Ohio State Eliminates Kent State With 12-8 Victory – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 1, 2002
Box Score
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Ohio State set a school NCAA Tournament record with eight steals and 17 hits to win the elimination game 12-8 over Kent State Saturday in front of 1,034 fans at Frank Eck Stadium. With the win the Buckeyes advance to meet the loser of the winner’s bracket game between top-seeded South Alabama and second-seeded Notre Dame.
The 17 hits by Ohio State were the same number of hits the Buckeyes had against Mississippi State in the 1999 regional in Columbus and the eight stolen bases broke the 35-year record of six against Houston in the 1967 College World Series. Six of the eight stolen bases came from the Brownsburg, Ind. Freshman Drew Anderson and sophomore Brett Garrard each stole three bags, equaling the Ohio State individual NCAA Tournament record.
“As the game progressed, I thought we could utilize our speed on the base paths and that turned into a positive in the game,” said OSU head coach Bob Todd. “I wanted to make sure our guys were awake early in this game and we made that a positive for us.”
Garrard went a perfect 4-for-4 on the day with two RBI and scored three of the 12 Ohio State runs. Six other Buckeyes had two hits apiece, including a home run by Christian Snavely (So., Defiance, Ohio/Defiance), his second in as many games. It was his 10th homer this season and gave him four RBI against Kent State and six in the first two games of this regional.
That three-run shot broke open the game that Ohio State had led just 6-4. The blast off the batter’s eye in right-centerfield scored both Lance Rolston (Jr., Athens, Ohio/Alexander) and Garrard. He had a shot over the rightfield fence Friday against Notre Dame that had given the Buckeyes a 5-2 lead before the Irish answered with a five-run inning. Just as it did Friday against Notre Dame, Ohio State scored first, getting a pair of runs across the plate in the top of the second inning. Joe Wilkins (Sr., Grove City, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) led off the inning with a sharply hit single right at the Kent State first baseman and then Anderson was hit by a pitch.
Wilkins moved to third on a throwing error on catcher Pat O’Brien who threw to second trying to catch Wilkins who had a big lead off the bag. That error opened second for Anderson, who stole his 18th base of the season. Wilkins then scored on a ground out by Rolston. Paul Farinacci (Fr., Westlake Village, Calif./Agoura) started at first base after the Buckeyes were forced to move Nick Swisher (Jr., Parkersbrug, W.Va./Parkersburg) to the outfield in place of an injured Doug Dendinger (Sr., Greenwich, Ohio/South Central). Farinacci sacrificed himself to score Anderson and give the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead. Dendinger sprained a muscle in his back Friday against Notre Dame after sliding into third base in the second inning.
Ohio State added two runs in the third inning on three hits and was aided by two errors by the Golden Flashes to take a 4-0 lead. Kent State then responded by scoring twice in the bottom of the inning on three hits and an error by the Buckeyes.
A base hit by Mike Rabin (Fr., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) scored Garrad and then Swisher singled to drive in Rabin and give the Buckeyes a 6-2 lead in the fourth inning. Kent State pulled within two runs getting a pair of runs on four hits.
Snavely’s home run then gave the Buckeyes a five-run advantage, but a double by Eric O’Brien, a single by Chris Welsch and a walk from Buckeye starter E.J. Laratta (Sr., Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek) to Pat O’Brien loaded the bases. The drew a visit from head coach Bob Todd, who wasted no time in going to the bullpen for reliever Matt Davis (Fr., Mason, Ohio/William Mason) to get the final two outs.
Davis struck out Brady Glass, but walked Tom Martin, which scored Eric O’Brien. Davis battled back to get Casey Ellis swinging for his second strikeout of the inning. The run was Laratta’s responsibility. The senior gave up five runs, four earned, on nine hits with a strikeout and a walk.
“I just tried to throw strikes and get ahead of the batter,” Davis said. “I have been aggressive all year with my fastball. I just kept it low and it worked out well. I had good movement.”
Davis pitched the final 4 2/3 innings, his longest stint in relief this season in getting the win to keep him perfect on the year at 6-0. He allowed three runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts and four walks. His previous long in relief was 2 2/3 though his longest appearance was five innings in a start last month against Miami (Ohio).
Ohio State added two runs in the seventh to take an 11-5 lead before the Golden Flashes scored a run on a sacrifice fly by Ellis. Garrard singled in the Buckeyes’ 12th run of the game in the ninth and then Ellis doubled in the bottom of the ninth to score the final two runs for Kent State.
The win by the Buckeyes snapped a five-game losing skid in the NCAA Tournament that dated back to the 1999 Super Regional when Cal State-Fullerton took the final two games of the best-of-three series to advance to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series. Ohio State was lost its first two games at the Columbus Regional last season to Delaware and Kent State.
