Stellar Pitching and Defense Lead Baseball to a 4-3 Win Over Minnesota – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 28, 2001
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The battle for supremacy in the Big Ten Conference is getting even tighter. Behind a solid pitching performance from starting pitcher Kevin Goodrum (Sr., Mentor, Ohio), the Buckeyes (32-11 overall, 13-5 in the Big Ten) defeated the Golden Gophers (29-17 overall, 15-6 in the Big Ten) 4-3 at Bill Davis Stadium. Goodrum (4-1) was solid going 6.1 innings, giving up six hits, three runs and recording seven strikeouts. Cory Cox (Sr., Chillicothe, Ohio) notched the final two outs for his ninth save. The Buckeyes are now in second place in the conference and percentage points behind Purdue.
In the top of the first, Minnesota threatened with one out and Scott Howard on second base. Josh Holthaus lined a single to center field. Howard then attempted to score on the play but Mike Check (Sr., Bay Village, Ohio) quickly fielded the ball and fired it home to cut down the runner at the plate, as Joe Wilkins (Jr., Grove City, Ohio) blocked the plate to perfection.
The Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Mike Harris (Sr., Hillsborough, N.C.) led off with a walk. After a stolen base, he moved to third on a bunt single by Doug Dendinger (Jr., Greenwich, Ohio). Nick Swisher (So., Parkersburg, W.Va.) followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Harris and give OSU the first run of the ballgame.
Minnesota evened the game in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Kurt Haring hit a solo home run off OSU starting pitcher Kevin Goodrum (Sr., Mentor, Ohio).
In the bottom half of the inning, OSU retook the lead. Doug Deeds (Fr., Bexley, Ohio) led off with a single and then stole second base. John Mayor (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.) immediately followed and plated Deeds with a single to center field to give OSU a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, Check shined again on the defensive front. With a runner on first base, Scott Welch hammered a ball to the left-center field warning track but a sensational catch against the wall by Check eliminated the chance for the Gophers. The Buckeyes escaped the inning unscathed.
In the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Buckeyes tacked on a pair of runs to their lead. With two outs and Dendinger on first after a walk, Swisher took a 1-1 offering from Minnesota starting pitcher C.J. Woodrow over the left field wall to give OSU a 4-1 lead. The opposite field home run was his 12th of the season.
Minnesota threatened in the top of the seventh inning. Jason Kennedy hit a two-run home run off Goodrum to cut the lead to 4-3. Cox prevented any further damage by recording two quick outs to close the door.
Woodrow (5-4) took the loss. He went the distance, allowing six hits and four earned runs while striking out three and walking one.
Tomorrow, the teams conclude the four-game series with a 1:05 p.m. contest.
