[Buckskin86]

OSU notebook: Freshman shifts gears quickly
Friday, August 10, 2007 3:27 AM
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch

Devon Torrence was part of the big photo when Ohio State posed in Ohio Stadium yesterday, but he's also keeping pro baseball in the picture.

Torrence, a freshman defensive back/receiver from Canton, spent almost two months this summer playing for the Greeneville (Tenn.) Astros after Houston drafted him in June. On Saturday, he traveled to Columbus and flipped the switch for football. He's working out at cornerback.

"I am just going to work out with baseball in the offseason," he said.

Baseball is no passing fancy, Torrence said, even though he struck out in five of his first six at-bats with Greeneville.

"It probably was more (strikeouts) than that," he said. "It was an adjustment I had to make. The pitching was a lot harder, and just being on my own for the first time was different.

"But I am definitely going to go back next year and give it a shot and see what happens. They told me I was probably one of the best players there because they saw all the tools I had and saw some things they could work with."

Drafted as a switch-hitting outfielder, he played center field and appeared in 30 games. Though he never hit his stride batting, with a .149 average while striking out 48 times in 87 at-bats, he left a few marks. As of yesterday, he was still by far the team leader in walks with 23, which helped him to an on-base percentage of .330, best on the team.

The Columbus Dispatch : OSU notebook: Freshman shifts gears quickly