No. 30 Oklahoma Pulls Upset of No. 22 Ohio State 5-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 1, 2003
Box Score
BEAUMONT, Texas – No. 30 Oklahoma capitalized on solid hitting, an Ohio State error and a pair of balks in getting past the No. 22 Buckeyes 5-1 at the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic Saturday at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
Oklahoma (5-1) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to the Buckeyes’ first error of the season. Sooner rightfielder Matt Arkison reached second on a throwing error by OSU third baseman Terry Pettorini (Jr., Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) and later scored on a shot down the leftfield line.
The Sooners added a run in the third inning to take a two-run lead. After a fly out by Reggie Willits, second baseman Eddie Cornejo singled to shallow centerfield and moved to second on a balk by Josh Newman (Jr., Wheelersburg, Ohio/Wheelersburg). Cornejo scored to make the score 2-0 on a single to left-centerfield by catcher Matt Bose.
A home run by third baseman Jay Yaconetti in the fifth inning gave the Sooners a 5-0 lead. The shot over the two-tiered fence in left field, also scored Cornejo, who boarded via a single past a diving Steve Caravati (So., Dover, Ohio/Dover) in shallow centerfield. Earlier in the inning, Arkison doubled and then moved to third on Cornejo’s single. Yaconetti scored on Newman’s second balk of the game.
Ohio State (1-1) finally got on the board in the sixth inning after designated hitter Paul Farinacci (So., Westlake Village, Calif./Agoura) doubled to left-centerfield to lead off the inning. Jedidiah Stephen (Fr., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah), who entered the game in the bottom of the second inning for an injured Pettorini, hit a shot through the right side to move Farinacci to third. He scored on a fielder’s choice by Brett Garrard (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg).
Newman left the game after the fifth inning after giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts. He was replaced by Kyle Brown (Sr., Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington), who after walking the first batter he faced, struck out the side. He gave up one hit in the eight batters he faced before being replaced in the eighth inning by Trent Luyster (So., Flushing, Ohio/Harrison Central).
In all, the Sooners had 10 hits paced by Willits, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Cornejo was 2-for-3 and scored twice.
Buddy Blair picked up the victory to improve to 1-1 on the season. He struck out six batters with one walk while allowing five Buckeye hits. Drew Anderson (So., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsbug), Caravati, Farinacci, Stephen and Garrard accounted for the OSU hits. Mike Swindell picked up his first save of the year, striking out four batters with a walk in three innings.
Ohio State closes out the Tournament of Champions Cardinal Classic vs. No. 29 Southwest Missouri State Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m., CST).
