Four-run Fifth Lifts Ohio State to 6-3 Victory Over Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 25, 2003
Box Score
BRADENTON, Fla. – Ohio State scored four runs in the fifth inning and solid relief pitching limited Illinois to just one hit in the last seven innings as Buckeyes took a 6-3 win against the Fighting Illini Tuesday at IMG Academy.
Illinois scored in the first and added a pair of runs in the third to better Ohio State’s two-run second inning. The Illini had five hits in the first two innings against OSU starter Trent Luyster (So., Flushing, Ohio/Harrison Central), but did not get another hit until the fifth, its only hit the remainder of the game.
Luyster pitched three innings, allowing the three runs off five hits with two strikeouts and gave way to Greg Prenger (Sr., Harpster, Ohio/Upper Sandusky), who pitched the next three innings allowing just one hit with one strikeout against the 11 batters he faced. He picked up his first win of the season and benefited from a Buckeye offense that had 10 hits.
Doug Larason (Jr., Alexandria, Ohio/Johnstown) and Derek Kinnear (Jr., Kenton, Ohio/Kenton) each went 2-for-4 and batted in two runs, while Drew Anderson (So., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) was 2-for-5 with one RBI and scored twice. Kinnear now has a hit in each of his last 11 games and leads Ohio State with a .435 batting average.
Larason’s double in the top of the second tied the game 1-1 after it scored Anderson. Kinnear singled to third, but Dusty Bensko threw the ball in the dirt past the first baseman. Jedidiah Stephen (Fr., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah), who was pinch running for Brett Garrard (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg), who pulled his hamstring on his single, scored on the play to give the Buckeyes a one-run lead.
The Illini (10-3) scored a pair in the bottom half of the inning to retake a one-run lead. T.F. Meagher hit a single to shallow right-centerfield. Chris Robinson followed with a home run that cleared the fence just inside the rightfield foul pole to make the score 3-2.
The Buckeyes (9-6) scored four times in the fifth inning to take a 6-3 lead. After a lead-off walk to Christian Snavely (Jr., Defiance, Ohio/Defiance), Terry Pettorini (Jr., Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) was hit by a pitch. Snavely was thrown out at third on a bunt attempt by Paul Farinacci (So., Westlake Village, Calif./Agoura) that was fielded by the catcher for the first out of the inning. Anderson singled through the right side to score Pettorini from second to tie the game 3-3. Stephen walked to load the bases for Larason, who grounded out to second, but Farinacci scored on the play to give the Buckeyes a one-run lead. Kinnear’s second hit of the game, a shot to left-centerfield scored both Anderson and Larason to put the Buckeyes up by three runs.
Three more relievers saw action for Ohio State in the final three innings and did not allow a single hit the rest of the way. Mike Madsen (So., Chesterland, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin), Chris Hanners (So., Groveport, Ohio/DeSales) and Matt Davis (So., Mason, Ohio/William Mason) got 1-2-3 innings as the Buckeyes cruised to their ninth victory of the season against six losses. Davis picked up his fourth save of the season.
Jimmy Conroy got the loss for the Illini in a relief capacity. He came on for Reilly Smith, who pitched the first three innings. Conroy allowed four runs (all earned) on a pair of hits and three walks. He had one strikeout against the 10 batters he tossed to in 1.1 innings. Jake Toohey and Joe Ziemba also pitched for Illinois, getting scoreless innings on three hits and a walk in the final 4.2 innings.
Ohio State will have Wednesday off before opening a four-game Big Ten series with Northwestern Thursday. The two teams will play single games on Thursday and Saturday and a doubleheader on Friday. First pitch is at 1 p.m. each day.
