Buckeyes Sweep Evansville in Sunday Doubleheader – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 15, 2015
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team bounced back to claim its first home series victory of 2015 with a doubleheader sweep against Evansville Sunday afternoon at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeyes won game one on a walk-off hit, 4-3, before claiming a 12-2 win in game two. With the two victories, Ohio State improves to 10-5, while the Purple Aces drop to 7-8 in 2015.
“It’s great to see the team come back to win the series with a doubleheader sweep today,” head coach Greg Beals said. “We got some key contributions from several guys today. L Grant Davis had his first start and got us going in game one with the gamewinning hit and Troy Kuhn had a big day at the plate in game two with three extra base hits. We also had two big time starts from Lakins and Riga. We need to continue to grow in our mental toughness, but I’m happy with the result today.”
GAME 1: Evansville 3, Ohio State 4 In his first career start as a Buckeye, sophomore second baseman L Grant Davis had a memorable day, posting a walk-off RBI single as the Buckeyes won, 4-3, against Evansville in game one in Columbus. Davis, a native of Newport Beach, Calif., scored pinch runner Jalen Washington with a one-out RBI single through the right side.
Sophomore pitcher Travis Lakins had another quality starting, tossing a career-high seven innings pitch, while limiting the EU bats to three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. He received a no decision after the Aces tied the contest in the top of the eighth scoring two runs vs. the OSU bullpen.
Senior pitcher Trace Dempsey claimed the win to improve to 3-0, throwing the final two frames and allowed one hit on two earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts.
The Purple Aces jumped out to a 1-0 lead after a two-out RBI triple by Boomer Synek vs. Lakins. The Buckeyes had a chance to tie it in the bottom half, but Ronnie Dawson was thrown out at home plate to end the inning following a single down the right field line by Pat Porter. Ohio State had the bases loaded in the bottom of the second vs. UE starter Matt Rodgers, but failed to push around any runs. Nick Sergakis tied the contest an inning later when he blooped an RBI single to left to plate Porter, who was hit by a pitch with two down by Rodgers.
The Scarlet and Gray earned its first lead of the twinbill in the bottom of the fifth. Davis knocked his first extra-base hit as a Buckeye with a double to right center to lead off. Troy Montgomery then sacrificed him over with a bunt before Sabanosh slapped an infield RBI single to score Davis from third base. UE head coach Wes Carroll then went to his bullpen as Ryan Billo replaced Rodgers on the mound. Patrick Schnieders received the loss giving up the winning run in the bottom of the ninth and falls to 0-2. Offensively, Davis was 2-for-3 with a walk, RBI and double. Connor Sabanosh also had a pair of hits with a double.
GAME 2: Evansville 2, Ohio State 12 Another strong pitching performance by senior Ryan Riga combined with a season-high 16 hits was the headline in a 12-2 win in game two. The Ohio State bats scored a pair of runs in the second, third and eighth innings and also had a six-run, sixth inning in the team’s third home win of 2015.
In the second, a double Nennig and single by Montgomery made it 2-0 vs. EU starting pitcher Brodie Harkness, who suffered his first loss of his career, allowing seven runs on 11 hits, one walk with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
A lead-off home run by Porter and solo shot by Kuhn down the left field line extended the lead to 4-0 in the third inning. The team then opened the game, 10-0, with a six runs on five hits vs. Evansville in the sixth. Freshman Jordan McDonough doubled down the left field to plate two runs, while Porter collected his second extra-base hit of the game to plate another run. Dawson closed out the big inning with a bases-clearing three-run double to left center vs. relief pitcher Brian Jestice.
Meanwhile, Riga cruised through the EU batting order in his seven innings, putting down seven in a row during the game. He finished the day with a season-high seven strikeouts, limiting the EU bats to three hits and no walks to improve to 3-1. OSU freshman pitcher Seth Kinker made his second appearance of the season in the eighth and stranded two runners after striking out the side. Ohio State added two more in the bottom of the eighth on a double to left center by Kuhn to plate Washington and pinch hitter Jake Brobst.
Redshirt sophomore pitcher Shea Murray concluded the contest in the ninth in his first action of 2015. He allowed two runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Kuhn went 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, three runs scored and three RBI, while McDonough was also 3-for-4 with two doubles, run scored and two RBI. Porter went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI, two runs scored, a walk and home run.
UP NEXT Ohio State continues its 11-game homestand with a two-game series Tuesday-Wednesday against Rider. First pitch for game one will be at 5:05 p.m. ET at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.
DOUBLEHEADER NOTES: Game 1 ? Junior third baseman Nick Sergakis started for the first time in his career at third base. ? Sophomore second baseman L Grant Davis made his first career start as a Buckeye second base. He picked up his first career extra-base hit as a Buckeye in the fifth inning and claimed his first multi-hit game of his career with the walk-off winner. ? Sophomore center fielder Troy Montgomery has reached base safely in 10-consecutive games. He also extended his hit streak to seven straight games (career-best). ? Senior right fielder Pat Porter extended his reached base and hit streaks to six in a row. ? Junior shortstop Craig Nennig extended his hit streak to six straight games (career-best) and reached base stretch to seven in a row. ? Sophomore pitcher Travis Lakins pitched a career-high seven innings.
Game 2 ? Senior pitcher Ryan Riga had a season-high seven strikeouts in the contest and limited the Aces to just three hits. ? Nine different Buckeyes had a hit, while three Buckeyes had multi-hit games. ? Junior third baseman Troy Kuhn was a triple short of the cycle. He had three extra base hits (season-high). ? Porter launched his team-best third home run of the year. ? Freshman Jordan McDonough collected a season-high three hits on two doubles and a single. ? Sophomore Jalen Washington collected his first career hit. ? Redshirt sophomore pitcher Shea Murray made his first appearance out of the bullpen this year. ? Sabanosh (7), Montgomery (7), Nennig (7) and Porter (6) each extended their season-high hit streaks. ? Montgomery (10), Sabanosh (9), Nennig (8), Gretz (7), Dawson (7) and Porter (6) also continued their reached-base streaks.
