No. 30 Ohio State Scores in Ninth to Beat No. 24 Wichita State, 3-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 9, 2003
Box Score
LAFAYETTE, La. – Wichita State reliever Mike Dennison walked in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give No. 30 Ohio State a 3-2 victory over the No. 24 Shockers Sunday afternoon in the finale of the Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic ant M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.
Mike Rabin (So., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) led off the ninth inning with a base hit to left-centerfield and then was bunt over by Derek Kinnear (Jr., Kenton, Ohio/Kenton). After a fly out by Wes Schirtzinger (Fr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) to left field, Dennison intentionally walked Drew Anderson (So., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg). An error on Wichita State third baseman Cody Clark loaded the bases and then Christian Snavely (Jr., Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) walked to plate the winning run.
It was a strange conclusion for a game in which both teams benefited from a pair of solo home runs for the entire offensive run production prior to the winning run.
Anderson put the Buckeyes on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first, launching a solo shot over the fence in right-centerfield. The home run was the first of Anderson’s career as a left-handed batter and was the first run allowed by Wichita State starter Mike Pelfrey, who had not allowed a run in his first 18 innings of the season.
Wichita State tied the game 1-1 in the top of the second on a solo home run to straight-away centerfield by Drew Moffitt off OSU starter Nate Smith (Sr., Bryan, Ohio/Bryan). Logan Sorenson led off the fourth inning with his fifth home run of the season, a shot over the fence in left-centerfield. The solo shot gave the Shockers a 2-1 lead.
Ohio State threatened to score in the bottom of the fifth, but Brett Garrard (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) was thrown out at the plate on a Kinnear grounder to third base. Garrard led off the inning on a ground ball hit to second that Shawn Smarsh could not come up with in time for an error. Rabin singled through the right side to advance Garrard to third.
Snavely launched a home run over the centerfield fence in the sixth inning to tie the game 2-2. It was his first home run of the season and the 19th of his career.
The Buckeyes again threatened in the seventh, but left Kinnear stranded at third. He singled to get on base and then stole second before moving to third on a ground out by Schirtzinger. Anderson struck out to end the threat.
Rabin and Drew Thomas (Fr., Mechanicsburg, Ohio/Briggs) each finished with a pair of hits as the Buckeyes gathered eight hits on the afternoon. Snavely was responsible for two RBIs, including the one that one it.
Smith went the distance for Ohio State, striking out only four batters in 9.0 innings. He allowed the two runs on five hits. Dennison got the loss for Wichita State and fell to 0-1 on the year.
Ohio State returns to action Friday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Detroit and Eastern Michigan at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeyes will meet the two teams again on Saturday at 1 p.m., playing Eastern Michigan first followed by Detroit.
