Where It All Began
Ohio State played its first season in 1881 as the first organized sport in school history. The team took the field just once that year - and won, beating Capital 8-5 to finish a perfect, undefeated season. It was a modest start, but it planted the seed for everything that followed. Over the decades, baseball at Ohio State grew from a club curiosity into a competitive Big Ten program, laying the foundation for generations of players to come and cementing its place as the original Buckeye athletic tradition.
The 1966 National Champions
The crowning achievement in program history came in 1966. Ohio State won the College World Series that year, capturing the National Championship under coach Marty Karow - one season after finishing national runner-up in 1965. Pitcher Steve Arlin was the ace the Buckeyes rode to the title, later going on to pitch six years in the major leagues. To this day, that team holds a special distinction: Ohio State remains the last Big Ten program to win the College World Series. It's a championship the program still celebrates, and a standard that continues to define what Buckeye baseball is all about.
A Legacy of Buckeye Talent
Ohio State baseball has sent plenty of its own to the highest level of the game. The program has produced major leaguers like Steve Arlin, Frank Howard, and Nick Swisher - names that carry weight far beyond Columbus. Since 1997, the Buckeyes have called Bill Davis Stadium home, now known as Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium in honor of one of the program's most beloved alumni. With a national title and 14 Big Ten championships to its name, Ohio State baseball has spent well over a century building a tradition that still draws young players chasing the same dream today.
