good year if you were a former player that held a school record. Akron center field Drew Turocy would too etch his name in his school’s record book. Where as Dudics had his streak end on the last game of the season, Turocy one-upped him in collecting his 95th hit in his last at-bat of 2010. That 95th would set Akron’s single-season hit record. What a year to be a MAC outfielder.
Tom Clayton Takes Home Horizon League POY
It was not just outfielders in the MAC having success. Outfielders all across Ohio had special seasons. None more special than that of YSU’s Tom Clayton. While teammates Jacke Healey and Eric Marzec were receiving preseason honors and mentions, it would be Clayton that would go on to hit .412 with 10 home runs as he received the Horizon League’s Player of the Year honor.
A Little Kick in the Pants Does the Trick
In the second game against Ball State, Bowling Green made headlines for all of the wrong reasons. The Falcons were on the losing end of a 32-10 game. The jokes about BGSU’s prevent defense being porous would ensue following the football score, but who knew it would be just what the doctor ordered to get Bowling Green going in the right direction. The Falcons would win 16 of their next 18 games including an 11-game winning streak following the lopsided loss on their way to a third-straight MAC East title.
Buckeyes Bruised and Beaten
You can’t mention the 2010 season and not bring up the unfortunate ride Ohio State went on. Perhaps no team in the country, save Georgia, failed to be in the same neighborhood at season’s end of their preseason expectations. For the first time in Coach Todd’s tenure Ohio State did not win 30 games. It marked the first time Ohio State had a losing Big Ten record in more than two decades. Alex Wimmers was lost for three crucial weeks, and perhaps more stinging than anything, Ohio State was not one of six teams to participate in the Big Ten Tournament which was held in their own park of Bill Davis Stadium. Ouch.
Wimmers Dominates
Though Ohio State would struggle for much of the season, on Friday nights one felt Ohio State could beat any team in the country, thanks in large part to All-American Alex Wimmers. 2010 stamped Wimmers’ legacy as one of the top three pitchers in Buckeye history, and one of Ohio’s best in recent memory. In receiving All-American honors for the second-straight season, the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year, became the first player in Big Ten history to receive Pitcher of the Year honors in consecutive seasons. In 10 games Wimmers went 9-0 with a 1.61 ERA.
Suschak’s and Shirley’s Stock Skyrocket
Before the 2010 season very few knew of Toledo’s Matt Suschak and Xavier’s Tommy Shirley outside of friends, family, and program supporters. It did not take long to change that once the season started. Becoming the rock in an otherwise shaky rotation, Shirley would be the ace for the Musketeers while recording an Ohio high 98 strikeouts on the year in 96.0 innings. Suschak who would play a key role in both the bullpen and rotation, would post a 3.84 ERA, striking out 60 in 61.0 innings. As a result of their success, not to mention both having fastballs upwards of 94, the pair was selected in the MLB Draft with Shirley being a ninth-round selection of the Astros and Suschak a seventh-round pick of the Braves.
Wright State’s Henn Delivers
Another pitching sensation from seemingly nowhere would be Wright State’s Casey Henn. In putting his name down as one to watch for the 2011 draft, as a sophomore Henn led Wright State pitchers with a 3.19 ERA and perfect 7-0 record. With 80 strikeouts in 82 innings and a .241 batting average against, Henn was a big part of why Wright State was able to capture the Horizon League crown.
Wright State Tackles #1, Again
Henn would be the Raiders’ top pitcher for 2010, but there is no mistaking the top pitching performance for Wright State. On March 5th, Alex Kaminsky pitched the game of his life as he led the Raiders to a 2-1 upset on the road versus #1 Virginia. With Kaminsky pitching seven innings of one-run allowing just seven hits with one walk, while striking out seven, WSU was on their way to taking down the nation’s top team for the second consecutive season as in 2009 the Raiders defeated Georgia. Greg Robinson relieved Kaminsky with two innings of one-hit baseball as he struck out four to seal the win. Tristan Moore led Wright State at the plate going 3-for-4 with a run in the upset.
Cincinnati’s Team Pitching
If you want to find the best unit in the Buckeye State from 2010, it would be very difficult to not go with the Bearcat pitchers. Coach Clearly’s club boasted seven pitchers who appeared in at least 10 games with 20.0 innings with ERAs under 4.00. Brian Garman and Tyler Smith had ERA of 3.79 and 3.84 while totalling 59.1 and 61 innings respectively. Red-shirt freshman Andrew Strenge went 7-1 with an ERA of 1.93 in 46.2 innings. Closer Andrew Burkett picked up 14 saves with a 3.38 ERA. Overall Cincinnati finished with a 4.25 ERA with as the pitchers Cleary and staff sent out got the job done, doing everything they could to keep UC in ballgames.
The Love and Hate that is the NCAA
The NCAA has done great things for Northern baseball. The Universal Start Day is great. So was the addition of adding a 14th week. Adding the 14th week to the start of the season? Not so great. In a very brutal winter, our Buckeye State programs went from gyms and indoor turf fields directly to live baseball weekend after weekend in the season’s opening weeks. The lack of time outdoor showed. Slow starts were seen by Ohio, Bowling Green, Xavier, Kent State, teams who at the end of the season were rolling. Programs here in Ohio will always have the disadvantage of weather. Just feels the NCAA threw us a bone, then quickly yanked it back.
Buckeye State Baseball’s Success
Of course we were going to toot our horn. In all seriousness we hope that BSB was great for you to visit and read during the 2010 season. Our goal was to provide insight, news, and notes regarding college baseball, filling a void that had existed and we hope we did that. Our thanks can not be said enough.
Filed under: Division I
