Cory Luebke improves to 7-0 as Ohio State defeats Michigan State, 8-4, Friday at Bill Davis Stadium – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 4, 2007
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State left-hander Cory Luebke improved to 7-0 on the year as the Buckeyes defeated Michigan State, 8-4, Friday night in the first game of a four-game Big Ten series at Bill Davis Stadium.
The Buckeyes improved to 28-12 on the year and 12-7 in the Big Ten. The Spartans fell to 15-23 and 6-14 in conference play. Ohio State and Michigan State continue their Big Ten series at 1:05 p.m. Saturday with a seven-inning doubleheader. The series wraps up with a single nine-inning game beginning at 1:05 p.m. Sunday.
Luebke (Jr., Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local) started on the mound for the Buckeyes and went a solid 6.2 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out nine. He is now 3-0 in Big Ten play.
Michigan State scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Buckeyes immediately responded by putting a four spot on the board in the bottom of the first. Jacob Howell (Sr., Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) and Matt Angle (Jr., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling) led off the home half of the first with back to back singles and moved to second and third after an Eric Fryer (Jr., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) ground out to second. J.B. Shuck (So., Galion, Ohio/Galion) then hit a single up the middle to give OSU a 2-1 lead. Justin Miller (So., Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) followed Shuck’s single with a home run to left, the first of his career, for a 4-1 Buckeye advantage. Ohio State stretched its lead to 6-1 with two runs in the bottom of the second. Jason Zoeller (Sr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy) led off the OSU second with a double to left field. After a ground out, Howell singled to right, scoring Zoeller, and moved to second on an error by the MSU right fielder. Angle followed with a double down the right field line to give the Buckeyes a 6-1 lead.
The Spartans chipped one run off the OSU lead, making it 6-2, with a run in the top of the fourth. But just like the first inning, the Buckeyes responded to Michigan State scoring by scoring themselves in the bottom half of the inning. Howell reached on a one-out error by the second baseman and then stole second. Angle came through with his third hit of the game, singling to center and scoring Howell to make it 7-2 after four innings.
The lead grew to 8-2 after the Buckeyes tacked on one run in the bottom of the sixth. Zoeller led off the inning with his seventh home run of the season, a new career high, besting the six he hit in 2005.
Michigan State cut OSU’s lead to 8-4 with two runs in the top of the eighth but that was all the OSU pitching staff would allow in the win.
Theron Minium (Fr., New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff) relieved Luebke with two outs and runners on first and third in the top of the seventh. After walking the first batter he faced, he got the next batter to fly out to center to get out of the jam. Minium pitched 1.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits and two walks. Trey Fausnaugh (Sr., Circleville, Ohio/Westfall) pitched a perfect ninth for the Buckeyes.
Craig Brookes started the game for MSU and took the loss, falling to 3-5 on the year. After giving up four runs in the first, he settled down and went 7.0 innings, giving up eight runs, seven earned, on 12 hits. He struck out four and walked none. Tony Clausen pitched the eighth for MSU.
Ohio State had 12 hits in the game and Michigan State eight. Angle was 3-for-4 with two RBI, with Zoeller, Howell and Ryan Dew (Fr., Croton, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) collecting two hits each. Shuck and Miller had two RBI a piece.
