No. 22 Baseball Rallies to Win Series Opener over Illinois, 11-6 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2001
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A five-run third inning that included a two-run home run by Doug Deeds (Fr., Bexley, Ohio) helped lift the No. 22 Ohio State baseball team (21-6 overall, 4-1 in the Big Ten) to an 11-6 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini (15-13 overall, 4-4 in the Big Ten). The win gives OSU a 1-0 edge in the four-game weekend series at Bill Davis Stadium. OSU starting pitcher E.J. Laratta (Jr., Englewood, Colo.) was solid going 7.2 innings to improve his record to 6-1. The Buckeyes fought off a late eighth inning rally by the Illini and stopper Cory Cox (Sr., Chillicothe, Ohio) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the win. OSU has now won 18 of its last 20 games.
The Fighting Illini took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Vince DiMaria drove in Luke Simmons with a double to right-center field. Chad Frk followed with a single to plate DiMaria and give Illinois the first lead of the game.
The Buckeyes fought back in the bottom half of the third inning. Trent McIlvain (Sr., Louisville, Ohio) led off with a single to right field. Mike Harris (Sr., Hillsborough, N.C.) followed and reached base on a bunt single. A wild pitch by Illinois starting pitcher Andy Dickinson quickly put both runners in scoring position. Mike Check (Sr., Bay Village, Ohio) then plated McIlvain with a single to give OSU its first run of the game. After a stolen base by Check, Nick Swisher (So., Parkersburg, W.Va.) drove in Harris on a sacrifice fly to right field. Doug Deeds (Fr., Bexley, Ohio) continued the rally by giving OSU its first lead of the evening when he blasted a 1-1 offering from Dickinson over the right field wall to give OSU a 4-2 advantage. The home run was his seventh of the season. Two batters later, Doug Dendinger (Jr., Greenwich, Ohio) reached base on a walk and immediately came home courtesy of a triple by Steve Caravati (Fr., Dover, Ohio). The RBI hit by Caravati gave OSU a 5-2 lead. The Buckeyes added a run to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs, Swisher walked and later scored on a single by John Mayor (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.). The run increased the OSU lead to 6-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Buckeyes added a run when Caravati led off by taking a 2-2 offering from reliever Casey Hahn over the left field wall for his second home run of the season.
The Illini attempted to rally in the top of the eighth inning. Andy Schutzenhofer drove in a pair of runs with a double and Rob Fischer added a two-run home run off OSU reliever Brandon Steen (Jr., Hendersonville, Tenn.) to cut the OSU lead to 7-6. In the bottom half of the inning, OSU responded with four insurance runs. Caravati belted a two-run single and Dendinger scored on a wild pitch by Illinois reliever Derek Throneburg and McIlvain plated a run on a RBI single to increase the OSU lead to 10-6.
Laratta threw 122 pitches (80 strikes), scattered six hits, gave up four runs (all earned), walked two and recorded five strikeouts en route to his sixth consecutive victory. Illinois’ Dickinson picked up his first loss of the season (6-1). He threw 107 pitches, went six innings, gave up nine hits, six runs (all earned), walked five and recorded three strikeouts.
Tomorrow, the teams continue through the four-game series with a doubleheader at 4:05 p.m. Sunday, the teams conclude the series with a single game at 1:05 p.m.
