Seth Lonsway dominating for Ohio State Baseball
The 6’3 left-hander Seth Lonsway has drawn the attention of not just Big Ten baseball, but MLB scouts nationally.
Seth Lonsway has been in the Ohio State baseball starting rotation since he was a redshirt freshman back in 2019, and all the work he has put in is paying off in a big way for the Buckeyes, who sit at 11-7 overall.
Lonsway has had his struggles this year, as he was beaten up in his first start against Illinois but has settled down since then despite not getting a win as of yet. He threw 6 innings, allowing two runs and striking out nine against Iowa, and then threw seven innings, allowing two runs and striking out eight against Rutgers to right the ship.
But nothing compared to game one of a home doubleheader Saturday against Indiana. In a seven-inning game, Lonsway struck out a mind-boggling 17 batters while allowing just two hits in a complete-game shutout against the Hoosiers. Lonsway set down over 70% of the batters he faced on the day on strikes. The former no.1 high school player in Ohio in the class of 2017, appears to have broken through.
Lonsway was once a 19th round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in the 2017 MLB Draft and would’ve gone much higher had he not told teams that he fully intended to pass up the MLB and attend Ohio State.
Lonsway attacks hitters with a mid-90’s fastball as well as a slider and a changeup that get swings and misses. But the Celina Ohio native’s best pitch is a power curveball, that drops off the face of the earth from hitters, and has MLB teams dreaming about the possibility of him throwing that pitch in the big leagues.
Lonsway is currently rated as the no. 84 prospect in the 2021 MLB draft via MLB Pipeline and he could definitely move his way up the list as he has finally started to put together the potential that he had way back in high school. He is a bit older for a junior in college at 22, but MLB scouts will likely give his body of work the benefit of the doubt if he continues to pitch well.
For Ohio State and Lonsway though, they will look to stay focused and get a high seeding in the Big Ten baseball tournament. They currently sit in fourth place, but they are within one game of first-place Michigan along with Nebraska and Indiana. Lonsway will likely get the ball next Friday or Saturday with a huge three-game road trip up to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines and will look to continue to show why he will be a high pick in this year’s MLB Draft.