The Ohio state baseball team celebrates the team's Big Ten championship victory. Credit: Courtesy of OSU Athletics

The Ohio state baseball team celebrates the team’s Big Ten championship victory. Credit: Courtesy of OSU Athletics

After clinching an automatic bid into the NCAA College Baseball tournament, the Ohio State Buckeyes have been placed as the No. 2 seed in the Louisville regional, hosted by No. 2 national seed Louisville Cardinals.

For the Buckeyes, this has been a truly spectacular season, fueled by steady contributions from both sides of the plate as they finished with a Big Ten-best record of 43-18-1. On the year, OSU ranked second in the Big Ten in runs scored with 362. The team’s offense was driven largely by their strong power numbers, where they ranked first in the Big Ten and tied for 28th in the country with 56 home runs. Another strength was the speed on the basepaths, where they ranked second in the Big Ten and tied for 18th in the country in stolen bases with 98 successful swipes.

But it wasn’t just the bats that worked for the Buckeyes. The pitching staff for the Scarlet and Gray also contributed in a major way to the success of the team. OSU pitchers posted a 3.02 ERA on the season, good for second best in the Big Ten and 11th in the nation; a 1.20 WHIP, best in the Big Ten and 12th in the nation; and a miniscule 2.40 BB/9 rate, second best in the Big Ten and fifth best among all NCAA teams.

In the first matchup of their regional, the Buckeyes will take on Wright State University, champions of the Horizon League. The Raiders have put together a strong season, posting a 44-15 record overall. They currently sit 36th overall with a 3.47 ERA and tenth overall with a 1.20 WHIP.

Though WSU ranks 22nd overall in runs scored (424 on the season), they have few explosive aspects to their offense. The Raiders currently rank 95th in batting average (.283) and tied for 55th in home runs (46). Their offense has largely been sparked by a NCAA 20th best-91 stolen bases.

That game begins on Friday, June 3 at 6 p.m. E.T.

The winner of the Louisville regional will play the winner of the Vanderbilt regional in the Super Regional round.