Baseball Takes Game One Over Minnesota, 7-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 27, 2001
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Round one goes to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Entering the contest, just one loss separated two of the heavyweights in the Big Ten Conference standings. The Buckeyes (31-11 overall, 12-5 in the Big Ten) used a four-run fourth inning to knock out the Minnesota Golden Gophers (29-16 overall, 15-5 in the Big Ten) 7-2, and take game one in front of a season high 2,239 Friday at Bill Davis Stadium. OSU starting pitcher E.J. Laratta (Jr., Englewood, Colo.) was exceptional. The staff ace threw a complete game, tossed 142 pitches, gave up two runs and recorded five strikeouts. He improved his record to 7-2.
The Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. With one out, Mike Check (Sr., Bay Village, Ohio) reached base on a walk and quickly stole second base. Doug Dendinger (Jr., Greenwich, Ohio) followed and lined a single to left field to plate Check and give OSU the first lead of the ballgame.
OSU added another run in the bottom of the second inning. John Mayor (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.) led off with a single. Two outs later, he moved to third base on a single by Trent McIlvain (Sr., Louisville, Ohio). Mike Harris (Sr., Hillsborough, N.C.) then lined a single to left field to bring in Mayor and increase the OSU lead to 2-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, Minnesota cut the OSU lead to 2-1. With two outs, David Roach hit a run-scoring single to give UM its first run of the game.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Buckeyes tacked on four runs to their lead. McIlvain led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Harris. Check followed and lined a single to right field to bring home McIlvain. After a stolen base by Check, Dendinger kept the offense moving with a single to left field to clear the bases and increase the OSU lead to 4-1. Nick Swisher (So., Parkersburg, W.Va.) drilled a double off the right field wall to push Dendinger to third base. Minnesota catcher Josh Holthaus then gave OSU a gift when he fired a ball into left field attempting to pick off Dendinger at third. The throwing miscue plated Dendinger and moved Swisher to third base. Doug Deeds (Fr., Bexley, Ohio) then drove in OSU’s final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. The Gophers gave OSU another run in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs and Christian Snavely (Fr., Defiance, Ohio) on third base, catcher Jeremy Beaulieu fired a ball into left field attempting to pick off Snavely. The error increased the OSU lead to 7-1.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Gophers cut the OSU lead to 7-2 when Jack Hannahan scored on a double play.
Minnesota starting pitcher Mike Kobow took the loss. His record falls to 6-3 after going eight innings, giving up nine hits, seven runs (five earned) and striking out six.
Tomorrow, the teams continue the four-game series with a twi-night doubleheader at 4:05 p.m.
