Scarlet and Gray World Series Won byTeam Scarlet – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
COLUMBUS, Ohio Team Scarlet defeated Team Gray, 5-3, Friday at Bill Davis Stadium to win Ohio State baseball’s annual Scarlet and Gray World Series, three games to two.
“This was a very competitive series and that is what we wanted as a coaching staff,” Bob Todd, head coach, said. “There were some good defensive plays all week and some people had some good at-bats.”
Cory Kovanda, one of those who had “some good at-bats” as he led both teams with a .533 average during the series (8-for-15), sparked the Gray to an early 1-0 lead. He walked to lead off the game and moved to second on a single by J.B. Shuck and then to third on a single by Tyler Engle. Kovanda then scored on Brian DeLucia’s fielder’s choice.
Team Scarlet came back in the bottom of the second with two runs off two hits. Ben Toussant, who hit. 375 during the series with four runs scored and three RBI, walked, went to third on a double by Michael Arp and scored on a single by Matt Streng, who led the Scarlet with a .429 average (6-for-14). Arp raced to third on the play and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Griffin.
Decent pitching by starters Eric Best (4.1 innings for the Scarlet) and J.B. Shuck (4.0 for the Gray) and heads-up baseball by both teams kept the score at 2-1 going into the bottom of the fourth. Team Scarlet’s Toussant walked and stole second and third. With one out, Justin Miller struck out swinging but the ball was dropped. Gray catcher Dan Burkhart threw down to first baseman Shawn Forsythe, who returned the throw to Burkhart and tagged out Toussant, who was trying to score.
The Scarlet held on to its lead in the top of the fourth with an inning-ending double play. Team Gray’s Nathan Grove popped out to first and David Corna, trying to tag up from second and advance to third, was called out for leaving the bag early.
A third-consecutive team at-bat ended in a double play in the bottom of the fourth as the Scarlet’s Matt Streng flied to right and Ryan Dew was thrown out trying to get back to first.
Scarlet broke through in the fifth with another run off an RBI single by Dew to go up 3-1, but Gray came right back with two runs in its next at-bat. Kovanda, who else, singled to lead off, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Tyler Engle’s double down the leftfield line. DeLucia then tripled to left center to score Engle.
Scarlet came right back, though, plating two in its half of the fifth to lead 5-3. Chris Griffin doubled to left, stole third and scored on Ryan Meade’s double down the right field line. Tony Kennedy, who had walked, also scored on the play.
And that’s how it ended: a series-clinching 5-3 victory for the Scarlet in the 2007 Scarlet and Gray World Series. Alex Wimmers picked up his second win of the series with 1.2 innings of work in relief. Reliever Taylor Barnes took the loss for the Gray.
Offensively, DeLucia had two RBI for Gray, Shuck and Engle had two hits and Kovanda scored twice. Scarlet was led offensively with two hits from Michael Arp, two runs scored by Toussant and two RBI by Meade.
2007 Scarlet and Gray World Series Notes:
- Coach Todd: “One of the most important things to come out of this series is our freshmen have gotten their feet on the ground and they now know what it takes to compete at this level. No matter what anybody says, it is a totally different ball game going from high school to college baseball.”
- Scarlet’s Ryan Dew hit .412 (7-for-17) and led the team with four RBI.
- True freshman Ryan Meade and Cory Ruppert each had three RBI for Team Scarlet.
- After Kovanda, Team Gray was helped at the plate by Zach Hurley, who hit .385 and led with four RBI.
- Gray’s Tyler Engle led all true freshmen with a .357 average and he also drove in three runs.
- J.B. Shuck hit .353 for the Gray (6-for-17).
- On the mound, Dean Wolosiansky and Drew Malley did not allow an earned run for Team Gray in 6.0 and 4.0 innings of work, respectively.
- Scarlet true freshman Tom Popakok and junior Josh Barrera did not allow an earned run in 3.2 and 3.0 innings, respectively.
- Scarlet’s Eric Best made two starts and had a 2.89 ERA in 9.1 innings of work.
- Ohio State opens its season Feb. 22-24 in the Millington, Tenn., tournament with games against Arkansas State, Memphis and Seton Hall.
- The 2008 Ohio State home opener is set for 2 p.m. March 26 against Pitt.
- Big Ten Conference weekends at Bill Davis Stadium will feature series against Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue and Illinois.
###OhioStateBuckeyes.com###
