The Ohio State baseball team lost, 4-3, in a six-inning exhibition game Tuesday night against the Columbus Clippers.

Along with the chance to play against a Triple-A ball club that is coming off a national championship, Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians suited up for the Clippers on rehab assignment. Sizemore is recovering from microfracture surgery on his left knee.

He was joined by fellow Indians reliever Joe Smith, who would pitch for OSU.

“Right now, I am just trying to get my innings up,” Sizemore said. “Just trying to get in as many games as I can here and there in the next couple weeks.”

While Sizemore saw it as his chance to return to his original self, OSU coach Greg Beals said he saw the game as a learning experience.

“It’s something I told our guys when we got off the bus, ‘Pay attention,'” Beals said. “We came in here, watched them take batting practice, watched them take ground balls, watched them prepare, watched these guys who do this for a living.”

The Buckeyes were anticipating the chance to play against Sizemore.

“Well, they all know; they all read the paper,” Beals said. “They are excited to play against those type of guys, to be on the same field as Major League players.”

Beals also said he hoped his players would enjoy a taste of Huntington Park, which will host the Big Ten Conference Tournament in May.

“I want us to gain the experience of being in this venue,” Beals said.

The Clippers provided pitchers for both teams. Austin Adams started for the Clippers, and Zach McAllister pitched for the Buckeyes.

Sizemore finished the game 0–for-4, but he reached first on an error that drove in Bubba Bell.

OSU would tie the game with a single-run shot to left-center field from right fielder Brian Delucia.

“When I hit it, I figured it was just an extra base hit. I was hoping it would get over the left fielder’s head,” Delucia said. “It felt good, but I didn’t know it was out when I hit it.”

Sizemore later would score a run off of third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall’s two RBIs hit in the third inning.

Later in the fourth, Clippers catcher Luke Carlin, catching for OSU, would hit a two-run shot over the wall in right field to tie the game at three.

In the fifth inning, outfielder Chad Huffman would drive in Chisenhall with a single, putting Columbus up, 4-3, for the win.