It is no secret that baseball is not the sport that comes to mind for anyone when they think of The Ohio State Buckeyes. It also isn't 2nd, 3rd, or frankly even 4th. In terms of fellowship, they are comfortable behind Football, Basketball, Hockey, and Wrestling, but that isn't because the fandom doesn't exist.
Baseball as a whole is a huge weakness in the B1G as a whole. In fact, the conference hasn't won a National Championship since 1966 (!!!), but that doesn't mean it is impossible to have success. Erik Bakich (now with Clemson) built a consistent winner up in Ann Arbor, as Michigan has made the tournament in 5 of the past 7 years, and finished as the National Runner Up against Vanderbilt in 2019.
New Buckeye head coach Bill Mosiello has a tall task ahead of him as he tries to turn things around for the baseball program, but he has been a part of a winning culture in recent years. Ohio State had shown some signs of life, making the tournament in 2016, 2018, and 2019, before tanking to a horrendous 21-30 season in 2022.
Before arriving in Columbus, Mosiello spent the last 9 seasons as the Associate Head Coach and Hitting Coach at TCU, where he helped the Horned Frogs make 7 NCAA Tournaments and 4 College World Series appearances. Prior to his long run in Fort Worth, he spent two seasons at Tennessee as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator.
Under Mosiello, the Horned Frogs led the Big-12 in batting average twice and ranked second among all Power 5 schools with over 800 stolen bases from 2014-22. TCU was ranked in the top 50 nationally in runs scored per game 6 times, and along with the increased run production, almost every season under Mosiello led to an increase in Home Runs hit by the team. The team would hit 65 in 2019, the most during his tenure.
With the offense in great hands under Mosiello, putting everything together to make a run to Omaha will take a huge performance from the pitching staff. If you look at the teams that have made it in recent years, most of them all have one thing in common, and that is electric starters, and really solid bullpens. The team's ERA currently sits at 4.91, which isn't spectacular, but nothing to be too concerned with right now. Last seasons National Champions, Ole Miss, had a 4.72 team ERA at the end of the regular season, before posting a 2.27 ERA in the tournament. The staff just needs to continue to grow confidence and figure out what everyones role is.
As things currently stand, The Buckeyes are about a month into the season, and their record sits at 11-6, a four game improvement on the 7-10 start from a year ago. with a current 7-game win streak, Ohio State will have two more games before they get into the meat of their B1G schedule. They take on Wright State on Tuesday @ 6:00, and Toledo the same time on Wednesday. Both games will be at Bill Davis Stadium. After that, the team heads to Bloomington for a 3-game series against Indiana.
The early returns for Ohio State under Mosiello have been positive, and bringing someone in from out of the region may just be the shot in the arm the program needs. It may not be this season, but I believe the Buckeyes will make their long awaited return to the College World Series soon under the new coaching staff. If you're a baseball fan in Columbus, show up and support these guys. Who wouldn't love to support the Buckeyes all the way into June?