Baseball Limited to Two Hits in 8-0 Shutout at North Florida – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 5, 2004
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – – North Florida pitcher Travis Stanton improved to 5-0 on the season with a two-hit, complete game 8-0 shutout of Ohio State Friday at Harmon Stadium. The Buckeyes struggled on defense committing four errors, while the Ospreys looked brilliant defensively.
Stanton picked up his third complete game of the season allowing only two hits while recording six strikeouts and walks. He retired 11 batters in a row at one point and then ended the game sitting down the final nine batters following Drew Anderson’s (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) second hit of the game, which led off the seventh inning. Anderson was 2-for-4.
Ohio State pitcher Josh Newman (Sr., Wheelersburg, Ohio/Wheelersburg) did not pitch poorly until giving up five runs in the eighth inning. He had allowed only four hits the first seven innings of the game. He finished with seven runs (six earned) on six hits. He walked four and struck out three.
Both pitchers battled it out in the first 3 1/2 innings of the game until North Florida struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jeff Millsaps reached first on an infield hit between the first and second baseman that drew Buckeye first baseman Paul Farinacci (Jr., Westlake Village, Calif./Agoura Hills) away from the bag. Newman did not cover first base and that mental lapse would prove costly. After Millsaps stole second, he scored on a triple by Joey Russell, who was able to score on a ground ball by Sadry Cafe.
Derek Kinnear (Sr., Kenton, Ohio/Kenton) drew a one-out walk in the top of the sixth inning to become the first Ohio State base runner since the second inning when Farinacci was caught at second in a 4-6-3 double play. That began a string of 11 Buckeye batters in a row to be retired. Nothing came of Kinnear as he was out at second on a fielder’s choice ball to third base by Jacob Howell. In the home half of the inning, the Buckeyes got out of the inning leaving an Osprey runner at third base. Ryan Knight led off the inning with a base hit over the head of third baseman Ronnie Bourquin (Fr., Canton, Ohio/Canton South). He stole second and then advanced to third on a fly out by deep right field by Millsaps. Newman and the Buckeyes intentionally walked Russell, who they then picked off at first for the second out of the inning. Cafe grounded out to second to end the inning.
Anderson, who earlier singled through the left side with two out first inning, got the team’s second hit of the game to lead off the seventh inning. He stole second, his second stolen base of the game and fourth of the season, and moved to third on a ground out by Cody Caughenbaugh (So., Newark, Ohio/Licking Valley). Farinacci grounded out to first to strand Anderson at third base.
North Florida picked up a run in the bottom of the seventh a pair of Buckeye errors, the second and third of the game, to make the score 3-0. Designated hitter Jon Hodach sharply hit a shot in front of Brett Garrard, the Ohio State shortstop, who misplayed the bounce. Jason Kracunas entered the game as a pinch runner for Hodach and stole second. He would score on a two-base throwing error by Bourquin on a ground ball by Marion Knowles.
The Ospreys, now 10-7, finally got to Newman in the eighth after getting only four hits the first seven innings of the game. They exploded for a five-run inning on four hits and a Buckeye throwing error.
Knight finished the game 2-for-3, while Millsaps was 2-for-4. Cafe was 1-for-4, but drove in three runs with a double to right-center field in the eighth inning. Matt Oxendine drove in the other two in that inning with a home run to left-center.
Ohio State, now 2-5 on the year, will meet Connecticut at 3:30 p.m. Saturday before closing the Kennel Club Classic vs. Western Michigan at 11 a.m. Sunday.
