As the high school baseball season draws closer and closer, there are certainly a number of area coaches – St. Clairsville’s Tom Sliva withstanding – that are happy they don’t have to face Michael Jacob this spring.

The talented left hander is busy making his presence felt at the Division I level for the University of Toledo.

Jacob is working out of the Rockets’ bullpen as a closer and set-up man at times.

Earlier this week, he suffered the loss at Florida State. He pitched an inning and two thirds. He worked his team out of a tough spot in both the seventh and eighth.

However, a suicide squeeze did the Rockets in that night.

Jacob, who was an all-Ohioan and took part in the Mizzuno Classic last June, had two strikeouts against the Seminoles.

Though he took the loss, his outing sure did impress his head coach Cory Mee, who was teammates with current Linsly assistant Mike Coss at Notre Dame.

In an article published on the Toledo baseball website, Mee said, “There isn’t a guy on our team I’d rather have the ball at the end of the game than Michael,” said Mee. “He’s fearless, and that’s one thing we love about him.”

In an outing earlier this week, at Duke, Jacob worked two scoreless innings.

For the season, Jacob has five appearances and has posted an ERA of 2.70. He’s struck out nine, which is tied for tops on the club.

BASEBALL

Division I

MICHAEL GROVE, West Virginia – Wheeling Park graduate picked up the save in the Mountaineers’ win Friday night at Hawaii. Grove now owns a 2.25 earned run average and has worked four innings this season. The Mountaineers were slated to make their home debut this weekend in a three-game set against Old Dominion.

ANDREW KOWALO, Liberty – Wheeling Park graduate went 4-12 with 4 RBI, two triples and a double in a series victory against UConn. Kowalo is leading the Flames in hitting at a .385 clip.

ALEX STEPHENS, Morehead State – Linsly school grad continued to hit the cover off the ball. he went 5-11 in a doubleheader sweep of Sienna last weekend. He hit his third home run and also tripled, while driving in four runs. He’s now batting .490 and has 18 RBI.

COLTON COSS, Morehead State – Linsly School grad appeared during the opening game of the Eagles’ doubleheader against Sienna.

Division II

D.J. BUSBY, West Liberty – St. Clairsville grad had three hits in a win against Ohio Valley last week at Washington, Pa. He had four hits in a doubleheader sweep of Charleston.

BUB HADDOX, West Liberty – Oak Glen grad had a triple, single and three RBI, including a bases-clearing hit, which tied the game.

CLAY FRANCIS, West Liberty – Martins Ferry graduate had two singles and two RBI in the second game of a double-header sweep of Charleston.

MARK SMYTH, West Liberty – Edison grad came on in relief during the eighth inning and earned the win, striking out two. He was the winner in game one against Charleston earlier this week.

GREG STAGANI, West Liberty – Edison product recorded the win in the second game against Charleston. He struck out 11 and walked two.

JORDAN MEYER, West Liberty – Steubenville grad had a huge day at the plate in the opening game of a doubleheader against Charleston. He had a single, double and three RBI.

LOGAN HUDSON, Wheeling Jesuit – Shadyside High grad started the Cardinals’ game against Tiffin last week. He worked six innings and struck out three, but was touched up for five runs.

CODY HUDSON, Wheeling Jesuit – Shadyside High product relieved his brother in the game against Tiffin. He appeared in both games, out of the bullpen, against Tiffin. He worked 3.1 innings and allowed three runs.

SOFTBALL

Division I

KATY ELLZY, Robert Morris – Harrison Central grad picked up her third win of the season, coming on in relief during a game against Monmouth over the weekend. She’s started eight games and owns an ERA of 3.32. Ellzy picked up an impressive win against nationally ranked Florida Atlantic this week. She spun a three-hitter, struck out five and produced 15 ground-ball outs.

JESSE MACHOVINA, Ohio State – St. Clairsville grad and the Buckeyes were off last weekend. They are at Arizona State for four games this weekend and then head directly to San Diego for four more games during spring break.

SWIMMING

ERIC EATON, Urbana – St. Clairsville grad was named one of the school’s Scholar Athletes of the Month for February. He carries a 3.83 grade point average as a business management major. He recently wrapped up his swimming career by scoring four points.

GOLF

ADAM JEFFRIES, Alderson-Broaddus – St. Clairsville grad opened his spring season by firing rounds of 73 and 78 to finish tied for fifth at TU Battle at the Beach held in Myrtle Beach.

SETH VANNOY, Alderson-Broaddus – St. Clairsville grad posted rounds of 82 to finished tied for 41st in the tournament.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com or on Twitter.com/TLSportsSeth