Ohio State Takes Game One of Series vs. Indiana, 4-3, Saturday at Bill Davis Stadium – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 21, 2007
Box Score
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the second straight game, Ohio State closer Jake Hale shut down Indiana late as the Buckeyes downed Indiana, 4-3, Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader at Bill Davis Stadium.
The win pushes OSU to 21-10 overall and 6-6 in the Big Ten. Indiana fell to 14-20 and 4-10 in conference play. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers will play game two at 3:30 p.m. The four-game series wraps up with a nine-inning game at 1:05 p.m. Sunday.
Jake Hale (So., Albany, Ohio/Alexander) entered the game with two on and two out in the top of the sixth and the Buckeyes leading 4-3. Hale struck out the next batter looking to get OSU out of the jam and then set the Hoosiers down in order in the top of the seventh for his ninth save of the year. Hale also earned a save in Friday’s win over Indiana.
Indiana got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning. Indiana’s Matt Bashore pitched three scoreless innings before the Buckeye hitters finally got to him.
J.B. Shuck (So., Galion, Ohio/Galion) and Justin Miller (So., Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) led off the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back singles and Michael Arp (So., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) followed with a walk to load the bases. Tony Kennedy (Jr., Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South) then gave OSU its first lead of the game with a double down the left field line, plating Shuck and Miller for a 2-1 lead. The Buckeyes went up 3-1 after a wild pitch by IU reliever Billy Kitchen and added their fourth run on a Jason Zoeller (Sr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy) sacrifice fly. The Hoosiers battled back and cut the OSU lead to 4-3 with two runs in the top of the sixth but could never push any more runs across.
Rory Meister (Jr., Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Madison) started the game for the Buckeyes and went 5.2 innings, giving up three earned runs. He surrendered five hits, walked four and struck out two. Josh Edgin (Fr., Three Springs, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) relieved Meister in the sixth but only lasted two batters, giving up two, two-run singles before Hale entered the game to shut the door on the Hoosiers. Meister picked up the win to improve to 3-3 on the season.
Bashore took the loss for Indiana, going 3.0 innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits. The Hoosiers used five pitchers in the game.
Each team had seven hits in the game. Shuck and Miller were each 2-for-3 and Kennedy had two RBI.
