The Ohio State baseball team huddles during their series finale on Sunday against Arizona State. The Sun Devils defeated the Buckeyes’ 17-10 in Phoenix. Credit: Ohio State Athletics
For a second straight week, the Buckeyes will face a daunting test on the road.
After being swept by Arizona State in its opening series, Ohio State (0-3) will head south to compete in the Jax College Baseball Classic in Jacksonville, Florida, for the middle part of a nine-game road trip to start the season. The event will take place at VyStar Ballpark, home to the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Minor League Baseball team.
“It’s a heck of an experience, man,” Ohio State head coach Justin Haire said. “Being able to go down to Jacksonville, play at the Triple-A level, which is a beautiful facility and a beautiful city right downtown around the river, is really nice.”
First up, Ohio State will face No. 12 NC State (3-0) Friday at 2 p.m. The Wolfpack opened its season with a home sweep of Fordham last weekend.
The next day, the Buckeyes will clash with Coastal Carolina (4-0) at noon. The Chanticleers hosted the 2025 Baseball at the Beach tournament last weekend and earned two wins against Kansas State, along with victories over Saint Joseph’s and Washington.
To wrap up the weekend, Ohio State will take on Alabama (3-0) Sunday at 11 a.m. The Crimson Tide opened its season with a sweep, taking down Bradley Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
All three of the Buckeyes’ opponents will enter the weekend ranked in the NCAA’s top 25 for runs scored, with NC State tied for No. 15 with 42, Alabama tied for No. 19 with 40 and Coastal Carolina tied for No. 22 with 39. Additionally, all three teams slot in the top 50 in batting average.
Defensively, the Chanticleers sit ninth in earned run average, achieving a 1.12 team mark after opening weekend.
Haire acknowledged the difficult schedule ahead, but said his team needs to use that as fuel to beat tough rivals on the road.
“It brings that challenge, and our program, we have to face this a decent amount,” Haire said. “We embrace it. We got to get on the road. We got to go early and play quality opponents away from home.”
Amid Arizona State’s sweep of the Buckeyes, Ohio State scored a combined 24 runs in three games, but couldn’t get over the hump, losing one-run games the first two days before losing by 7 Sunday.
Despite these losses, outfielder Nick Giamarusti said he knows the team will play competitively no matter who it faces.
“We’re confident in our guys, especially the starting nine,” Giamarusti said. “We know one through nine, we’re going to battle at the plate, and we’re going to play as aggressively as possible. So, no matter who’s in front of us, we know we’ll have a chance.”
All three of Ohio State’s games in the Jax College Baseball Classic will be streamed on D1Baseball.
