Baseball and Softball Ohio's
baseball and
fastpitch softball teams have storied programs. In 1892, the Ohio University baseball team became the first sports team sponsored at the school, and was followed by the football team in 1894.
Baseball The Ohio baseball program has won 14 MAC regular season titles in 1947, 1948, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1991. The team has also won MAC tournament titles in 1997 and 2015, and has made a College World Series appearance in 1970. There have been a total of 23 Bobcats in the major leagues, and hundreds more in the minors. Most notably,
hall of famer Mike Schmidt was a Bobcat, selected 30th in the
1971 Major League Baseball draft by the
Philadelphia Phillies following his senior season. Craig Moore is the current head coach for the baseball team; he is the 10th overall and was an assistant coach for the past eight years before becoming the interim head coach in 2020.
Fastpitch softball Although softball at Ohio University began earlier than the 1970s, records were not well kept. the team went 16–1 and made it to the AIAW
Women's College World Series for the first time in program history, where it won two games and lost two. The early success continued as the 1976 team earned a spot in the Ohio State Invitational. The MAC and the NCAA did not begin to recognize women's softball until 1980 and both neglected to sponsor a tournament until 1982. The first MAC tournament featured the Bobcats as the runner-up, losing to their rival Miami of Ohio. In her second season, head coach Tracy Bunge led the Bobcats to the most wins in a season with a record of 39–22, winning their first MAC title and their first appearance in the NCAA regional play. In the 2014 season, the softball program won its first MAC tournament title. They were able to receive an automatic bid for the NCAA Championship tournament. During this season, they tied their record for most regular season wins at 32, while reaching their first national postseason tournament in 19 years.
Basketball Ohio's home basketball games are played at the 13,080-seat
Convocation Center. Located on the West Green of Ohio University's main campus, the venue has a seating capacity of 13,080. Ohio is consistently one of the attendance leaders in the Mid-American Conference and has the ability to draw good crowds, win or lose. Ohio's head coach from 2001 to 2008 was
Tim O'Shea. Coach O'Shea resigned on Monday, June 23, 2008, in order to become the head coach of Bryant University in Rhode Island. Coach O'Shea had arrived at Ohio in 2001 after 4 seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater,
Boston College. He came to Athens on March 29, 2001, and vowed to take the Ohio men's basketball program to what he called the "next level". This next-level was realized in 2005 as he led to Bobcats to a 21–11 record, a MAC Tournament Title, and an NCAA Tournament appearance in which 13 seed Ohio nearly upset 4 seed
Florida. O'Shea's 2005–2006 team proved successful as well, posting a 19–11 record with wins over teams such as
Rhode Island and
Samford, and a close loss to
Kentucky. The 2006–2007 team also posted 19 wins, with a final record of 19–13. A 20 win campaign was had in the 2007–2008 season, including notable non-conference wins over
Maryland,
St. John's,
George Mason, and
Bucknell. The team was extended an invite to the
College Basketball Invitational, where the Bobcats advanced to the second round. On June 27, 2008, former
Ohio State Buckeyes associate head coach
John Groce was named the sixteenth head coach in Bobcats history. Groce brings fourteen years of assistant coaching experience to Athens, along with a pair of outright
Big Ten regular-season titles, two
NCAA tournament appearances, a berth in the 2007 NCAA National Championship game and the 2008
NIT title. men's basketball game at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio On March 18, 2010, the men's basketball program recorded a 97–83 blowout of the
Georgetown Hoyas. The upset marked the first time in NCAA tournament history that a fourteen seed defeated a three seed by double digits. Ohio defeated 4th seeded Michigan in the 2012 Tournament. They followed up the 2012 victory over
Michigan with a 62–56 win over 12th seeded South Florida, reaching the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1964. On March 28, 2012,
John Groce left the program to coach at the
University of Illinois. He was replaced by
Texas Christian University head coach
Jim Christian on April 3, 2012. Christian became Ohio University's highest-paid faculty member in school history, having a base salary of $425,000 a year. He was replaced two years later on the same day after he got a coaching job at Boston College by Saul Phillips. Phillips was the head coach of North Dakota State. Ohio hired
Jeff Boals to replace Phillips as the head coach for the Bobcats on March 17, 2019. Boals (pronounced BOWLS) spent the past three seasons as the head coach at Stony Brook going 55–41 overall and 31–17 in America East play. Boals is a 1995 graduate of Ohio and was a two-time captain while garnering four varsity letters under the leadership of his head coach, the late Larry Hunter. The 2021 season culminated with another NCAA tournament berth and an upset victory over
Virginia, followed by a large crowd taking to Court Street to celebrate.
Women's Basketball The Bobcats have won three MAC Tournaments (1986, 1995,
2015) since beginning play in 1973 and starting MAC play in 1982. They have reached the NCAA Tournament in those three championship years. They have four MAC conferences (1986, 1995, 2015, 2016) and four division championships (2015, 2016, 2019, 2020). The women's team was the first team to win 30 games during the
2018-19 season going 30-6 losing in the quarterfinals of the
2019 WNIT. Their current coach is
Bob Boldon; he has the most wins in program history.
Cross Country The men's and women's teams are now coached by Sarah Pease and Ian Kellogg is an assistant for the Women's team. The Ohio Bobcats’ women's cross country team competes at
Goldsberry Track in Athens, Ohio. The teams were previously coached by Elmore "Mo" Banton, a widely-known coach who became Ohio's first African American head coach in 1980 and stayed with the program for over twenty years.
Men's Cross Country The Ohio Men's Cross-Country program claims MAC titles from 1962, 1964, and 1996. Known as the Worldwalker, from April 1983 to April 1987 alumnus
Steve Newman became the first person to walk solo around the
Earth. Ohio's former director of Compliance Craig Leon became a qualifier to the U.S. Olympic Trials for the marathon in Eugene, Oregon. Leon finished 10th at the 2013 Boston Marathon, the same race during the 2013
Boston Marathon bombing. The runners were greatly affected by the loss of the Men's Track program in 2007, but have continued mobilizing a club track program in the winter and spring to compete in mid- and long-distance events at various track meets throughout the country.
Women's Cross Country The women's cross country team has been highly successful. Between 1980 and 2014, Ohio has had the top female runner in the MAC 7 times. During this time, four females have been named the first runner up for the best female athlete in the MAC. In 2013, Juli Accurso, became the first female runner in the MAC to win three consecutive conference titles. The women's cross country team has won the MAC Championship a total of 10 times, in the years 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2006, and 2007.
Football The 2022 season staff includes head coach Tim Albin, and assistants and coordinators Spence Nowinsky, Scott Isphording, Allen Rudolph, Dwayne Dixon, Tremayne Scott, John Hauser, Brian Smith, DeAngelo Smith, Nate Faanes, Brian Metz, Jeremiah Covington, Kyle Pollock, Thomas Turnbaugh, Jake Miller, Matthias Reiber, Zoe Stoker, Ryan Kalukin, Nick Arleo, Luke Nardo, Kenny Zamberlin, Kyle Obly, Clay Finney, and Elaine Goodfellow. Ohio Bobcats football began in 1894 with an 8–0 loss to
Marietta College. Since that day, the Bobcats have posted a 584–580–65 record over their 127-year existence and a 252–248–12 record over their 75 years in the Mid-American Conference current members only.
Peden Stadium, built in 1929, is the oldest football venue in the MAC and among the oldest in the nation. Located on the south of Ohio University's campus in Athens, the venue has a
seating capacity of 27,000 (with Victory Hill and Sook Center capacity included). In 2010, Peden Stadium was designated an official Ohio Historical landmark site after a university alumnus, Michael A Massa, advanced the idea to Ohio University and State of Ohio officials. Many recent renovation and expansion efforts have allowed the stadium to keep pace with the ever-changing landscape of college football stadiums. This mark overtook the previous record set on September 5, 2009, when 24,617 fans were in attendance to watch the Bobcats drop a 23–16 decision to the
Connecticut Huskies. The third largest crowd came on September 9, 2005, when 24,545 fans watched the Bobcats defeat the
Pittsburgh Panthers 16–10. The fourth largest crowd was on September 17, 2011, when 24,422 fans watched the Bobcats defeat the Marshall Thundering Herd 44–7 in the Battle of the Bell. Ohio is consistently one of the attendance leaders in the Mid-American Conference. The Bobcats have won five MAC Football championships in 1953, 1960, 1963, 1967, and 1968, and MAC East Division championships in 2006, 2009, and 2011. Prior to joining the MAC, the Bobcats won six Buckeye Athletic Association championships in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1936, and 1938. In 1960, the Bobcats were crowned National Small College Champions after compiling a 10–0 record under Coach Bill Hess. The Bobcats have appeared in six bowl games, losing 15–14 to
West Texas State in the 1962
Sun Bowl, losing 49–42 to
Richmond in the 1968
Tangerine Bowl, falling 28–7 to
Southern Mississippi in the 2007
GMAC Bowl, losing 21–17 to
Marshall in the 2009
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, and losing to Troy in the 2010
New Orleans Bowl, 48–21, before finally winning a bowl game in the 2011
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Utah State, 24–23. Some of Ohio's notable football coaches include
Don Peden,
Bill Hess,
Jim Grobe, and current head coach
Frank Solich. Peden coached from 1924 to 1946, compiling a 121–46–11 record, good for a winning percentage of .711 that still stands as the best ever for an Ohio football coach. Peden's teams won a total of 6 Buckeye Athletic Association Championships in his tenure and left a lasting mark on the program when the Bobcat's football stadium, Peden Stadium, was named in his honor following his retirement. Bill Hess's time at Ohio was equally impressive. Coaching from 1958 to 1977, Hess had a 108–91–4 record, giving him a winning percentage of .542 that is second only to Peden on Ohio's all-time list. Coach Hess's teams won 4 MAC Championships, participated in 2 bowl games, and won a National Small College Championship in 1960 after having an undefeated season. Former Ohio coach Jim Grobe took the helm of the Bobcats program in 1995, inheriting a squad that winless in the previous season. Grobe quickly turned the program around, as his teams went 8–3 in 1997 and 7–4 in 2000. Coach Grobe had a 33–33–1 record in his time at Ohio, good for a .500 winning percentage that is fourth among all Ohio football coaches. After the 2000 football season, Grobe took a job as head football coach at Wake Forest University.
Frank Solich was named the 28th football coach of the Bobcats on December 16, 2004. Prior to coming to Ohio, Solich spent many years as a part of the
Nebraska Cornhuskers football program, as a player, an assistant coach, and later as the head coach. Solich was head coach of the Cornhuskers from 1998 to 2003 where he directed Nebraska to 6 consecutive bowl games, including the national championship game in the 2002
Rose Bowl. Solich's impact on the Ohio program was immediate, as plans were put in place to renovate Ohio's football facilities and increase financial support for the football program. Also, Ohio was selected to appear on national television 6 times for the 2005 football season, a record for the program. Frank Solich's first home game as coach of Ohio was a memorable one, as Peden Stadium brought in its largest ever crowd to watch the Bobcats defeat the
University of Pittsburgh Panthers 16–10. Under the guidance of Frank Solich, the Ohio football program has enjoyed a return to national prominence. On November 16, 2006, the Bobcats secured their first-ever MAC East Division title and their first football championship of any sort since 1968 with a victory over the
Akron Zips. They then advanced to the
MAC Championship Game in
Detroit, where they were defeated by Central Michigan 31–10. On January 7, 2007, the Bobcats acted as the MAC representative in the
GMAC Bowl in
Mobile, Alabama, losing 28–7 to the
University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in a game nationally televised on
ESPN. The Bobcats followed up the 2006 campaign with a 6–6 record in 2007, and was one of six
bowl eligible programs that was not invited to post-season play. The Bobcats returned to the post-season in 2009, posting a 9–3 regular season record and another MAC East Championship. Ohio played in the
MAC Championship Game, where they fell to Central Michigan 20–10. On December 26, 2009, the Bobcats fell 21–17 to the
Thundering Herd in the
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Ohio won back-to-back bowl games in the
2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and
2012 Independence Bowl and three straight games in the
2017 Bahamas Bowl,
2018 Frisco Bowl and the
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl after the 2019 season. Ohio was bowl eligible for twelve consecutive seasons from
2009 through
2020 at the end of Solich's tenure. On July 14, 2021, following Solich's retirement, longtime Bobcat offensive coordinator
Tim Albin was named the 29th head coach of the program. Albin led the Bobcats to three straight nine win regular seasons in
2022,
2023, and
2024 In 2024, at 7–1 in
MAC play they qualified to play
Miami in the
MAC Championship game Ohio avenged their only MAC loss and defeated Miami 38–3 to win the MAC outright. Albin brought Ohio their first MAC Championship since 1968 but to take the head coaching position at Charlotte. Offensive coordinator
Brian Smith was promoted to head coach for the
Cure Bowl. Smith earned his first win in the bowl where the Bobcats got school record 11th and three straight seasons with at least 10 wins. It was the program's sixth straight bowl win.
Golf The Ohio Bobcats golf teams are two of the only teams in the
MAC that possess their own
golf course. Both the men's and women's teams have several notable victories in national tournaments and compete at regular matches across the country.
Men's Golf Through the 2014 season, the men's golf team has won 18 MAC tournament titles: 1951–55, 1957–61, 1963–65, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1979–80 (1954 co-champions with
Kent State).
PGA Tour golfer
Dow Finsterwald is among the Ohio golf program's famous alumni. The current head coach is Brennan Whitis, who previously competed for
Wittenberg University from 2014 to 2018.
Ice Hockey Ohio has had a men's ice hockey team for over 60 years and won five Division I
ACHA titles. The Bobcats briefly fielded an
NCAA Division I program in the early 1970s but dropped their program down to club status in 1973. Ohio was one of four founding members of the
CCHA along with
Bowling Green,
Ohio State and
Saint Louis. The Bobcats played in the CCHA for two seasons but finished dead-last both years. Ohio won only a single conference game in either season and after the
1972–73 season both Ohio and Ohio State left the CCHA. While the Buckeyes kept their team at the varsity level the Bobcats dropped their team back to club status where they have remained as of 2019.
Volleyball The 2022 season coaching staff for Ohio volleyball includes head coach Geoff Carlston, assistant coach Kenzie Crawford, assistant coach Andrew Kroger, and graduate assistant Olena Fedorenko. The volleyball coaching staff offices are located inside the Convocation Center, where the volleyball team competes during their regular intercollegiate seasons. Ohio's volleyball team has been steadily increasing national prominence: Under the direction of Coach Geoff Carlston, the team won five consecutive Mid-American Conference regular season championships from 2003 to 2007, and 4 consecutive MAC tournament titles from 2003 to 2006. The team has appeared in the
NCAA Tournament every year since 2003, and made the "Sweet 16" of the
NCAA tournament in 2005. Following the end of the 2007 season, Coach Geoff Carlston moved on to take the head coaching position at
Ohio State University, with Ohio naming former Florida assistant Ryan Theis to the vacant head coaching position. Under the direction of Theis, the Bobcats have won 2 MAC regular season titles and have recorded 2
NCAA Tournament appearances. The 2014 season was highly successful, with Deane Webb as their new head coach. Overall, the team went 23–6 on the season and remained undefeated in the MAC for the fourth time ever, their first since 2006. They won the MAC East Division title for 12th time and won the MAC regular season title for the second year in a row, their ninth overall. Their junior setter, Abby Gilleland, won the MAC Player of the Year, MAC Setter of the Year, and First Team All-MAC honors for the second year in a row. Meredith Ashy, also a junior, was the first player in Ohio Bobcats history to receive the MAC Defensive Player of the Year award, as well as being named First Team All-MAC selection. Graduating senior Kelly Lamberti capped her career off as one of two players to receive four First Team All-MAC honors.
Swimming and Diving Ohio's women's swimming and diving team has won 11 MAC championships in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2011. This is more than any other women's swimming and diving program in the conference. The team competes in The Ohio University Aquatic Center, one of the finest swimming and diving facilities in the conference. The OUAC has hosted many Mid-American Conference Championship meets. Paul Anastacio is considered their best men's swimmer ever. The 2022 staff includes head coach Mason Norman, head diving coach Britni Fisher, assistant coach James Washbish, and Talisa Lemke, Raeleigh Mooij, Sarah Deering, and Kristina Rana.
Women's Soccer Women's soccer at Ohio University began in 1997 under head coach Wendy Logan. Logan won the MAC Coach of the Year award in 1997, then led the team to their first regular season MAC champion title in 1998. In 2000, Stacy Strauss took over the head coach position and remained until 2012. During this time, Strauss led the 2001 and 2004 teams to become the MAC regular season champions. The Bobcats won their first ever MAC Tournament in 2023, defeating Kent State 2–1 in the final. The current head coach is Aaron Rodgers, who took over the program in 2013. He was the former Kentucky Wildcats assistant coach. In his first two seasons at Ohio University, he has led the team to a combined record of 33–0–0. As head coach, Aaron Rodgers led the Bobcats to their first ever MAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. The 2023 staff includes associate headcoach Cortney Wiesler, assistants Ash Allanson, Konstantina Giannou, and Lucy Brasil.
Track and Field The current coaching staff of the track program includes Sarah Pease, Ian Kellogg, and Jeneva Stevens. After accepting the position in June 2003, Clay Calkins led the men's track and field teams to 4 years of success, only ending because of the 2007
Title IX legislation, which eliminated a total of 4 teams. Under his coaching, the numerous female athletes have become MAC and Regional Champions, as well as multiple national qualifiers. The team as a whole has won the MAC Championship in 1983, 1984, and 1994. Ohio's coach Diane Stamm won the MAC Women's Track Coach of the Year in the years 1982, 1983, 1984. In 1994, Elmore Banton, Ohio head coach, became the most recent coach from the Bobcats to win the award.
Wrestling The Ohio University wrestling program's inception was in 1919, when Thor Olson, the so-called "Granddaddy of Collegiate Wrestling", coached the very first Bobcat varsity wrestling team to a 1–1 record. The first of its kind at any university or institution in the state of Ohio, Recent Bobcat standout
wrestler Jake Percival was at the 2004 NCAA meet, less than 40 seconds away from becoming Ohio's fifth national champion, but a late two-point reversal by Stanford's Matt Gentry in the 157-pound finals resulted in a second-place finish for Percival as the Bobcats placed 25th in the country under the guidance of Greenlee. Percival, the three-time MAC Wrestler of the Year, became the first four-time All-American in MAC history with a third-place finish at nationals in 2005. During his senior season, the Elyria native passed Enright (115–31) and Gardner (122–26) to become the school's all-time wins leader. He ended his career with a 142–10 record, including 18–6 in the NCAA Tournament, 113–4 during the regular season and a 17–0 mark in the conference. Ohio University wrestling home dual meets and tournaments take place in the
Convocation Center located on campus.
Other teams MAC Championships in parentheses: • Women's
golf • Women's indoor
track and field • Women's
field hockey (1987, 1991, 2006, 2007, 2009)
2007 Athletic eliminations On January 25, 2007, then-Athletic Director
Kirby Hocutt announced the elimination of four varsity sports at Ohio University. Those sports include: men's swimming and diving, men's indoor track, men's outdoor track and women's lacrosse. The decision was announced without any advance warning to those involved, causing major tension between the student-athletes and the administration. == Traditions and history ==