Ohio State Closes Regular Season with 12-2 Win vs. Penn State – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 21, 2006
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Already leading 4-1, Ohio State put the game out of reach when it exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on its way to a 12-2 victory over Penn State Sunday in front of a Bill Davis Stadium crowd of 2,686. With the victory, Ohio State claimed it sixth series of the year by a 3-1 count. The win also gave the Buckeyes 35 wins for the 16th consecutive season.
In the fourth, Justin Miller (Fr., Dayton, Ohio/Turner Ashby) reached on a one-out, infield single and went to third on a single to center by Michael Arp (Fr., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg). Matt Angle (So., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling) doubled to left center to score Miller and send Arp to third. Eric Fryer (So., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) singled to right-center field score both runners and give the Buckeyes a 7-1 lead.
The scoring was not done. Big Ten Player of the Year candidate Ronnie Bourquin (Jr., Canton, Ohio/Canton South) sent a rocket just over the right-field fence to score two more runs. After a ground out for the second out of the inning, Jedidiah Stephen (Sr., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) doubled to right-center. Jason Zoeller (Jr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy) scored Stephen with a triple to the right-field corner. Zoeller scored when third baseman Scott Gummo let the relay through get past him.
Zoeller’s triple was the 25th by the Buckeyes this season, which ties the 1991 school record for triples in a season. It was his fourth this season which tied him for the team lead.
Bourquin hit his second home run of the game to lead off the sixth. The shot over the right-field fence was his eighth of the year and tied Stephen for the team lead, one behind Big Ten leaders Antonio Mule of Northwestern and Mike Schmidt of Michigan. It was the first multi-homer game of Bourquin’s career. Penn State added a run in the eighth on an RBI single by Rick Marlin.
Bourquin finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk and sacrifice fly to drive in four runs, while Stephen was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI. Fryer was 2-for-3 with three RBI as the Buckeyes pounded out 20 hits, reaching or topping that mark for the fourth time this season.
J.B. Shuck (Fr., Galion, Ohio/Galion) picked up his seventh win of the season against four losses. He pitched five innings, allowing one run on three hits. He was replaced by Josh Barrera (Fr., Somerset, Ohio/Sheridan) to start the sixth. He did not allow a run on four hits before handing the game over to Chris Hanners (Sr., Groveport, Ohio/DeSales), who made his season debut on senior day. He came in to pitch the eighth inning. Rory Meister (So., Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Madison) pitched the ninth.
Penn State starter Craig Clark was pegged with the loss to fall to 3-8 on the season. He allowed 11 runs on 13 hits in 3.2 innings. In a day when the sun made fielding difficult, the Buckeyes did not have an error. Penn State, which concluded it season with the loss (20-36 overall and 13-19 in the Big Ten), had two.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first two innings.
Arp led off the Buckeye first with an infield single and went to second on a bunt-for-base-hit by Angle. A fielder’s choice by Fryer caught Angle at second but put runners at the corners for Bourquin, who got the sacrifice with a fly to left field to score Arp even though leftfielder Lance Thompson dropped the ball.
Adam Schneider (Jr., Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura) drew walk to load the bases and Stephen singled down the right-field line to score two more runs and give the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead in his final home game.
Angle doubled to center with two out in the second and then scored on a double by Fryer to give Ohio State a 4-0 lead. Fryer tried to stretch the hit into a triple but was thrown out at third to end the inning. A triple would have tied the school record as the 25th this season.
James Leitgeb drew a two-out walk in the top of the third and turned it into Penn State’s first run when Stephen lost a pop up by Thompson in the sun. Leitgeb scored from first and Thompson reached second before Scott Gummo flew out to end the inning.
Ohio State (35-19, 19-12) will be the third seed in the Big Ten tournament which will get underway Wednesday. The Buckeyes will face No. 6 seed Purdue at 3:30 p.m. at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. Ohio State claimed the series with the Boilermakers 3-1 in Columbus. The game will be broadcast on AM 920 WMNI and on ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
