Newman Guides Buckeyes to 3-2 Victory at Purdue – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 9, 2004
Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Ohio State left-handed pitcher Josh Newman took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and struck out 10 batters in 8.2 innings to lead Ohio State to a 3-2 Big Ten victory Friday afternoon at Lambert Field. Newman allowed four hits the rest of the way as the Buckeyes held on to improve to 4-1 in the Big Ten and rise above .500 for the first time this season.
Newman, a senior from Wheelersburg, Ohio (Wheelersburg) retired the first nine batters of the game, before back-to-back Buckeye errors put runners on base in the fourth inning. A sacrifice bunt by catcher Ben Fritz moved both runners into scoring position and then designated hitter John Hunter flied out to right for the sacrifice, scoring centerfielder Mike Coles to give Purdue an early 1-0 lead.
Second baseman Drew Anderson (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) hit his second home run of the season in the top of the fifth to give the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead. The shot hit off the scoreboard in right-center field and extended his hit streak to six games. It also scored catcher Derek Kinnear (Sr., Kenton, Ohio/Kenton), who reached on a fielder’s that caught centerfielder Mike Rabin (Jr., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) at second.
Newman took a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth when second baseman Eric Osborn tripled to right-center field with one out. Newman responded with a pair of strikeouts, his sixth and seventh of the game, to get out of the inning without any damage.
In the eighth inning, Ohio State rightfielder Jacob Howell (Fr., Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) doubled down the left-field line with one out and then scored on a single by leftfielder Steve Caravati (Jr., Dover, Ohio/Dover) to extend the Buckeye lead to 3-1.
The Boilermakers answered the run in the bottom of the inning to close within one run, 3-2. Shortstop Mitch Koester led off the inning with a double down the left-field line and then moved to third on a Newman wild pitch. He scored on an error on Ohio State first baseman Paul Farinacci (Jr., Westlake, Calif./Agoura) on a ground ball hit by Coles, who moved to third on back-to-back sac bunts by Andy Dahl and Ben Fritz, but was left 90 feet away on a fly out by Hunter.
Purdue sat the Buckeyes down in order in the ninth inning, putting Newman back on the mound to try for his second complete-game. Newman recorded his 10th strikeout of the game and then got a ground out, but he gave up a base hit up the middle to Osborn and walked pinch hitter Neal Gorka. That forced Ohio State to bring in left-handed pitcher Trent Luyster (Jr., Flushing, Ohio/Harrison Central), who got the final out of the inning, catching Gorka at second on a fielder’s choice by Mitch Koester. Luyster picked up his second save of the season. Newman improved to 5-3 on the season in 8.2 innings. Only one of the two runs he allowed was earned.
Newman has 33 strikeouts in his last three games and 24 in his two previous appearances. He climbed from ninth to fifth on the Buckeyes’ career strikeouts list and now has 251 during his career. The win was the 29th of his career, which ranks fourth on the school’s all-time wins list.
Offensively for the Buckeyes, Rabin was the only player with two hits. He was 2-for-4 while Anderson batted in two runs in going 1-for-4. Caravati was 1-for-3 with one RBI. Olson was the only Boilermaker with two hits as Ohio State out hit Purdue 6-4.
Ohio State (12-11, 4-1) and Purdue (11-13 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) will play a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m. and then close out the series with a single game Sunday at 2 p.m.
