Ohio State Stays Hot at the Plate in 10-2 Win vs. Minnesota – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2006
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the third before adding four in the fourth and three more in the sixth on its way to a 10-2 victory over Minnesota in the series opener Friday at Bill Davis Stadium in front of 1,752 fans, who endured a 48-minute rain delay to start the game.
The Buckeyes, which entered the game with the nation’s second best batting average, pounded out 17 hits in the game, the 30th game this season the Buckeyes had had a double-digit hit total and the 14th game with at least 15 hits. The team is batting .343. All but one Ohio State starter had a hit in the game. J.B. Shuck (Fr., Galion, Ohio/Galion) led the Buckeyes with four hits and drove in two RBI, while Ronnie Bourquin (Jr., Canton, Ohio/Canton South) was 3-for-5 with three RBI.
OSU starter Dan DeLucia (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) picked up his ninth win of the season (9-2), which leads all Big Ten pitchers. Friday against Minnesota, he allowed one run on six hits in eight innings of work and struck out three with three walks.
Matt Angle (So., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling) drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the first inning and turned it into an early lead. He was hit over to second by Eric Fryer (So., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) and scored on a single down the left-field line by Bourquin.
After the Buckeyes turned a double play for the first two outs in the top of the second, Dan Lyons took his first offering from DeLucia and sent it over the fence in left-center field to tie the game 1-1. Bourquin batted in his second run of the game in the third inning to put the Buckeyes back in front. Jacob Howell (Jr., Ashland, Ohio/Ashland), playing in his first game since April 28 after he re-injured his hamstring he originally pulled April 5, led off the inning with a double to left and went to third on a ground out by Angle. Fryer drew a walk before Bourquin delivered his second hit of the game. Then with two out, Shuck singled through the left side to plate Bourquin and build a two-run lead, 3-1.
Ohio State took control of the game with four runs in the fourth inning to go up 7-1. Wes Schirtzinger (Jr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) led off the inning with an infield single and Justin Miller (Fr., Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) followed with a single through the right side. Schirtzinger scored from second on a throwing error by Lyons, the Gopher shortstop, on a grounder by Howell. Angle doubled to right to score Miller. A fielder’s choice by Fryer caught Angle at second, but Bourquin followed with an RBI double that scored Howell. Shuck delivered his second two-out RBI with an infield single.
Shuck got his fourth hit with one out in the sixth and scored on a triple by Jason Zoeller (Jr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy). With two gone, Miller singled up the middle to score Zoeller before Howell singled to left to score Miller, who had moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. That gave Ohio State a 10-1 lead.
The triple by Zoeller was the team’s 24th triple this season, a total which is ranked second in school history, one within the school record set in 1991. The triple was Zoeller’s third this season.
Trey Fausnaugh (Jr., Circleville, Ohio/Westfall) gave up Minnesota’s only run on a wild pitch in the ninth. Lyons led off the inning with a double and went to third on a fly out before he scored for the second time. He was 3-for-4 in the game. Fausnaugh and DeLucia limited the Golden Gophers to just seven hits in the game.
Five Buckeyes – Howell, Angle, Fryer, Zoeller and Bourquin – joined Shuck and Bourquin in getting multiple hits as they remained one game out of first place. Michigan won 7-2 at Penn State, while Northwestern will begin its series vs. Michigan State Saturday.
Ohio State (32-15 overall, 16-9 Big Ten) and Minnesota (24-24, 11-14) continue the series Saturday with a doubleheader Saturday at 1:35 p.m. before concluding the series with a single game Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Games three and four of the series will be broadcast by AM 920 WMNI and on ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
