No. 26 Baseball Mauls Golden Grizzlies, 8-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/11/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 11, 2001%^$
%^$%^$%^$Box Score%^$%^$%^$%^$
COLUMBUS, Ohio – %^$The No. 26 Ohio State baseball team (24-7 overall, 6-2 Big Ten) used stellar relief pitching and a late offensive outburst to defeat Oakland (4-24 overall), 8-2, Wednesday night in front of a season-high crowd of 1,734 at Bill Davis Stadium. Buckeye relievers Kyle Blachuta (Fr., Bloomdale, Ohio), Kevin Wynk (So., Coldwater, Ohio), Jason Bullens (So., Dayton, Ohio), Brandon Steen (Jr., Hendersonville, Tenn.) and Cory Cox (Sr., Chillicothe, Ohio) combined to stymie the Golden Grizzlies, firing six innings of two-hit relief while allowing just six baserunners.%^$
%^$The Golden Grizzlies took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning courtesy of a solo home runs by Chris Kimball and Kip Harris off OSU starting pitcher Kyle Brown (So., Washington Court House, Ohio).%^$
%^$In the bottom half of the inning, OSU cut the Oakland lead to 2-1. Joe Wilkins (Jr., Grove City, Ohio) led off with a single and scored two batters later on a ground out by Doug Dendinger (Jr., Greenwich, Ohio).%^$
%^$The Buckeyes rallied in the fifth inning. Mike Harris (Sr., Hillsborough, N.C.) opened the inning with a bunt single and advanced to second base when Oakland starter Kirk Andersen threw wildly past first base. Dendinger took the next offering from Andersen and deposited it over the left-center field wall for a 2-run home run, giving the Buckeyes a 3-2 lead. The home run was Dendinger’s fourth of the year.%^$
%^$In the sixth inning, the Buckeyes sent 10 men to the plate and scored five runs to blow the game open. John Mayor (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.) led off and took a 2-1 pitch from reliever Brent Brown and clubbed it over the left-center field wall for a solo home run – his second home run of the year. Brett Garrard (Fr., Brownsburg, Ind.) followed and struck out, but still reached base courtesy of a wild pitch. Wilkins then reached base when Matt Gabrielli was called for catcher’s interference and Harris drew a walk, loading the bases. Dendinger and Christian Snavely (Fr., Defiance, Ohio) coaxed back-to-back bases-loaded walks, scoring Garrard and Wilkins to give OSU a 6-2 advantage while knocking Brown from the game.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes continued to put runs on the board against reliever Jason Roberts. Steve Caravati (Fr., Dover, Ohio) brought Harris home with a sacrifice fly and Nick Swisher (So., Parkersburg, Ohio) followed with a run-scoring fielder’s choice to plate Dendinger, giving OSU an 8-2 lead and a 5-run inning.%^$
%^$Blachuta earned his first career win, tossing two innings of one-hit relief. He improves to 1-0 on the season. Andersen (0-2) absorbed the loss. OSU’s Brown did not factor in the decision. He pitched three innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs while and striking out one.%^$
%^$This weekend, the team travels to East Lansing, Mich., for a four-game series against the Michigan State Spartans at Kobs Field. The series opener on Friday begins at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the teams engage in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The series finale on Sunday begins at 1 p.m.
