Ohio State Clinches Series vs. Michigan State with 12-10 Win – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 19, 2004
Box Score
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Ohio State squandered a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh, but stormed back with five runs in the eighth to claim a 12-10 victory Sunday at Kobs Field to clinch the Big Ten series 3-1. More importantly the victory gave Ohio State the out-right lead in the conference, leading four teams by one game.
Trailing 7-4 at the seventh-inning stretch, Michigan State homered three more times to take a 9-7 lead. Scott Koerber and James Moreno provided a two-run shots to left-center field while Sean Walker sent a one-run shot out of the park to straight away center field. All six hits came off Buckeye reliever Trent Luyster (Jr., Flushing, Ohio/Harrison Central).
Ohio State responded with five runs of its own in the top of the eighth thanks to four doubles and a pair of Spartan errors. Mike Rabin (Jr., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) doubled with one out before Derek Kinnear (Sr., Kenton, Ohio/Kenton) doubled to put runners at second and third. After the second strikeout of the inning, Jacob Howell (Fr., Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) reached on a costly error on the Michigan State shortstop. Scoring on the play were Rabin and Kinnear after the ball rolled into center field. Howell stole second and on a fielding error that went into center field, Howell was able to get to third. Steve Caravati (Jr., Dover, Ohio/Dover) doubled to score Howell and give the Buckeyes a 10-9 lead.
Jedidiah Stephen (So., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) drew a walk before Ronnie Bourquin (Fr., Canton, Ohio/Canton South) doubled in Caravati and Stephen for two more runs and a 12-9 lead. Michigan State scored once more in the bottom of the ninth for the two run loss. Luyster picked up the victory to improve to 2-3 on the season despite allowing six runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings. Brett Hatcher (Jr., Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontain) picked up his first save this season. Adam White got the loss for Michigan State to fall to 2-1.
Caravati and Bourquin each finished 3-for-5 in the game and each batted in three runs.
Ohio State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning capitalizing on a leadoff double by Drew Anderson (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg). He moved to third on a ground out and then scored on a single by Stephen.
Michigan State counted with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning to tie the score, 1-1. Alan Cattrysse led off with a single up the middle and then moved to third on a single through the right side by Oliver Wolcott before scoring on a fielder’s choice by Travis Gulick.
Caravati hit his second home run of the series and his seventh of the season in the third inning to give the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead. The two-run shot to left-center field also scored Howell, who sent a shot up the middle with two outs.
The Buckeyes scored the leadoff run in the fifth inning to add to the lead. Kinnear doubled down the right-field line to start the inning and then moved to third on an error by Erik Morris, the Spartan catcher on a dribbler off the bat of Anderson. Caravati, who earlier in the game homered to extend his hit streak to 11 games, followed with a single through the right side to score Kinnear, giving the Buckeyes a 4-1 lead.
Bourquin hit his second home run as a Buckeye to begin the sixth inning. Jason Zoeller (Fr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy) drew a one-out walk, stole second and moved to third on a ground out. Kinnear then walked before Anderson drove in Zoeller to give the Buckeyes a 6-1 lead.
Gullick and Scott Koerber led off the sixth with back-to-back home runs to pull within three runs. Both shots cleared the fence in left-center field. Michigan State was able to get one more run to cross the plate in the inning as OSU starter Dan DeLucia (Fr., Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) gave up two hits, a fielder’s choice and a walk to load the bases before a single to short center field by Troy Krider scored James Moreno to make the score 6-4.
Stephen got one of the runs back for Ohio State in the top of the seventh inning with his sixth home run of the series and the third against the Spartans after going yard twice in the opening game of the series. The shot that cleared the fence in left-centerfield with one out gave the Buckeyes a 7-4 advantage.
The Buckeyes (17-14 overall, 8-4 Big Ten) return to Bill Davis Stadium Wednesday when they will play host to Wright State at 6:35 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NPR 820 (WOSU-AM).
