Ohio State pounds Iowa, 16-7, wins three out of four in opening Big Ten series – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 1, 2007
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State pounded out 17 hits Sunday afternoon and downed Iowa, 16-7, winning three out of four games from the Hawkeyes in the first Big Ten series of the season.
The Buckeyes have won 16 out of their last 17 games and are now 17-4 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten action. Iowa fell to 11-8, 1-3 in the conference. Ohio State will play a home non-conference game vs. Cleveland State Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Bill Davis Stadium before heading to Illinois for their first Big Ten road series April 6-8.
After getting shutout in game two Saturday, the Buckeyes wasted little time getting on the scoreboard Sunday, putting a four-spot up in the bottom of the first. Senior lead-off hitter Jacob Howell (Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) started things off with a walk and then stole second. Matt Angle (Jr., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling) followed with an RBI single to put OSU up 1-0. Catcher Eric Fryer (Jr., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) singled Angle to third and J.B. Shuck (So., Galion, Ohio/Galion) knocked Angle in with a fielder’s choice. After another walk, Tony Kennedy (Jr., Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South) tripled to straight away center to drive in two runs. The Buckeyes chased Iowa starter David Conroy after one-third of an inning.
Iowa got right back in the game in the top of the second, scoring three runs on a three-run home run to make it 4-3.
Ohio State stretched its lead to three, 6-3, in the bottom of the third after freshman Ryan Dew (Croton, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) connected for his career home run. Fryer was on first after leading off the inning with a single. The Buckeyes made it 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth on a Howell solo home run but the Hawkeyes got the run back with one in the top of the fifth.
Ohio State blew the game open with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, making it 11-4. The big hit of the inning was a two-run home run by Jason Zoeller (Sr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy). Dew and Kennedy also had RBI hits in the inning.
Iowa added runs in the sixth and the eighth and make it 11-6, but OSU kept the bats going by scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth. Fryer, Dew and Kennedy each drove in runs in the eighth and freshman Cory Kovanda (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) knocked in two for a 16-6 lead. The Hawkeyes pushed one across in the ninth for a 16-7 final.
Shuck made his fourth start of the year for Buckeyes and went just 4.1 innings. The lefty gave up four earned runs and struggled with his control, walking seven. Eric Best (Fr., Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) relieved Shuck with one ball on the batter, one out and two runners on in the top of the fifth. After walking the first batter, Best got a strike out and a ground out to end the inning and get out of the jam. Best went 1.1 innings to earn the win, improving to 2-0 on the season.
Sophomore Jake Hale (Albany, Ohio/Alexander) entered the game for Best in the top of the sixth with two outs and the bases loaded. Hale hit the first batter but ended the threat by striking out the next batter. Hale went 3.1 innings and picked up his sixth save of the year. He gave up two runs, one earned, on four hits and struck out four.
Dew had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-3, with four RBI, three runs scored and two walks. Kennedy also drove in four runs and was 2-for-5 on the day. Fryer was 3-for-5, while Howell, Miller and Zoeller had two-hit days.
Conroy was the losing pitcher for the Hawkeyes as Iowa used six pitchers on the day. Iowa had eight hits in the game.
Shuck went hitless in four at bats, snapping his 17 game hitting streak. Miller extended his streak to 11 games.
