SMS Advances to First-ever College World Series – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 8, 2003
Box Score| Quotes| Notes
Super Regional Post Game Press Conference (06/08/03)
| Ohio State (Todd, Caravati, Brown and Madsen) | |
| SMS (Guttin, Ziegler, Piazza, Zimmerman and Brinkley) |
COLUMBUS, Ohio-Southwest Missouri State advanced to the 2003 College World Series after taking two games from Ohio State at Bill Davis Stadium. The Bears will begin play Saturday against the winner of the NCAA Houston Super Regional, between Rice and Houston, which is tied at a game apiece.
SMS (40-24) defeated the Buckeyes 13-7 Sunday in the second game of the series after winning 13-8 Saturday.
In the series-clinching victory, SMS used an eight-run sixth inning to erase a 6-3 Buckeye lead, scoring all eight runs with two outs. The Bears scored all 13 runs after two outs in the first game Saturday.
SMS struck first for the second-consecutive day with a pair of runs in the top of the first. Lead-off man Dant’e Brinkley opened the game with a walk and went to third on a line drive double to right off the bat of SMS third baseman Brooks Colvin. Brinkley scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Rick Wilson. Colvin scored on an RBI single by designated hitter Clay Wheeler. The inning was kept alive when SMS catcher Tony Piazza hit a soft grounder to third that was bobbled by Ohio State’s Jedidiah Stephen.
Buckeye starter Mike Madsen then walked shortstop Shaun Marcum to load the bases. The Buckeyes stopped further damage with an inning-ending double play when SMS second baseman Adam Pummill hit a shallow fly to Ohio State’s Mike Rabin in center. Rabin set up and threw home to catch Wheeler, who had tagged up on the play, for the third out of the inning.
The Buckeyes (44-21) threatened in the bottom of the first after a pair of walks issued by SMS starter and winning pitcher Brad Ziegler (12-1) to Rabin and right fielder Christian Snavely. With two out, Colvin dove to his left at third to collect a sharp grounder of the bat of Ohio State’s Paul Farinacci. Colvin gathered himself and fired across the diamond to Scott Nasby, who came off the bag but applied the tag for the third out of the inning.
The walk to Snavely was his 60th of the year, tying him for the Ohio State single season record with Nick Swisher (2001).
The Bears added a run in the top of the second on an RBI double following a one-out walk to Nasby. Nasby scored on a line-drive double by Brinkley that Ohio State turned into the second out of the inning when the Buckeyes executed the relay to perfection to nail Brinkley in a close play at third.
Shortstop Brett Garrard was the first Buckeye to solve Ziegler with a solo home run in the bottom of the second to cut the SMS lead to 3-1. Garrard’s ninth homer on the year went out on a line just over the 370-foot mark in rightcenter field.
The Ohio State defense came up with its second double play of the game in the top of the third. With runners on first and third, Stephen started the third to second to first twin killing to end a threat prolonged a batter earlier when Stephen was unable to come up with a chopper to his left which was ruled an error.
The Buckeye offense then came up with three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-3 lead.
With one out, Rabin singled and went to second on a balk. He then scored on a Snavely single to center. Snavley scored when Caravati hit his seventh home run in the last eight games off the top of the centerfield fence just over the glove of the leaping Brinkely at the 400-foot sign in straightaway center. It was Caravati’s eighth homer of the season and second in as many days.
Derek Kinnear led off the Buckeye half of the fourth with a sharp single up the middle and advanced to second with his fifth stolen base of the year. He then advanced to third courtesy of a deep sacrifice fly to left-center by Stephen. Ziegler then retired the Buckeye scoring threat by striking out lead off hitter Drew Anderson.
Wilson wasted no time leading off the fifth for SMS as he jumped on the first offering by Madsen, lining a single to center field. With one out the Buckeyes turned their third double-play of the game to turn away the Bears in the fifth.
The Buckeyes added to their run total in the bottom of the fifth when Caravati lined a one out double to the gap in right-center, scoring Snavely from first who reached on a line drive single to center to lead off the inning. Caughenbaugh extended the OSU lead to 6-3 with a deep shot to right-center, scoring Caravati from second.
The Bears exploded in the top half of the sixth as they scored eight runs to take the lead 11-6. All eight runs were unearned and came with two outs. The inning was highlighted by back-to-back home runs by Piazza and Marcum. Piazza’s was a grand slam over the left-field wall off Buckeye reliever Kyle Brown and Marcum followed that up with a solo shot to left, also off Brown. The grand slam was the first given up by the Buckeyes since April 28, 2000 vs. Purdue. The Bears first cut into the Ohio State lead with two outs when Brinkley singled through the left side, scoring Mathis from second. Brooks followed that up with a sharp single up the middle off Buckeye reliever Trent Luyster (3-1), who took the loss for the Buckeyes, scoring SMS pinch-runner Jacob Hilgendorf from second. Brown then came on in relief for the Buckeyes with two outs and the bases loaded and walked home Wheeler to tie the game at 6-all.
The Buckeyes were able to score a run in the bottom of the seventh when Snavely scored courtesy of a throwing error by Piazza. On the play, Snavely went to third on a passed ball and then scored when Piazza’s pick-off throw to third sailed into left field. With two on and two out, SMS reliever Bob Zimmerman then came on in relief for Ziegler to strike out Kinnear, ending the Buckeye rally in the seventh with just one run.
The Bears continued to pour it on in the eighth, scoring twice more. Wheeler led off the inning with a single to center before advancing to second on a wild pitch by Hanners. Piazza then drove a one-out double to right-center to score Wheeler for his fifth RBI of the night. Pummill immediately followed that up with a single over the head of Stephen at third to score Piazza from third and extend SMS’s lead to 13-7.
