The baseball season is nearly upon us, but before we are are all lulled to sleep on a warm sunny day in a ballpark ponder this 'sporting' statistic...Online Dating Magazine reported that 30 percent of women are having sex on the first date, according to a study by Sexuality Research & Social Policy, a journal of the National Sexuality Research Center. That means 70 percent are keeping it in their pants! (So, fellas, no big-spending on first dates). The research was conducted by Paige M. Padgett, Ph.D., and published in the June 2007 issue.

One of the reasons may be that by the time women meet their first date they have already usually done a pretty decent profile check, and presumably had engaged in some form of dialogue, say via e-mail, or instant message online thus accelerating the possibility of first-date nookie. Given that there was a visual attraction in at the outset, and with just a little research completed, the guy's chances of getting past first base, even rounding home, increases significantly. Great for your batting averages.

The 30 percent figure may be a surprise to some (well, it was to me anyway), what is even more surprising is that 77 percent of the women interviewed apparently said neither partner used any protection! The study also mentioned that 75 percent of those interviewed never discussed, or mentioned AIDS, or other STDs.

The study used a survey placed on various online dating services and targeted women. The survey was completed by 740 women of which 568 said they had met someone in person. While 30 percent had sex on the first date, some were specifically looking for that. The odds in both cases seem inconceivable.

Hotdog, anyone?