No. 22 Baseball Sweeps a Doubleheader and Takes a 3-0 Series Lead – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 7, 2001%^$
%^$%^$%^$Box Score%^$%^$%^$%^$
COLUMBUS, Ohio – %^$Five runs in the fourth and fifth innings helped lead the No. 22 Ohio State baseball team (23-6 overall, 6-1 in the Big Ten) to a 5-2 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini (15-15 overall, 4-6 in the Big Ten) in front of 1,297 at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes sweep the doubleheader (OSU won game one 6-5) and take a 3-0 lead in the four-game series. Reliever Kyle Brown (So., Washington Court House, Ohio) improved to 3-0 on the season. He pitched 2.1 shutout innings to pick up the win. Stopper Cory Cox (Sr., Chillicothe, Ohio) recorded the final out to pick up his sixth save of the season.%^$
%^$Illinois took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Brady Ballard reached base on a throwing error by OSU second baseman Mike Harris (Sr., Hillsborough, N.C) and later scored on a single by Rob Fischer.%^$
%^$In the bottom of the fourth inning the Buckeyes took their first lead of the ballgame. Doug Deeds (Fr., Bexley, Ohio) led off with a single to center field. Two batters later, Deeds advanced to third base on a single by Nick Swisher (So., Parkersburg, W.Va.). Doug Dendinger (Jr., Greenwich, Ohio) followed and tied the game with a single to right field to score Deeds. John Mayor (Sr., Chesterfield, Mo.) then drove in Swisher on a grounder back to the pitcher’s mound to give OSU a 2-1 edge.%^$
%^$Illinois quickly answered in the top of the fifth inning with a run to tie the gam. Greg Belcher drove in Vince DiMaria with a single to even the score at two.%^$
%^$In the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Buckeyes responded with three runs to retake the lead. Harris led off and was hit by a pitch from Illini starter Ryan Kvasnicka. Mike Check (Sr., Bay Village, Ohio) followed with a single to right-center field to push Harris to third. Deeds followed and lined a single to center field to score Harris and give OSU a 3-2 lead. Christian Snavely (Fr., Defiance, Ohio) then grounded a ball to Illinois first baseman Andy Schutzenhofer who then elected to throw out Check at third base. A walk by Swisher to loaded the bases and Dendinger responded by driving in Deeds with a sacrifice fly to center field. Mayor kept the rally going with a single to right field to plate Snavely and give OSU a 5-2 advantage.%^$
%^$OSU starting pitcher Greg Prenger (So., Harpster, Ohio) did not factor in the decision. He went 4.1 innings, threw 69 pitches, gave up seven hits, two runs (one earned) walked a batter and recorded two strikeouts. Kvasnicka took the loss (0-2). He went six innings, gave up five runs and recorded seven strikeouts.%^$
%^$Tomorrow, the teams conclude the four-game series with a single game at 1:05 p.m.
