Baseball Loses to Austin Peay 10-8 in Five Innings – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 4, 2001
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a one hour and 15 minute delay of the first pitch because of rain, the Ohio State baseball team (3-4 overall) lost to Austin Peay (5-5 overall), 10-8 to conclude the Kennel Club Classic. The late start and travel schedule of OSU forced the game to stopped after five innings. Doug Deeds (Fr., Bexley, Ohio) led the OSU offense with a 2-for-3 afternoon, including a home run and three runs batted in.
The Buckeyes immediately went to work in the bottom half of the first inning. Mike Check (Sr., Bay Village, Ohio) led off and reached base on a fielding error by Austin Peay rightfielder Frank Kunich. After a walk by Nick Swisher (So., Parkersburg, W.Va.), Deeds took the first pitch offered by APSU starting pitcher Casey Calloway over the right-center field wall to give OSU an early 3-0 lead.
In the top second inning, Austin Peay rallied in the bottom half of the inning. D.W. Blakeman drove in a run on a double and Kunich atoned for his error with a two-run home run off OSU starting pitcher Josh Newman (Fr., Wheelersburg, Ohio).
In the bottom half of the second inning, the Buckeyes retook the lead. With two outs, Check single to right field. Christian Snavely (Fr., Defiance, Ohio) followed and launched a 1-0 offering from Callaway over the left-centerfield wall to give OSU a 5-3 edge.
In the top of the third inning, solo home runs by A.J. Ellis and Kunich tied the game at five. In the bottom half of the inning, OSU tacked on two more runs to take a 7-5 lead. Deeds led off with a single and later scored on a ground out by Trent McIlvain (Sr., Louisville, Ohio). Joe Wilkins (Jr., Grove City, Ohio), who reached base on a walk, later scored on a wild pitch by Klint Rommel to give OSU its third lead of the afternoon.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Governors added four runs off three hits to take a 9-7 lead. Kunich added his third home run of the game to lead the way.
Both teams added runs in the fifth inning.
Newman did not factor into the decision. In his first career start, the freshman went 2.2 innings, threw 76 pitches, gave up six hits, five runs and recorded one strikeout. Brandon Steen (Jr., Hendersonville, Tenn.) took the loss for OSU. In relief, he went 1.1 innings, gave up three hits and allowed four runs.
On Friday, the Buckeyes open the 2001 season at Bill Davis Stadium when they play host to the Detroit Titans for a three-game series. Friday’s doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. and Saturday’s single game begins at 1 p.m.
