Baseball: Bucks Drop 9-4 Decision to Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio State and Illinois completed their suspended game from Friday night at Bill Davis Stadium on Saturday, with the Fighting Illini winning Game One of the four-game series, 9-4.
Prior to the start of the game Friday night, the Ohio State athletic department honored head coach Bob Todd for his pending induction into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He will be inducted in January of 2009.
The game started well for Ohio State on Coach Todd’s special night as the Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Zach Hurley doubled to right to lead off, Ryan Dew advanced him to third on a groundout to second, and Cory Rupert drove Hurley home with a sacrifice fly to right.
But Illinois took the lead in the third as Ohio State starter Jake Hale was the victim of some tough luck. After Casey McMurray led off with a single, Kyle Hudson reached via an error on a sacrifice bunt. The next two batters reached on infield singles, scoring McMurray. Aaron Johnson and Daniel Webb followed with sacrifice flies, giving Illinois a 3-1 lead.
The Illini added to their lead with three runs in the fifth. Brandon Wikoff reached on an error to start the inning, and the next batter, Johnson, was hit by a pitch. With one out, Ryan Hastings and John Schlichter hit back-to-back doubles, driving in one and two runs, respectively.
Illinois scored a single run in the sixth when Hudson scored on a wild pitch. The Buckeyes answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning when J.B. Shuck reached third on a double error and scored on Justin Miller’s sacrifice fly.
Ohio State scored a run in the eighth. Miller walked to start the inning. With two outs, Rupert walked, and Dan Burkhart followed with a single to score Miller.
Illinois increased its lead in the ninth when Craig Lutes and Nick Stockwell had back-to-back RBI hits. Ohio State scored a run in the bottom of the inning on Miller’s RBI single to right.
Hale took the loss for Ohio State and falls to 5-3. He allowed seven runs, three earned, in 5.2 innings. Josh Edgin struck out six batters in 3.1 innings of relief. Kevin Manson improved to 7-1 with the win. Mike Sterk threw the final innings and earned his third save for the Illinois.
Game Notes:
- The game’s starting pitchers, Kevin Manson of Illinois and Ohio State’s Jake Hale, stand 6-7 and 6-6, respectively. That is 13 feet, one inch worth of pitcher for those counting at home.
- Justin Miller extended his hitting streak to seven games with two hits. Miller is batting .478 (11-23) with eight RBI during the streak.
- With two RBI, Miller had his team-high 15th multiple RBI game of the season.
- Zach Hurley set a career-high with four hits, improving his season average to .304.
##OhioStateBuckeyes.com##
