No. 25 Baseball Rallies to Defeat Penn State, 6-4 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 22, 2001
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Heading into the ballgame Sunday, Ohio State’s record of never losing a Big Ten series in the five-year history of Bill Davis Stadium was in jeopardy after losing the first two games of a four-game series against the Penn State Nittany Lions. After falling behind 4-0 in the second inning, the No. 25 Buckeyes (30-10 overall, 11-6 in the Big Ten) rallied with six runs in the fifth and sixth innings and received a superb performance from starting pitcher Josh Newman (Fr., Wheelersburg, Ind.) to defeat the Nittany Lions (21-23 overall, 10-8 in the Big Ten), 6-4, in front of 1,479 at Bill Davis Stadium. Newman (5-2) picked up the win after throwing 113 pitches in 6.1 innings of work. He gave up eight hits, four runs (three earned), walked one batter and recorded a season high six strikeouts. Cory Cox (Sr., Chillicothe, Ohio) recorded the final out of the inning to pick up his eighth save of the season. With the win, OSU and PSU split the four-game series 2-2.
The Nittany Lions jumped on OSU the first pitch of the ballgame when Rod Perry homered off starting pitcher Newman. Mike DeRenzo followed with a single and scored two batters later on a single by Chris Netwall to give PSU an early 2-0 lead.
Penn State added two runs in the top of the second inning. DeRenzo and John Richmond punched in RBI singles to increase the PSU lead to 4-0.
In the bottom of the fifth inning the Buckeyes rallied to tie the game at four. With one out, Joe Wilkins (Jr., Grove City, Ohio) drilled a single to center field and Mike Harris (Sr., Hillsborough, N.C.) followed with a single to left field to push Wilkins to third. Mike Check (Sr., Bay Village, Ohio) then gave OSU its first run of the game when he singled home Wilkins with a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line. Doug Dendinger (Jr., Greenwich, Ohio) loaded the bases with a walk and Doug Deeds (Fr., Bexley, Ohio) coaxed a walk off PSU reliever Kevin Damiano to score Harris and cut the PSU lead to 4-2. The Nittany Lions then gave OSU a break when OSU pinch hitter Todd Calcamuggio (Sr., Toledo, Ohio) grounded a ball to PSU shortstop Willie Melendez who then proceeded to overthrow second baseman DeRenzo allowing two runs to score and tie the game.
The OSU offense kept rolling in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brett Garrard (Fr., Brownsburg, Ind.) led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch by PSU reliever Clayton Hamilton. Wilkins followed and grounded a ball to Melendez who then overthrew first baseman Adam Warchal to allow Garrard to score. After a bunt single by Harris, Wilkins scored on a bunt single by Check to give OSU a 6-4 lead.
PSU starting pitcher Aaron Tressler did not factor into the decision. He went 4.1 innings, gave up five hits, four runs (three earned), walked two and recorded two strikeouts. Hamilton (0-1) took the loss.
The Buckeyes now won or tied every conference series (16 in five seasons) at Bill Davis Stadium.
The Buckeyes return to Bill Davis Stadium Wednesday when they play host to Akron at 6:35 p.m.
