Ohio State postseason ends with 10-4 loss to Texas A&M Sunday in NCAA College Station Regional – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 3, 2007
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Ohio State dropped a 10-4 decision to Texas A&M Sunday in the NCAA College Station Regional at Olsen Field in College Station, Texas, eliminating OSU from the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes finished the season with a 38-24 record that included a Big Ten Tournament title.
The host and No. 1 seed Aggies advance to face unbeaten Louisiana-Lafayette at 8 p.m. ET Sunday. If A&M defeats the Rajin Cajuns, a second championship game will be played Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette sent OSU to the loser’s bracket with a 5-4 win Friday, but the Buckeyes rebounded with a 6-5, 10-inning win over Le Moyne Saturday to keep Ohio State alive in the Regional. The loss to the Aggies eliminated the Buckeyes from their 18th NCAA tournament appearance.
The Aggies got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first and extended their lead to 4-0 with a three-run home run in the bottom of the third.
Ohio State cut the lead in half with two runs in the top of the fourth. With two outs and Tony Kennedy (Jr., Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South) on third, freshman Cory Rupert (Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Madison) connected on his first career home run, blasting a shot over the left field wall to make it 4-2.
Texas A&M increased its lead to 5-2 with a solo home run in the fourth, but OSU got the run back in the top of the fifth. Jacob Howell (Sr., Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) walked to start the inning and moved to third on a Matt Angle (Jr., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling) single. Justin Miller (So., Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) drove Howell in with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.
The Aggies again made it a three-run advantage with a run in the bottom of the fifth and padded the lead with a two-run home run in the sixth for an 8-3 lead.
The Buckeyes cut the deficit to 8-4 with a run in the seventh. Angle singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. One out later Miller singled up the middle to drive in Angle.
A&M wasn’t done as Blake Stouffer doubled in a run in the seventh for his sixth RBI of the game. The double gave Stouffer the cycle on the day, hitting a single, double, triple and a home run. The Aggies added a second run in the inning for a 10-4 lead.
J.B. Shuck (So., Galion, Ohio/Galion) started the game for the Buckeyes and went five innings, giving up six earned runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out four, falling to 4-4 on the year. Trey Fausnaugh (Sr., Circleville, Ohio/Westfall), Eric Best (Fr., Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) and Josh Edgin (Fr., Three Springs, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) each threw one inning.
Kirkland Rivers started for Texas A&M and lasted four innings but was taken out before the Buckeyes could do much damage. Rivers allowed three earned runs on four hits, walking three and striking out one. Gary Campfield relieved Rivers and went the final five innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits. He walked two and struck out five.
The Buckeyes had eight hits in the game, Texas A&M 10. Angle had two hits in the game and Miller and Rupert two RBI each.
