Opportunity abounds…and Buckeyes pitching coach Sean Allen looks to talents like sophomore Landon Beidelschies (above) to seize such opportunity and run with it. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
It’s generally agreed the Buckeyes are going to score runs in 2024, and that the defense is improved to help take the next step. But if baseball is 80% pitching, will Ohio State’s youthful recruiting be good enough, soon enough, to take an even bigger next step in 2024?
Columbus, OH – Speaking on the subject of pitching in college baseball, Ohio State pitching coach Sean Allen can occasionally sound like Bill Belichick’s nephew.
He’s about the right age. He has some of that same low-toned voice and mannerism. And in poker terms, he holds his cards close to the vest, in that same familiar way.
And yet, Allen, the long-time assistant, and six seasons at the University of Texas, was responsible for one of 2023’s most notable coaching accomplishments…in the midst of one of the Buckeyes’ deepest valleys during last year’s up-and-down season.
Sean Allen came with Bill Mosiello as the Buckeyes’ pitching coach in 2023…after six seasons at the University of Texas.
Coming out of March, the cumulative earned run average of his pitching staff was north of 9.00 from those seeing regular duty. Six weeks later, that figure would shrink to a far-more-respectable 5.63 with the sweep of Michigan to conclude the schedule.
Better, but not good enough, to deliver on the goals of this coaching staff, and the expectations at hand when the change was made after the ’22 season. They needed better talent to exact a better result!
Fast forward four months and some of that talent took the stage for fall practice at Bill Davis Stadium – for instance, names like Jake Michalak (North Royalton, Oh), Gavin DeVooght (Walled Lake, Michigan), Andrew Edrington (Cincinnti), Zach Brown, (Santa Ana, Ca.), Chase Herrell (Milford, Oh), Zak Sigman (Grove City) – all freshmen, all touted, and coveted by rival schools. Pitching is that much of a premium.
To hedge their bets, the Buckeyes also attracted names like Hunter Shaw, a lefthander from Lansing Community College, in Michigan, whose pitching style earned him national Junior College Pitcher of The Year honors, and first team All-American status. Another, grad student Jake Morin, came aboard after five years of experience at schools like Texas Southern and Tennesse Tech. At 5’8″ and 140 lbs, he proved in 2023 that he could pitch by setting a school record at Tennessee Tech for limiting opponents to a .193 batting average.
And there are more….
But from the above list…there was competition, and lots of it, in fall practice. The question to be answered: How do your accolades and awards stack up against legitimate, experienced, Big Ten Division I college hitters?
Fast forward another four months and this week’s opening of indoor winter workouts (brrrr), the run-up to the opening of the NCAA baseball season in just six weeks – February 16, 17, and 18 – in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Doesn’t throw as hard as the rest…but transfer lefthander Hunter Shaw was the national Junior College Pitcher of The Year in 2023, and an All-American.
“It was exciting,” said North Royalton’s Michalak, who turned down other recruiting opportunities, even visits to those schools, to become a Buckeye.
“It was my dream school, to be here,” he adds, talking about his matriculation, even limited, to college baseball. “Fall baseball went well.”
And now back to Belichick (Allen), the Buckeyes’ pitching coach nods in agreement that from his own perspective…fall baseball went well.
“They showed they can pitch, but a couple of those guys showed more,” he says, with an almost smile.
Rome was not built in a day, and neither are young pitchers at this level.
“They gave us options,” he adds.
And options, at this point, a month before first pitch, are like a conversation between Jerry Seinfeld and Kenny Banya. “It’s gold, Jerry…gold!”
“We saw guys who threw enough strikes to be trusted at the back end of the game, out of the bullpen…when you have to come in throwing strikes,” says Allen. “And we saw guys with the stuff to start, where it’s not so critical.” Where swing and miss can get you by.
But every one of the afore-mentioned – and that’s just the ‘afore-mentioned’ – are names that have the stuff and makeup to compete sooner, or later. Pitching, is like compound interest. The more you have, the more you need, because the first focus, and the greatest unknown, rests on finding the first three pitchers. Who makes the weekend starting rotation?
Obviously, junior lefthander Gavin Bruni, who emerged last year to compile a 5-3 record and a competitive 4.87 earned run average over 57 innings.
It’s hoped that Texas A&M (Corpus Christi) Colin Purcell can fill another spot.
“He has the experience to give us innings,” says Allen. “He’s a veteran and knows how to pitch.”
The third of the three could be sophomore Landon Beidelschies, who has big stuff and at times sparkled in 2023 as the bullpen closer (0-2, 4.15 era, in 30 innings) . Like most freshmen, he had his ups and downs with command and consistency.
“We want to see him in that role,” adds Allen. “It’s big for us if he can do it.”
If he can’t, it’s back to the drawing board…where Gavin DeVoogth, Zach Brown, Jake Michalak, Andrew Edrington, Chase Herrell, Hunter Shaw – no fewer than a half dozen talented, viable candidates are at hand to make their case.
And like Garrett Burhenn and Seth Lonsway in 2019, lightning can strike, and does. The two freshmen (Lonsway was a redshirt) back then combined to win 15 games, and both are pitching professionally now.
Others take more time.
But Sean Allen smiles confidently over the first returns of recruiting by the new regime – of talent that looked at the Ohio State brand and chose to be here. And if you think it’s exciting for Jake Michalak, think about what it means to Allen.
Dream school, plus a dream opportunity, can pay big dividends.
Everybody in baseball – player and coach – is allowed to dream!
The Dave Arbogast family of dealerships proudly sponsors Ohio State sports coverage on Press Pros Magazine.