Miscues Costly as No. 23 Ohio State Drops 6-5 Game vs. No. 6 Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes

Saturday, May 2

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

31-12, 12-5

No. 6 Illinois

39-6-1, 15-1

Illinois

Ohio State

Miscues Costly as No. 23 Ohio State Drops 6-5 Game vs. No. 6 Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes

5/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

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May 2, 2015

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 23 Ohio State baseball team suffered a 6-5 defeat against No. 6 Illinois Saturday afternoon at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. With the loss, the Buckeyes fall to 31-12, 12-5 in the Big Ten, while the Illini improve to 39-6-1, 15-1 in conference play.

“Today hurts a little more because I didn’t think we got beat,” head coach Greg Beals said. ”We didn’t play clean defense. Lakins was pitching well and in the fifth inning a routine ball goes through the legs and that fueled their fire. The fifth inning really opened the gates for them and we didn’t execute our pitches as well as we wanted to in the sixth inning. We put two good swings on against Tyler Jay, but had nothing to show for it. The difference today was two unearned runs.”

Despite taking an early lead, the Illini scored three fifth and six innings, respectively, to improve their win streak to 20-consecutive games. Ohio State starting pitcher Travis Lakins got off to a strong start, but gave up six runs, including four earned, to fall to 3-3. He allowed six hits on six strikeouts with three walks. Illini starter Drasen Johnson improved to 7-2, throwing six innings on seven hits, four runs, three walks and four strikeouts. Tyler Jay pitched the final 2.1 frames and allowed one hit and no runs for his ninth save of the year.

The Buckeyes needed to get off to a good start, and that’s exactly what they did vs. Johnson. Ohio State took a 2-0 lead through the first four frames, scoring one run in both the first and second innings. A fielding error in the bottom of the first by the UI second baseman allowed Pat Porter to cross the plate, who knocked a two-out double down the right field line. In the second, a two-out RBI single by Troy Montgomery scored Gretz, who led off the inning with a single.

The next two frames went scoreless until Illinois took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth, capitalizing on two OSU defensive miscues. With runners on first and third, the Illini dropped the squeeze play down. Lakins tried to make a flip throw with his glove, but couldn’t field the ball to allow the run to score on the error. A one-out single by Adam Walton pushed two runs around to give the away team the 3-2 advantage.

But the Scarlet and Gray responded quickly with a pair of runs to take a 4-3 advantage in the bottom half. Montgomery claimed his 16th extra-base hit for a double to left center to score Gantt all the way from first base. Gannt began the at bat with a lead-off single up the middle. With two down, Ronnie Dawson came up with the clutch hit with a two-out RBI single to give Ohio State its second lead of the afternoon.

However, Illinois continued to battle at the plate and struck with three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-4. Back-to-back RBI singles gave the Illini a 5-4 advantage. A sac fly made it 6-4.

Ohio State cut its deficit to 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh on a RBI groundout by Porter, but that was all the Buckeyes would get as Jay limited the OSU bats to one hit with a strikeout. Troy Kuhn flied out right at the wall in dead center vs. Jay, while Jordan McDonough lined out to right center as a pinch hitter in the ninth.

The OSU bullpen threw2.2 scoreless innings vs. the Illini. Seth Kinker allowed one hit on no runs, while Michael Horejsei tossed one shutout inning with a strikeout and Kyle Michalik tossed the final two innings on no hits with one walk.

The Buckeyes and Illini will wrap up the series at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. The game will be streamed on BTN Plus ($) and on the radio at AM 1460 ESPN.

GAME NOTES

The 1965 and 1995 Big Ten championship teams were recognized before the game as part of Alumni Day. The Buckeyes held their annual captain’s breakfast, while the Diamond Club held a picnic out on the patio of Bill Davis Stadium as well. Buckeye alums Chuck Brinkman and Mark Carek threw out the first pitch.
Pat Porter extended his reached base streak to 22-consecutive games.
Troy Montgomery picked up his 13th multi-hit game of the year, while collecting two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base (Big Ten leading 27th of the season).