Buckeyes Open Spring Break with 6-3 Win Over Columbia – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 21, 2003
Box Score
BRADENTON, Fla. – Scott Lewis (So., Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) recorded 10 strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season and the Ohio State offense scored all of its runs with two outs as the No. 30 Buckeyes defeated Columbia 6-3 Friday at IMG Academy.
Lewis struggled to find his groove at the beginning, giving up a pair of runs after walking the bases loaded. Ryan Schmidt singled to score Jorge Livermore, who boarded by a lead-off walk. And then a base hit through the right side by Fernando Perez plated Mike Baxter to give the Lions a 2-0 lead before the Buckeyes came to bat. Despite the three walks and two hits, Lewis was able to get out of the inning with three strikeouts.
The Ohio State offense put Lewis at ease in the bottom of the inning with a two-out rally that netted three runs. After ground outs by Drew Anderson (So., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) and Brett Garrard (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg), Christian Snavely (Jr., Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) drew a walk, stole second and then moved to third on a base hit by Steve Caravati (So., Dover, Ohio/Dover). He scored on a base knock through the left side by Paul Farinacci (So., Westlake Village, Calif./Agoura). Both Caravati and Farinacci scored on a single up the middle by Mike Rabin (So., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East).
The Buckeyes (8-3 overall) threatened again in the third, but left the bases loaded. Snavely led off the inning with a single through the left side and then Caravati walked to put runners and first and second. After a strike out by Farinacci and a ground by Drew Thomas (Fr., Mechanicsburg, Ohio/Briggs), Rabin took a pitch on the sleeve to put runners on all bases. The inning ended when Schirtzinger grounded back to the pitcher. Garrard gave the Buckeyes a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth. He tripled down the right-field line to bring in Wes Schirtzinger (Fr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) and Derek Kinnear (Jr., Kenton, Ohio/Kenton), who had both reached base on infield singles down the third base line.
Columbia (5-8) got one run back in the top of the seventh as lead-off batter Jeff Huizinga scored on Mike Anderson’s triple to right to pull with in a 5-3 score. The Buckeyes added a run in the eighth as Anderson provided a key double down the left-field line. He scored on a throwing error by Lions’ shortstop Marc Gold to put Ohio State up by the final 6-3 margin.
Garrard’s two hits were the most by a Buckeye on the day as he went 2-for-5 in a two RBI effort. Rabin batted in another two runs in going 1-for-3. Ohio State had nine hits as a team, but stranded nine base runners.
Lewis, who improved to 3-0 on the year, struck out 10 of the 30 batters he faced, but surrendered four walks in his 7.0-inning outing. The three runs (all earned) scored on five hits against him. Matt Davis (So., Mason, Ohio/William Mason) pitched the final two innings, striking out three while not allowing a hit. It was his second save of the year. The duo allowed only five hits.
Schmidt went 2-for-4 and scored one run for Columbia and Timothy Hearin got the loss to fall to 0-3.
Ohio State’s spring break trip continues Saturday when it will play Vermont at 2 p.m. at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.
