Scarlet Wins Scarlet & Gray World Series With 11-3 Victory – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Oct. 16, 2003
Team Statistics
Scarlet Team | Gray Team
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Centerfielder Mike Rabin (Jr., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) went 3-for-5 with two RBI and first baseman Paul Farinacci (Jr., Westlake Village, Calif./Agoura) went 2-for-5 and batted in another three runs to help lift the Scarlet to an 11-3 victory Thursday in the third and decisive game of the Scarlet and Gray World Series. The series was shortened to a three-game series instead of a five-game series after a rainout Tuesday.
Though the Gray jumped out to an early one-run lead in the second on a single to centerfield by Cody Caughenbaugh (So., Newark, Ohio/Licking Valley) that scored Kris Moorman (Fr., St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry), the Scarlet answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning. A one-out walk to Jedidiah Stephen (So., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenendoah) led to the run that was batted in by Jonathan Zizzo (Fr., Youngstown, Ohio/Sarasota, Fla.) on an infield single.
The Scarlet added three runs in the third to take a 4-1 lead. Gray starter Rory Meister (Fr., Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Madison) again walked a runner with one out, as Drew Anderson (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) reached. He stole second and scored on a base hit to centerfield by Rabin. Rabin then stole second before Adam Schneider (Fr., Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura) walked. The pair advanced on a wild pitch and then scored on a single to right-centerfield by Farinacci.
A two-run home run by Stephen in the fifth inning extended the Scarlet lead to 6-1 before Tony Kennedy (Fr., Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South) singled to right-centerfield in the sixth inning to score Moorman, who had walked to lead off the inning. That pulled the Gray within a 6-2 score.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Scarlet got the run back with a single through the left side that scored Rabin, who had singled through the same part of the infield and then advanced to second on Meister’s second wild pitch of the game. That made the score 7-2.
The final four Scarlet runs came in the eighth inning as they touched up reliever Jeffrey Carroll (Fr., Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson), who had started the game at first base. He came into the game in the sixth and allowed the seventh run of the game, but the eighth inning was costly. The Scarlet scored four runs on five hits, including a string of four, which included a triple by Rabin and a double by Farinacci. Anderson had a one-out single and pinch hitters Adam Nemo (Fr., Marion, Ohio/River Valley) and Greg Uland (Fr., Pioneer, Ohio/North Central) contributed with RBI singles of their own.
The Gray added a run in the top of the ninth, capitalizing on a hit batsman and pair of wild pitches by reliever Jesse Paciorek (Jr., Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood), who was relieving his second game of the series. Brett Hatcher (Jr., Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a ground out by Carroll and then scored on the wild pitches.
Chris Hanners (Jr., Groveport, Ohio/DeSales) got the win for the Scarlet. He went 7.0 innings and allowed two runs, both earned, on seven hits. He walked two and struck out three of the 31 batters he faced. Paciorek pitched the final two innings. Meister was pegged with the loss after his 5.0 innings of action. He allowed six runs, all earned, on seven hits, walked five and did not get a strikeout against 26 batters. Carroll pitched two innings and Madsen pitched the final inning that yielded four runs on five hits.
The Scarlet, which had a hit from every batter in the game, out-hit the Gray 15-7. Joining Rabin and Farinacci with multiple hits were Schneider (2-for-3), and Stephen (2-for-4). Moorman and Kennedy had multiple hits for the Gray.
Ohio State will open the season Feb. 13-15 at the Minute Maid College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The Buckeyes will meet Texas, Kansas State and Texas Tech. After five straight road tournaments, Ohio State will open at Bill Davis Stadium, March 31 against Eastern Michigan.
