A Good Day for the Scarlet and Gray – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– Ohio State displayed terrific power with four home runs – two by Matt Streng – and eight extra-base hits to back the solid pitching of sophomore Brett McKinney in evening its series against Illinois with a 12-7 win Saturday at Illinois Field. The two teams will meet in the series finale Sunday at 2:05 p.m. EDT.
Streng hit home runs in his first two at bats – a two-run shot in the second and a three-run blast in the third – and later added a two-run double for a career-high seven-RBI day. Ryan Cypret and Tyler Engle also hit home runs for the Buckeyes, who came into the game with just 11 home runs total on the season. The pair accounted for the team’s five other RBI, three by Engle and two by Cypret. Cypret also scored three times.
“I felt good at the plate,” Streng said. “I hit both of those balls really well. I was pretty sure they were going out, especially with the way the wind was blowing.”
McKinney wasn’t fazed by the wind and was merely sensational in improving his record to 2-3 on the season. He faced the minimum number of batters through four innings and he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He went a season-high 7.0 innings and allowed just three hits and one run. He struck out seven and allowed just two walks.
“I really wanted to give our team a chance to win tonight,” McKinney said. “I wanted to get ahead of hitters and throw strikes and I feel like I did that for the most part.”
The Buckeyes jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second inning. Streng sent a first-pitch fastball from Illinois starter John Anderson (5-6) over the right field wall for his second home run in the last four games to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead. Josh Dezse also scored on the play. Two batters later Engle doubled to right to score Greg Solomon from third.
Streng went yard again in the third inning, sending another first-pitch Anderson fastball out of the park for a three-run home run. Cypret, who hit a one-out single, and Dezse, who was hit by a pitch, also scored on the play.
Cypret, who ended up just a triple away from hitting for the cycle, opened the fifth inning with a home run to left, his third of the season, to increase the lead to 7-0.
Illinois chalked up a run in the seventh, but Ohio State came back with five runs in the eighth inning to extend the lead to 12-1. Engle hit a two-run homer to center – his first of the year – and Cypret doubled in Tim Wetzel, who tripled. Then Streng went to left center with a hard-hit double to drive in the Buckeyes final two runs of the game.
“You can’t let down in the late innings,” Streng said. “Coach Beals always tells us we have to have quality swings in every at-bat. At the time it didn’t seem those runs would matter, but with the way it ended, every hit and every run matters.”
Illinois scored a run in the eighth and added five in the ninth to account for the final score. Dezse pitched to one batter and got the final out with a strikeout, his seventh consecutive strikeout over the course of three games.
Game Notes & Random Thoughts from the Ball Park:
- The win moved Ohio State into a tie for second-place in the Big Ten with Purdue and Minnesota. All three teams have 10-7 records. Michigan State leads the league at 12-5.
- This is Matt Streng’s second multi-home run game of his career. He hit two on March 1, 2009, against UConn in a game played at the University of North Florida’s Harmon Stadium.
- Streng twice had five RBI in one game: in 2009 vs. UConn and also vs. Penn State that year.
- How about Josh Dezse’s day: no at-bats, three runs scored and on base five times by way of three walks and two HBPs. And he closed the game with a strikeout on four pitches that were hard, harder, off-speed and hardest.
- The last Buckeye to hit home runs in consecutive at-bats: Jedidiah Stephen on April 12, 2006, vs. Central Michigan.
- Freshman Jacob Hayes has gotten the start at designated hitter the first two games of this series and has contributed three hits, two runs scored and a stolen base.
- The game was delayed for 27 minutes because of lightning in the area from clouds that also looked as if they could be harboring tornadic activity.
- Lots of talk amongst the baseball crowd in Champaign about the success of Pete Hanson and the Ohio State men’s volleyball team. Most of the team’s hotel rooms had the match vs. Penn State on Thursday and it will be no different this evening for the title game. Good luck, Bucks!
- First innings have not been kind to either Ohio State or Illinois this season. Heading into the game Saturday, Ohio State had allowed 40 first-inning runs and Illinois had allowed 41. Those totals are the most inning runs for both teams this year. Today: it was a scoreless first for both teams.
- Spent most of the game enjoying a supercharged gum called electric watermelon. It’s both sweet and tart, but mostly sweet, with long-lasting flavor. And that’s exactly what one wants in a piece of chewing gum.
###OhioStateBuckeyes.com###
