Ohio State Tops Lehigh, 7-3

Tuesday, March 14

Port Charlotte, Fla.

Ohio State

7-8

Lehigh

2-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Lehigh	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Ohio State	2	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	X	7	12	0

Ohio State Tops Lehigh, 7-3

3/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 14, 2017

Box Score

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The Ohio State baseball team opened play at the 2017 Snowbird Classic with a 7-3 win over Lehigh Tuesday afternoon at North Charlotte Regional Park. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 7-8 on the year, while Lehigh falls to 2-9 in 2017.

“It was good to have Jake out there and get his first start,” head coach Greg Beals said. “He wasn’t his sharpest today, but gave us some quality innings. It’s a great experience for him and we will look forward to more starts from Jake Vance. Offensively, we set the tone, scoring in the first four innings. We played strong defense behind our pitching staff. I was really happy for Woodby, Stoll and Irving who closed out the ball game. We were able to rest our other bullpen guys and we will be ready to finish out this trip tomorrow.”

Each Buckeye in the lineup recorded a hit vs. the Mountain Hawks. Tre’ Gantt went 1-for-3 with two runs scored, a home run and two walks, while Zach Ratcliff was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Tyler Cowles was 1-for-2 with a run scored, two RBI and walk. Dominic Canzone, Bo Coolen and Noah McGowan each had two hit days. On the mound, Austin Woodby was credited with the win to improve to 1-0 on the year after throwing 2.1 scoreless innings of relief work.

BUCKEYE SCORING PLAYS
Ohio State plated two runs in the opening at-bat against right-hander Matt Ashey. Gantt walked to start things off before Jalen Washington was hit by a pitch. A single by Noah McGowan made it a 1-0 contest. Zach Ratcliff then ripped a double to right center to push Washington around.

After Lehigh scored a run on a sac fly in the top of the second, the Buckeyes answered with a sac fly of their own in the bottom half when Washington drove in Tyler Cowles on an 0-2 pitch off Ratner. Cowles scored Bo Coolen in the following inning with a sac fly to center field for a 4-1 lead.
The Buckeyes regained a three-run advantage with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Gantt connected on a 2-2 fastball vs. left-handed reliever Sam Ashey for a solo home run to lead off the inning. Washington knocked a single and scored on a sac fly by Ratcliff. The Buckeyes scored one more run in the bottom of the seventh on a RBI base-hit by Cowles.

LEHIGH MAKES IT A ONE-RUN LEAD
The Mountain Hawks trimmed the Scarlet and Gray lead to one run in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third, a RBI ground out by Scarr tallied Lehigh’s second run. Donovan pushed a run home on a single to left field.

VANCE MAKES FIRST START
Rookie right-hander Jake Vance made his first start of his Buckeye career and received a no decision. Vance pitched 3.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with one strikeout and two walks.

BULLPEN SHUTS THE DOOR
Right-handed reliever Austin Woodby replaced Vance with two down in the bottom of the fourth and did a great job, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and limited the Mountain Hawks to two hits. Woodby was credited with the win to improve to 1-0 on the year. Left-hander Joe Stoll continued the trend on the mound and kept the Lehigh hitters off-balanced. He tossed two scoreless innings with a career-high four strikeouts and one hit. Right-hander Curtiss Irving tossed a scoreless ninth.

UP NEXT
Ohio State concludes its spring break trip against Bucknell at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at North Charlotte Regional Park at the 2017 Snowbird Classic. Left-handed pitcher Connor Curlis is set to make his first career start for the Scarlet and Gray.

GAME NOTES

Gantt has reached base safely in all 15 games. Gantt knocked his second home run of the year.
Other reach base streaks extended: Coolen (9) and Ratcliff (6).
Hit streaks extended: Ratcliff (4).
Multi-hit games: McGowan (4), Coolen (4) and Canzone (2).
Multi-RBI games: Cowles (4) and Ratcliff (3).
Vance made his first career start.
Stoll struck out a career-high four batters.
Woodby picked up his sixth career win today.