Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in 5-3 Loss at Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes

Sunday, April 24

Champaign, Ill.

Ohio State

25-14-1, 5-7

Illinois

20-17, 6-6

Ohio State

Illinois

Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in 5-3 Loss at Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes

4/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

cred: Cary Frye

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A ninth-inning rally ended just short as the Ohio State baseball team fell, 5-3, in the series finale at Illinois Sunday afternoon at Illinois Field. The Buckeyes (25-14-1, 5-7 B1G) scored a run in the top of the ninth on a Craig Nennig home run and had the tying-run on second base, but a ground out to the right side sealed the series win for the Fighting Illini (20-17, 6-6 B1G).

Ronnie Dawson had another big day at the dish, going 2-for-4 with a double, home run, one run scored and two RBI. He also made a leaping catch against the wall to end the bottom of the second. Tre’ Gantt went 2-for-3 with a run scored. On the mound, Adam Niemeyer received the loss to drop to 2-3, while Cole Bellair earned the win to improve to 2-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Illini came out with two runs in the bottom of the first vs. Niemeyer. Doran Turchin knocked a RBI triple before Jason Goldenstein scored him on a RBI grounder. The Buckeyes cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the of the sixth when Dawson went opposite field with a solo home run that carried just over the wall in left cut the deficit to one run. The Illini pushed their lead to four runs in the bottom of the seventh with one swing of the bat after a bases-clearing double on a 2-2 count by lead-off hitter Jack Yalowtiz. The big play for the Illini was set up following a lead-off single and back-to-back two-out walks by Niemeyer. Dawson trimmed the lead to three runs in the top of the eighth with a two-out RBI double off left-hander J.D. Nielsen to plate Troy Montgomery from first base.

The Buckeyes had a runner on in the first, second, fourth and seventh, but failed to push any runs across home plate.

STARTER TALK
After allowing a pair of run in his opening inning of work, Niemeyer settled down on the bump and pitched five straight scoreless frames. But in the bottom of the seventh, the three-run double by Yalowitz ended his day on the mound. He tossed 6.2 innings and allowed five runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks to drop to 3-2.

TO THE BULLPEN
Right-hander Seth Kinker relieved Niemeyer with two down in the bottom of the seventh. He threw one frame and gave up one hit. Left-hander Michael Horejsei threw two pitches in 0.1 innings of work.

UP NEXT
Ohio State will have a few days off to prepare for finals before the Buckeyes travel to West Lafayette, Ind., next weekend for a three-game series vs. Purdue.

WORTHY NOTES

Ohio State is now 104-102-2 all-time vs. Illinois. The Buckeyes are 48-56 all-time in Champaign.
The Scarlet and Gray drop to 5-7 in Big Ten play and 1-5 in road league contests.
The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten with 41 home runs and 90 doubles in 2016.
Dawson launched his eighth home run of the season and 19th of his career. He extended his career-high reached base streak to 17 and hit streak to nine in a row. He also notched his 13th multi-hit game and seventh multi-RBI performance.
Sergakis extended his reached base streak to 11-consecutive games and hit streak to four. He’s reached base safely in 39 of 40 games in 2016.
Kuhn pushed his reached base streak to nine-consecutive contests, while Montgomery pushed his to eight straight games and Gantt to four in a row.
Gantt notched his fifth double in his fifth multi-hit contest of the season.
Nennig hit his fourth home run of the year, while Washington collected his eighth double of the season.
Kinker made his team-high 21st appearance, while Horejsei made his 20th of the season.