Right: Georgia first baseman Rich Poythress leads the Bulldogs batting .370 with 21 HRs and 77 RBIs. (UGA Photo)

The No. 3-seed Ohio State baseball team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and was placed in the Tallahassee Regional to take on the second-seeded Georgia Bulldogs, Friday afternoon. First pitch at Dick Howser Stadium is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

The Bulldogs enter Friday’s contest with a record of 37-22 overall, and finished third in the SEC Eastern Division with an even 15-15 mark in conference play, four full games behind Florida.

Georgia first baseman Rich Poythress is among the SEC leaders in batting (.370), slugging (.718), on-base percentage (.459), runs (64), hits (84), doubles (16), home runs (21) and total bases (163). Freshman third baseman Colby May has started all 59 games and is second on the team with a .336 average. Senior catcher Bryce Massanari has hit 19 home runs, which was second most in the SEC.

The Bulldogs best two starting pitchers are senior righthander Trevor Holder and sophomore righty Justin Grimm. Holder is 7-4 with an 4.34 ERA. He has pitched 85.0 innings and has allowed 41 earned runs on 85 hits with 65 strikeouts and 27 walks. Grimm has lasted 73.0 frames and has surrendered 34 earned runs on 76 hits while fanning 67 and issuing 24 base on balls.

Two of Georgia’s best relievers are senior righthander Will Harvil and junior righthander Dean Weaver. In 45.2 innings pitched, Harvil is 4-2 with a 2.96 earned run average, while Dean Weaver has work 39.0 innings and is 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA to go along with a team-high 10 saves.

The Buckeyes dropped down to a third-seed after losing a pair of games to wrap-up the Big Ten Tournament after rallying to defeat Illinois in the first game.

Last Friday, Indiana took Ohio State and starting pitcher Dean Wolosiansky to the woodshed for eight runs on 12 hits in the first four-plus innings and the Buckeyes couldn’t recover.

Ohio State led 2-0 after 3-1/2 innings, but Indiana scored three times in the home half of the fourth and seven more times in the fifth to put the game away.

Hoosiers’ second baseman Tyler Rogers went 3-for-5 at the plate with a triple and four RBI.

In the elimination game last Saturday against Minnesota, the Golden Gophers scored the game-winning run in the top half of the fourth when center fielder Eric Decker drilled a solo shot off the scoreboard in right-center field at Huntington Park to put Minny ahead 5-4.

The Gophers took a 4-0 lead before the Buckeyes even got a chance to bat, but climbed back into the game quickly, plating three runs themselves in the opening frame.

Michael Stephens, Dan Burkhart, and Ryan Dew each had an RBI singles to trim Minnesota’s lead down to a single run in the first.

The Buckeyes tied the game in the home half of the second when Stephens added another RBI base hit that scored Cory Kovanda.

In the NCAA Tournament, if Ohio State wins on Friday, the Buckeyes will play the winner of Florida State/Marist on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. If Ohio State loses to Georgia, the Buckeyes will play the loser of the aforementioned game at 12 p.m. ET in Tallahassee.

All of the games in the NCAA Regional will be televised on ESPNU, and WTDA-FM 103.9 in Columbus will also carry every game on your radio dial. BuckeyeBanter.com will live blog every game as well.

Note: In it’s 7th year, Buckeye Banter is the longest running Ohio State sports blog on the internet.

Right: Quarterback Terrelle Pryor looks downfield in the 2009 Spring Game. (AP Photo)

On a bright, sunny day with a game time temperature of about 80 degrees, 95,721 of my closest, Buckeye-loving friends joined me at Ohio Stadium, breaking the national spring game attendance record in the process as the Gray team defeated the Scarlet squad 23-3, Saturday afternoon.

In Nick Saban’s debut as head coach, Alabama drew 92,138 for their spring game to set the previous record back in 2007.

The Gray team got on the board first after Scarlet quarterback Joe Bauserman fumbled the exchange from center and Ross Homan recovered the loose ball at the 22 yard line. Three pass plays and two completions by Terrelle Pryor netted eight yards, so the Gray team settled for a 31-yard field goal by Aaron Pettrey with 10:23 left in the first quarter.

There wasn’t any scoring until the tail end of the first half when the Gray team scored two touchdowns in a span of 29 seconds right before halftime.

After Ben Buchanan’s 43-yard punt sailed into the end zone for a touchback, the Gray team started their first touchdown scoring drive at their own 20 with 5:02 remaining in the second quarter.

Facing a third-and-4 at the 24 yard line, Pryor connected with Taurian Washington for a 15-yard pitch and catch that moved the chains and kept the drive alive.

On first down, Pryor hit Grant Schwartz for a gain of seven yards, and Ray Small dropped a pass which forced the Gray team into another third down situation. The Pryor-Washington connection struck again for another first down, this time on a 16-yard pass down the middle to move the sticks once again.

At the Scarlet 36 yard line, a screen pass to Small lost two yards and Pryor was sacked for a loss of six on second down. Facing a third-and-18, Washington ran past cornerback Chimdi Chekwa down the far-sideline and Pryor lofted a deep pass into the end zone that seemed to hang up in the air forever, but Washington make a great catch as Chekwa converged a split second too late for the touchdown with 40 seconds left in the second quarter which put the Gray team ahead 10-0.

Wanting to put more points on the board before halftime, Aaron Pettrey recovered his own onside kick just past the 40 yard line and the Gray team got the ball right back with 31 ticks left.

After an incompletion, Pryor found his new best friend open as Washington gained 16 yards on a sideline pass. Pryor then spiked the ball to stop the clock, and after another incomplete pass, the Gray team faced a third-and-10. From the shotgun, Pryor sent a spiral down to Small just inside the 15 yard line near the sideline hash marks, who then juked a few defenders and slithered into the end zone for the touchdown with just one second remaining until halftime which put the Gray team ahead 17-0.

The only scoring in the third came on three field goals, and there was no scoring in the shorten fourth quarter.

For the Gray team, Pryor was 13-of-18 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns and looks much better throwing the ball downfield than he did last year. Junior running back Brandon Saine gained 55 yards on six carries, while Washington and Small both had four receptions and two touchdown catches. Washington covered 92 yards, and Small had 74 yards. Linebacker Brian Rolle led the Gray team defense with 11 total tackles and a sack.

For the Scarlet, Joe Bauserman was 10-of-21 passing for 119 yards with DeVier Posey catching five of those passes for 46 yards. Boom Herron led the Scarlet in rushing, gaining 43 yards on 10 carries. Tyler Moeller finished with eight total tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss.

The best running play of the day was when fifth-year senior Maurice Williams broke loose for a 75-yard gain in the third quarter, only to be dragged down from behind by Moeller. Williams topped the Gray team in rushing with 98 yards on seven attempts.

The best pass play could be either touchdown catches in the second quarter by the Gray team, but I will give the nod to Small’s. His ability to get into the end zone was impressive to say the least.

Th best hit of the day came when tight end Spencer Smith lower the boom on Devon Torrence at the 17-yard line while returning a kickoff.