Ohio State Rides Pitching Defense in 2-1 Upset of No. 4 North Carolina – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 5, 2005
Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Ohio State made the two runs in scored in the first inning hold up in a 2-1 upset of No. 4 North Carolina Saturday at the Keith LeClair Classic at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The win against a Top 25 team was the first for Ohio State since it swept through the 2003 NCAA Auburn Regional with one win over Clemson and a pair of wins over national No. 4 seed Auburn.
Like they had in all three previous games this season, the Buckeyes scored first, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. This time though, they never surrendered it. Wes Schirtzinger (So., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) singled deep in the hole at second base and Ronnie Bourquin (So., Canton, Ohio/Canton South) followed with a walk. Jedidiah Stephen (Jr., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) delivered Schirtzinger with a single down the right-field line and then Cody Caughenbaugh (Jr., Newark, Ohio/Licking Valley) flew out to center, scoring Bourquin on the sacrifice fly.
OSU starter Trent Luyster (Sr., Flushing, Ohio/Harrison Central) kept the Tar Heels off the scoreboard until the seventh inning. He gave up two hits in the first inning and a third in the fourth inning before UNC had three hits in the sixth. Luyster retired batters in order in the second and fifth innings and would have in the third except for a throwing error by Stephen, the Buckeye shortstop. Bryan Steed and Justin Webb led off the sixth inning with back-to-back singles for North Carolina, but Matt Elington grounded into a double play. Cook followed with a single, but was nabbed at second on a fielder’s choice by Chad Flack. Seth Williams led off the seventh with a double down the left-field line and that chased Luyster out of the game, giving way to Rory Meister (Fr., Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Madison), who got a fly out and then walked a batter before Chase Younts pulled UNC within a 2-1 score with a single to right-center field to score Williams.
Trey Fausnaugh (So., Circleville, Ohio/Westfall) came in and got Jay Cox to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to preserve a one-run lead for the Buckeyes. Then the rain came. The teams sat in their dugouts for one hour, seven minutes before resuming play in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Tar Heel starter Daniel Bard did not return after the rain delay, though Fausnaugh did. Neither team had a hit after the rain delay. Rob Wooten finished the game for UNC. He retired the first two batters he faced before walking Schirtzinger. The inning ended when he was picked off at first. Wooten had two fly outs and a ground to move through the eighth inning. Fausnaugh walked his first batter in the eighth, but retired his next six batters, including two by strikeout; one the final out of the game.
Luyster posted his first victory of the season against one loss, while the Buckeyes gave Bard his first defeat against two wins. Reliever of the year award candidate Fausnaugh picked up his first save of the season in his second appearance. Fausnaugh allowed one run on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout in six innings.
Angle was 2-for-2 in his first collegiate start, getting the nod in place of Mike Rabin (Sr., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East), who had a string of 166 consecutive starts snapped against North Carolina. The Buckeyes had five hits in the game and committed one error compared to eight hits by eight different Tar Heels and one error.
Ohio State, 2-2, concludes play at the Keith LeClair Classic Sunday at 10 a.m. against Arizona State, which took a 9-10 record into its game Saturday night against tournament host East Carolina. The Buckeyes will play at the Kennel Club Classic in Jacksonville, Fla. next Friday and Saturday.
