Baseball Defeats Michigan State, 7-3 and Split the Series, 2-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 14, 2000
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Led by a four-run outburst in the fourth inning, the Ohio State baseball team (35-21 overall, 15-13 in the Big Ten) defeated the Michigan State Spartans (20-36 overall, 9-18 in the Big Ten), 7-3, in front of 2,457 at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes split the four-game with the Spartans, 2-2. Lance Rolston (Fr., Athens, Ohio) led the offensive charge with a home run and three runs batted in.
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Back-to-back OSU errors by Trent McIlvain (Jr., Louisville, Ohio) and Mike Check (Jr., Bay Village, Ohio) put runners on first and third base. Bob Malek then drove in the first run of the game on a groundout to give MSU the first lead of the ballgame.
The Buckeyes rallied and took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Check led off with a single and quickly stole second base. Nick Swisher (Fr., Parkersburg, W.Va.) then blooped a single to center field and moved to second when Check moved to third base and drew a throw from MSU centerfielder Bob Malek. Jason Turner (Sr., Versailles, Ohio) then drove in OSU’s first run of the ballgame on a groundout to the MSU second baseman Ted Demetral. With Swisher on third base, MSU starting pitcher Jon Huizinga balked to give OSU a 2-1 edge. The OSU rally continued when Doug Dendinger (So., Greenwich, Ohio) coaxed a walk and then moved to third base on a single by John Mayor (Jr., Chesterfield, Mo.). Rolston immediately drove in Dendinger on a groundout and McIlvain followed with a single to centerfield to plate Mayor and give OSU a 4-1 lead.
With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Brett Wattles tripled and immediately scored on a single by Kyle Geswein to cut the OSU lead to 4-2. But the Buckeyes answered quickly in the bottom half of the inning. Turner led off with a walk and two outs later, Rolston took a 1-0 offering from Huizinga and blasted it over the right field wall for the first home run of his career. The two-run blast increased the OSU lead to 6-2.
In the top of the seventh inning, MSU cut the Ohio State lead to 6-3 on a one-run single by Malek.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Turner led off by taking a 2-2 offering from MSU relief pitcher Kimya Massey over the right field wall for his 14th of the season. The total ties him for the ninth most in OSU single-season history.
OSU starting pitcher Brandon Steen (So., Hendersonville, Tenn.) improved to 6-4 with the win. He went 6.1 innings, gave up seven hits, three runs, two earned runs and walked a pair. For MSU, Huizinga (3-7) went six innings, gave up six hits and six runs.
On Wednesday, the Buckeyes will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for the 2000 Big Ten Baseball Tournament. The opponent and time of game one are TBA.
