Maryland Rallies to Defeat Ohio State on Senior Day – Ohio State Buckeyes

Sunday, May 10

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

34-15, 13-8

Maryland

35-17, 13-8

Maryland

Ohio State

Maryland Rallies to Defeat Ohio State on Senior Day – Ohio State Buckeyes

5/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

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May 10, 2015

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State baseball team suffered a 14-10 defeat against Maryland Sunday afternoon on Senior Day at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. After the Buckeyes jumped out to an 8-3 lead, the Terrapins rallied to plate 11 runs in the final three innings to claim the series victory. With the loss, the Buckeyes fall to 34-15 and 13-8 in Big Ten play, while the Terrapins improve to 35-17 and 13-8 in league play.

“It was a heavyweight fight, and give them credit, they took punches for five innings and were able to stay in the game,” head coach Greg Beals said. “We have a lot of baseball still to play this year and we need to finish strong in these last four games.”

Just like yesterday, the Buckeyes scored first vs. the Terps. Aaron Gretz’s sacrifice fly to center field scored Troy Kuhn for the 1-0 lead. Kuhn and Ronnie Dawson went back-to-back with doubles off the wall against Maryland starter Brian Shaffer.

Ohio State starter Ryan Riga stranded two runners on base when he made Kevin Smith chase a breaking ball in the turf. The OSU senior lefty punched out six UMD batters through three frames.

In the third, the Buckeyes extended their lead to 3-0 when Pat Porter powered an opposite two-run, two-out home run over the left center wall. Troy Montgomery doubled and scored on the long ball. Riga followed with two more strikeouts in the fourth as he continued to get ahead of the hitters in the count. The Terrapins cut Ohio State lead to one run in the sixth after plating three runs on three hits with one error vs. Riga.

But the Buckeyes came right back with four runs in the bottom half. Troy Kuhn put a charge on a 0-1 pitch vs. UMD reliever Zach Morris for a two-run home run, while Gretz knocked in his second run of the day on a double to center. L Grant Davis then doubled off the wall to make it an 8-3 advantage.

But just like yesterday, the Terps wouldn’t go away quietly, and this time, took the lead against the Scarlet and Gray, scoring seven runs on six hits in the seventh. Maryland scored three runs on four hits vs. Riga to cut the deficit to 8-6. The OSU senior was replaced by right-hander Seth Kinker with two down in the inning. Maryland then hit back-to-back home runs off KInker to take a 10-8 lead.

Ohio State answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh when Nick Sergakis singled to right field to score Kuhn to make it a 10-9 deficit. Maryland reliever Kevin Mooney got Gretz to pop-up in foul territory to leave two runners on base.

Left-hander Michael Horejsei retired both batters he faced in the eighth with strikeouts before Trace Dempsey came in with two down. But a two-out, two-run triple by Lowe made it a 12-9 contest. Montgomery had a two-out single in the eighth, but was left on base as Mooney kept it a three-run deficit. The Terps tacked on two additional runs on a two-out, two-run double to left center. Kuhn hit a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth, but the Scarlet and Gray ran out of outs vs. Moody.

Kinker received the loss to fall to 0-1, allowing three runs on two hits in 0.1 innings. Riga picked up the no decision, allowing seven runs on eight hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work.

The Buckeyes will play their final midweek game of the season at Youngstown State at 6:05 p.m. ET at Eastwood Field before closing the regular season at Indiana Friday-Sunday in Bloomington. Game one will be broadcasted live on BTN at 8 p.m. ET Thursday.

GAME NOTES

The 2015 Senior Class was recognized before the game vs. the Terps (OF Pat Porter, C Connor Sabanosh, C Aaron Gretz, LHP Matt Panek, LHP Ryan Riga and RHP Trace Dempsey). The class has collected 135 wins the last four years.
The Buckeyes boasted nine extra-base hits vs. the UMD pitching.
Pat Porter extended his reached base streak to 29-consecutive games and posted his team-best eighth home run. He went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI.
Troy Montgomery extended his reached base streak to 26 straight games.
Ryan Riga notched a season-best nine strikeouts with one walk in 6.2 innings pitched.
Troy Kuhn posted a career-best two home runs and four runs scored, going 4-for-5 with three RBI. He batted .500 (7-for-14) with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, four RBI and 1.071 slugging in the series vs. the Terps.