Spring training has started for Major League Baseball, which means that NCAA Baseball has started as well.  The Ohio State Buckeyes are looking for a strong season from starting pitcher, Brad Goldberg.  So far this season, he has lived up to expectations.

In three games so far, Goldberg is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA in 19 innings.  He has only allowed 7 hits, and 2 runs with only one of them being earned.  Opposing hitters are hitting .119 against him.  He has struck out 22 batters that he has faced and walked 9.

Walks and high pitch count have been a concern for Goldberg in the past but so far this season he has improved in both of those stat categories.  It is still early in the season, and therefore the 19 innings probably could be higher, but there isn’t a need to leave him out there in a game to accumulate statistics.

This is why at the beginning of the season major leaguers will often be pulled even with a no hitter going.  Conference play is going to matter much more than these beginning of the season games that have no real effect on the outcome of the whole year.

Goldberg has been getting draft buzz for quite some time now, and if he can keep it up this season, it will only increase his stock.  He features a fastball (sinker), change up, cutter, and curve ball.

He was elected Big Ten Pitcher of the Week 2 consecutive weeks to start the season giving up no earned runs in 13.1 innings of work while striking out 17 batters.  If he stays strong throughout the season he will get serious consideration as Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.

Indiana is slated as the favorite to win the Big Ten this year, but Ohio State’s recruits from head coach Greg Beals are going to be major contributors.  The team is fairly young, but they have veterans and leaders in the right places.

Obviously Kent State stole the show last year qualifying for the College World Series, and will get the bulk of attention for Ohio college baseball teams.  However, the Buckeyes can certainly do damage in the Big Ten this year, and as we saw with Kent State last year, anyone can make a run.

The Buckeyes will head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the long weekend during Ohio State’s spring break.  This could pose a potential matchup with Goldberg on the mound against a dangerous Coastal Carolina squad, in which he his very familiar with, having transferred to Ohio State from Coastal following his sophomore season.

Another matchup to watch is against Ball State, which is where coach Beals was head coach before accepting the Ohio State job.  The Buckeyes home opener is scheduled for March 15 against Bryant University.  Big Ten play opens up at Purdue March 22.

This should be a fun season to watch for the Buckeyes, and it will be especially fun to watch what Goldberg can accomplish on the mound, and going forward in the MLB draft process.

Ohio State’s Women’s Swimming and Diving team has started off their season the right way – by winning. The season started out officially with the team splitting up and competing against each other in what is known as the Scarlet and Gray match. This is similar to the scrimmage that the football team does during the spring. It gives the team the opportunity to see how they are doing before they start competing against other schools. In this match Scarlet defeated Gray, but still came out with a win for the Swimming and Diving team. Ironically, during last season, Scarlet defeated Gray then as well.

The team competed in their first match against another school in their win against Cleveland State and Kenyon this past Friday, October 26^th. Ohio State defeated both schools by a large margin. Ohio State beat Cleveland State by sixty-nine points with a final score of 179 to 110. The win against Kenyon was not quite as big, but still a substantial win – forty-nine points. The final outcome of this match was 168 to 119.

During the 2011-2012 season, Ohio State also had substantial wins over other schools. In their first official match, they beat Kenyon by ninety-three points. The match against Cleveland State was an even bigger win as compared to the win against Kenyon. The final outcome of this match was 232-66 – a one hundred and sixty-six point difference. Based upon last season and the start of this season, it seems like Ohio State’s Women’s Swimming and Diving team could pull it through and make it to the championships again.

Many are wondering where the Buckeyes would stack up in the BCS rankings. The Bucks would most likely be ranked 5th or 6th.  Personally, and as non biased as possible, the Buckeyes would stomp Notre Dame.

Ohio State’s offense is a big play waiting to happen every time they are on the field.  Braxton Miller is taking the country by storm with his running ability.  The undefeated Buckeyes also have a defense that has been giving up points as of late, but seem to always make a few game changing plays a game.

The running game of not only Miller, but Carlos Hyde as well has been dominant.  Hyde has been an animal as of late going over 100 yards in both of his last two games.  Unfortunately, they aren’t eligible for the post season this year because they have a legitimate chance of going undefeated.

My problem with Notre Dame being ranked so high is their awful offense. They do have a great defense, but their offense really takes away from their potential as a contender.
Truthfully, when you look at it, it can be argued that the Buckeyes could be number 4.

I don’t think that Kansas State is really worthy of the number 4 ranking in the BCS.  Collin Klein is a beast, yes, but the entire team strictly relies on him and, I do not think they will be able to keep this up the entire season.

I also believe that Oregon should be ranked 2nd over Florida.  Oregon has been so good on offense as usual and their defense is also great.  They should most definitely be in front of a Florida team that is not very convincing in my opinion.

In all honesty, the BCS is a joke this early in the season.  BCS rankings shouldn’t come out for another 2 weeks because it is way to hard to decide who is better between this man undefeated teams.

They should let them weed each other out a little bit and then go with the rankings.  I am just glad this will be over after this season.  One thing is known for sure, the Buckeyes will definitely be near the top to begin next season.

Summer is coming to an end and we all know what that means…football starts soon! For most colleges, two a days and camps have already started. This is just the beginning though. As the summer closes out and school starts the practices will get longer and harder and then comes the games. It’s a very long wait for students from late December and early January to September. This is ultimately why the camps and practices are put on. Coaches want to make sure that their athletes are in shape and that they will be able to play without getting injured during the first game of the season.

These practices also give a coach a chance to see how their new players will interact and play with their returning players. Any sports fan knows that it is nearly impossible to play your best the first time new players are playing together. Thus the constant practices teaches the new players the plays and strategies of the game and how to play with the other players. Many of the new players are coming straight out of high school, so while they might have played for a good high school team, college is a huge change and something that takes time to learn.

Students have begun to return to Ohio State campus to move into their new places of residence and get back on track with being students. This also means that students are getting anxious for football season to start. There are many places around campus that have a countdown going on for September 1^st, the first football game of the season for Ohio State. One student that I have spoken to is exceptionally excited for the start of the season, primarily because he has just received a job with the football team.

He has stated “I am so excited to be up there! I want it to be now so that I don’t have to wait anymore!” This student is Nick Balog, now what you might notice is that he and I have the same last name. That is because he is my little brother and will be a freshman at Ohio State in the fall. A potential advantage of this amazing opportunity that he has received is that you, the readers, might be able to see pictures taken from the field by a true fan or even get to learn more about the players. What this all comes down to however, is a big congratulations to Nick on his new job and only 36 days until the Buckeyes are back in the Shoe!! Let’s get ready for some football!

Now that all of the rumors have died down about Ohio State and prospective athletes de-committing, it is time to hear what the students have to say. If you have no idea about here’s a brief synopsis. In the past few weeks some picture have been posted online of prospective athletes with a few residents of Ohio. It has come to the attention of Ohio State and the prospects that this person is a registered sex offender and not someone that students should be around. Ohio State was not aware of this person until these pictures surfaced.

There have been a few athletes that committed to Ohio State for football for the upcoming season that have de-committed because of these pictures – some of the prospects were in the pictures. The question has thus surfaced as to whether or not the athletes should de-commit over something that Ohio State had no control over. It is a sad thing to say but there are people at any college campus that students shouldn’t be around, so just because of this person athletes are going to choose a different school.

I spoke with a few students about the athletes de-committing and they all had the same response. A junior at Ohio State, Rachel Petty, stated “I think they have a right to do it [de-commit]. I don’t really agree with it but I definitely think it’s a factor.” Rachel makes a good point with her comment; it is their right to de-commit if they do not feel comfortable at Ohio State. Another student and CSF writer, Garrett Mayers, stated “Should they? No. But the fact is they do and will continue to do so. Though unfortunate, it’s beyond anyone’s control.” Garrett also makes a good point; these athletes are going to de-commit if that is what they want to do.

While it is not ideal that athletes have de-committed from Ohio State it isn’t all bad. All of the athletes that have de-committed have stated that they are still considering Ohio State, but that they just need to evaluate their options now. Ohio State has ensured that the person that was posting the photos will never be around Ohio State or its students ever again and I believe this is making the athletes feel more comfortable again. They clearly chose Ohio State over other schools because they like the school or the football program or some other reason entirely, but the fact of the matter is they chose Ohio State once, so they just might choose Ohio State again.

There’s no doubt that during March Madness and after the end of the National Championship game that there were hundreds of articles posted about the final teams, games, and the national championship winners. Undoubtedly most people have heard about the students have announced after their school finished in the March Madness competition that they will be forgoing the rest of their schooling to go into the NBA draft. While there aren’t more students this year leaving school to go to the draft there still are a lot of them. We all knew that schools like Kentucky and UNC would have students leaving for the draft because they do almost every year. The surprising student that announced that he was leaving for the draft after only two years in school was Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger.

Many students and fans of Ohio State knew that it was a possibility that Sullinger would be leaving after this season at Ohio State but not many truly thought that he would go through with it. Many fans that I spoke to after his announcement last week said that they thought he would continue for at least one more year due to the fact that he wasn’t able to play that much this year. In my opinion though, that’s a big factor as to why he is leaving. He wasn’t able to play as much as he usually would because he had some minor injuries, none of which would prevent him from leaving school to go to the draft but ones that could scare him into thinking that if something worse were to happen his chance at playing in the NBA could be over before it even started.

There was tremendous uproar over the loss that Ohio State suffered to Kansas during the Final Four games. Many fans and students said that they didn’t think Ohio State played as well as they could have but what they don’t realize is how different it is to play in a stadium that is so different than anything a team has played in before. Granted Ohio State was doing really well during the first half and many people, including myself, thought that they would win the game, not lose by two points, Ohio State still played one heck of a game.

Jared Sullinger and his fellow Buckeye’s made it far in the March Madness competition two years in a row, but neither year did they make it to the championship. There’s still a chance that they could next year or any year after that, but from Sullinger’s standpoint, now is the right time to go into the draft and give a shot to the NBA. I know that the team won’t be the same next year without Sullinger but that doesn’t mean they won’t still do well. The team will still have two key players, Aaron Craft and DeShaun Thomas. The Buckeye’s will have a lot of change going on next season without Sullinger being on the team, but now is the time for fans to wonder what is coming next for the team.