3,988 miles.
That's roughly the distance Ohio has traveled in 2018 before it actually plays a baseball game at Bob Wren Stadium.
After 23 games, eight different opponents, and a 12-11 record, the Bobcats' extended road trip to begin the season will end with the first pitch in Ohio's home-opening game against Northern Illinois on Friday.
Ohio typically begins its season on prolonged road stretches because the field at Bob Wren Stadium is not quite ready for baseball. With the varying temperatures in Athens throughout February and March, the infield dirt can sometimes freeze and then undergo a thawing process that would make baseball conditions less than desirable.
Coach Rob Smith said he's hoping the Bobcats will have infield turf installed at Bob Wren Stadium in the future. Until then, however, Ohio will continue to begin its season on hefty road trips, which are primarily centered in southern states to escape the cold, mild weather that hovers in Athens in the season's first several weeks.
Although the trip may seem like a burden on the players' shoulders, there are actually several positives that the trip can bring for the team.
The long bus rides to and from Athens each weekend give new players a chance to jell with new teammates and returning players some time to rediscover previous chemistry off the field. In the back of the bus, some players play card games like euchre or pluck while others try to catch up on sleep or schoolwork.
It's also a chance for players to clear their mind and simply relax.
"I think it's a good experience for us as a young group. Just kind of life on the road," junior first baseman Rudy Rott said. "I don't know what they all play back there. I'm a little different. Just hang out, I don't know. Relax and close my eyes. I'm a weird person. I'm going to be honest, I don't really do much."
The first leg of Ohio's 2018 road trip was spent in South Carolina and Georgia. While the weather in Athens fluctuated from snow, rain and colder temperatures, the Bobcats were playing in temperatures that ranged from 50-70 degrees, including a 74-degree first-pitch temperature in their first game against Rider on Feb. 16.
For pitchers, the warmer weather helps accelerate their preparation for games and finding a rhythm on the mound.
That's why right-hander Michael Klein doesn't mind the long trips down south at all.
"I love pitching in the warm weather," he said. "In the cold, it's hard to get loose. When it's warm outside, it takes a couple pitches, and you're ready to fire. Your arm feels good, and you won't hurt yourself that way.
"Would we like to play more at home? Yes, but the weather, if I got to play away games and they're warm all the time, then so be it."
Smith, however, wishes that his players weren't tasked with such a demanding schedule to open the season. He was able to sympathize for his players who are forced to miss one or two days of classes per week because of the challenging road schedule.
The early weekend road trips down south usually require the team to leave on Thursday and not return to Athens until late Sunday or the first few hours on Monday morning.
Near the end of the road trip, the stresses can begin to snowball.
"Think about it," Smith said. "You hear in professional sports, they talk about this team's on this road trip, that road trip, and on the back-end of that road trip, they struggle. You've got the stress of missing class, you've got the stress of trying to catch up and not fall behind. You do that for a month straight. Guys get fried in a hurry, man."
"That's the challenges that, certainly, our sport faces because of the climate issues and field issues that I don't think a lot of people always take into account and understand how difficult it is to navigate through that for basically half your season."
The extended stretch is arguably the toughest portion of Ohio's schedule, but the formula for overcoming is simple and can have a direct correlation on the field.
"If you're not having fun with it," Rott said, "you're going to be playing a lot worse."
