Lewis Fans 20 to Set School Record in 4-1 Ohio State Win Over Iowa – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 11, 2003
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Left-handed pitcher Scott Lewis (So., Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) fanned 20 batters in nine innings as Ohio State beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 4-1 Friday night in the opening game of a four-game Big Ten series at Bill Davis Stadium.
The 20 strikeouts tied the school record held by Steve Arlin, which he set in a 15-inning 1-0 victory over Washington State at the 1965 College World Series. The feat also followed up a perfect game Wednesday night by fellow Buckeye pitcher Greg Prenger (Sr., Harpster, Ohio/Upper Sandusky) in a 2-0 victory over Oakland.
“We have had a lot of well-pitched games since I have been here,” Bob Todd, head coach, said. “But I know we have never had back-to-back games pitched like this.”
Lewis, whose previous career high in strikeout was 12 last season against Purdue, had that total through the first five innings.
“I didn’t realize I was up there,” Lewis said after the game of this 20-strikeout performance. “I was shooting for 13, which would have been my personal record, but had no idea I was nearing a (school) record.”
He actually had a no-hitter going entering the sixth inning, giving the Buckeyes 12 innings of no-hit baseball in its last two games to go with Prenger’s seven innings of perfection. Lewis’ bid Friday night was broken up in the sixth inning when centerfielder Kyle Thousand led off the frame with a bunt that caught Lewis off guard. His throw to first was late and Thousand was safe. After a strikeout to Jeff Gremley, Nate Yoho singled to left-center, but a throw from Cody Caughenbaugh (Fr., Newark, Ohio/Licking Valley) to second via a relay throw from Brett Garrard (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) caught him at second. Thousand was stranded at third after Lewis’ 14th strikeout of the game ended the inning. Lewis went on to strike out the next five batters, including all three in the seventh and the first two of the eighth before a pop up to Drew Anderson (So., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) ended the inning. Lewis entered the ninth inning with 19 strikeouts, needing just one to tie the school record.
He walked the batter for the first time of the game to start the ninth inning, but then coaxed Yoho to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. Barring the unusual dropped strikeout to put a runner on first base, Lewis faced his last out. He rose to the challenge to catch Mike Best looking at strike three.
Lewis moved to 5-0 with the two-hit complete game against the Hawkeyes. The one run, scored in the second inning was unearned Brian Bucklin took advantage of being hit by Lewis with one out. Bucklin moved to second as the Buckeye pitcher was called for a balk and then stole third, forcing a throw from catcher Derek Kinnear (Jr., Kenton, Ohio/Kenton) that sailed over the head of third baseman Terry Pettorini (Jr., Wooster, Ohio/Wooster). Bucklin scored as the throw skidded down the left field line.
The Buckeyes (16-10 overall, 5-4 in the Big Ten) responded to score twice in the bottom of the inning. Paul Farinacci (So., Westlake Village, Calif./Agoura) led off the inning with a double to the gap in right-center field and then was batted over to third on a base hit by Caughenbaugh. Pettorini grounded the ball back to the pitcher and Pawelk ran down Farinacci who was trying to score. Caughenbaugh scored from second on a base hit to right-center by Brett Garrard and then a sacrifice fly by Kinnear scored Pettorini to give the Buckeyes a 2-1 advantage.
Ohio State scored another run to take a 3-1 lead in the third thanks to a two-out base hit by Farinacci that scored Christian Snavely (Jr., Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) from second after he moved to second on a ground out by Steve Caravati (So., Dover, Ohio/Dover). Snavely reached with a single to left.
The final Buckeye run came across the plate in the seventh inning as Caravati singled in Mike Rabin (So., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East), who led off the inning with a double to left-center field.
Snavely, who had just one hit in his last five games (nine at bats), had three of the Buckeyes’ 11 hits. That total was the most by the OSU offense since it had 11 in a loss to Vermont on March 22. Farinacci, Caughenbaugh and Garrard also had two hits. Thousand and Yoho had the only two hits by Iowa (9-14, 2-7). Pawelk got the loss for the Hawkeyes, giving up the four runs (all earned) on 11 hits with four strikeouts and a walk. He fell to 1-4 on the season.
The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 4:05 p.m. before concluding the series Sunday with a single game at 1:05 p.m. All three games can be heard on WOSB Radio (91.1 and 106.7 FM), while Sunday’s game will be televised by ONN.
