No. 24 Baseball Drops Birmingham Southern, 12-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 28, 2001
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team scored five runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 12-2 win over Birmingham Southern Wednesday night at Bill Davis Stadium. The win moves the Buckeyes’ winning streak to 14 games while improving their overall record to 17-4. Birmingham Southern, ranked No. 3 in the NAIA national rankings, falls to 24-6 on the season.
“Our team is playing really good baseball right now,” head coach Bob Todd said. “We faced a top notch pitcher and hit him well. Tonight was a good final tune-up before the Big Ten opener this weekend.”
Birmingham Southern struck quickly, scoring a run off Ohio State starter Josh Newman (Fr., Wheelersburg, Ohio) in the first inning. Cory Hamrick coaxed a walk to open the inning and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Adam Pease. After John Driskill popped out to shortstop Trent McIlvain (Sr., Louisville, Ohio), Connor Robertson ripped a single to leftfield, plating Hamrick to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Ohio State came right back in the bottom of the opening frame, scoring three runs on a bases-clearing double by Doug Dendinger (Jr., Greenwich, Ohio). The Buckeyes had the bases loaded with no outs before Birmingham Southern starter Mike Nickoli struck out Doug Deeds (Fr., Bexley, Ohio) and Christian Snavely (Fr., Defiance, Ohio). Dendinger then ripped a rocket over centerfielder Matt Bogue’s head and to the warning track, scoring all three baserunners.
The Buckeyes tacked on a run in the second inning. Joe Wilkins (Jr., Grove City, Ohio) led off with a solid single to right field, and he advanced two bases on an errant pickoff throw by Nickoli. Two batters later, Mike Harris (Sr., Hillsborough, N.C.) brought Wilkins home with a fly ball out to left field, giving OSU a 4-1 advantage.
OSU continued its scoring onslaught in the third inning. With one out, Deeds tattooed a 2-2 Nickoli offering over the center-field wall – his sixth home run of the season. The bomb gave the Buckeyes a 5-1 lead.
Birmingham Southern added a run in the eighth inning, but the Buckeyes quickly responded in the bottom of the inning, scoring seven runs to blow the game wide open. Wilkins brought the first run home with a bases-loaded walk, and McIlvain followed with a single to right field, scoring Dendinger. Harris then added a 2-run single to boost the Buckeye lead to 9-2. After Mike Check (Sr., Bay Village, Ohio) reached on an error, Nick Swisher (So., Parkersburg, W. Va.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Deeds followed with a 2-run double to the wall in right field, bumping the OSU advantage to 12-2.
Newman (3-1) picked up the win on the mound, firing four innings of one-hit ball. He allowed one run while walking three and striking out two. In his first start of the season, Nickoli (5-1) took the defeat. He tossed seven innings, allowing 10 runs – nine earned – on nine hits while fanning seven and walking six.
Ohio State returns to action this weekend for a four-game series at Iowa. The teams open the series at 3 p.m. Friday at Iowa’s Banks Stadium.
