The Minnesota Gophers knocked the Ohio State baseball team out of the Big Ten tournament Saturday with a 9-6 victory over the Buckeyes in the semifinal round.
After leading the Big Ten in the regular season, the No. 1-seed Buckeyes played unlike themselves in all areas of the game. OSU won the first of the three games it played, but even in the 7-4 win against Illinois Friday it had to come from behind to stay in the winners’ bracket.
CHRISTIAN LAUTENSCHLEGER/THE LANTERNOhio State senior Justin Miller walks away after recording OSU’s final out against Minnesota during their Big Ten tournament semifinal game on Saturday. OSU lost 9-6.Opposing hitters’ success against Buckeye pitchers continued Saturday in the loss to Minnesota. The Golden Gophers’ 17-hit performance in the semifinal game eliminated OSU (40-17) from the tournament.
Minnesota (38-16) scored four runs on six hits in the first inning against OSU starting pitcher Eric Best, (7-4) who allowed five runs on nine hits in four and one-third innings.
The first five batters of OSU’s lineup singled to cut the deficit to one run in the bottom of the first inning.
Minnesota’s Eric Decker hit a home run to center field in the third inning to give the Golden Gophers a 5-4 lead. Decker was 4-for-4 with four RBIs in the game. He broke the game open with a two-run single in the sixth inning to give Minnesota an 8-4 lead.
OSU’s Dan Burkhart hit his 10th home run of the season to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 9-5.
Drew Rucinski gave up four runs on six hits and walked two batters in three and one-third innings in relief of Best.
The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announced the 16 regional sites for the 63rd annual NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Monday, but Columbus was not chosen to host one of the 16 regional sites.
OSU will be joined by eighth-ranked Florida State (40-14), Georgia (37-22) and Marist (31-26) in regional play in Tallahassee, Fla. Each regional field features a four-team tournament with a double-elimination format.
The games are scheduled to run Friday to Monday. The Buckeyes (No. 3 seed) will face Georgia (No. 2 seed) in the first game of the regional at noon Friday.
Hoosiers shell Wolosiansky on Friday
OSU starting pitcher Dean Wolosiansky looked anything but dominant after the third inning of Friday’s game.
Wolosiansky surrendered eight runs on nine hits in the fourth and fifth innings in a 13-3 loss to Indiana (31-25).
“[Wolosiansky] started pitching behind hitters,” coach Bob Todd said. “Indiana’s hitters are very hot right now and you start giving them that advantage, they’ll take advantage of it.”
Hurley singled to the short stop to lead off the game. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch and scored three batters later when Dan Burkhart singled to center field.
Tyler Engle singled to the pitcher and advanced to second base on Monar’s throwing error in the second inning. The error allowed Miller to score to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead.
The Hoosiers threatened to score in the third inning when Big Ten Freshman of the Year Alex Dickerson doubled to left field. Wolosiansky struck out the next three batters.
OSU (40-16) was unable to take advantage of its bases-loaded opportunity in the fifth inning. Kovanda hit into 5-2-3 double play and Stephens flied out to right field.
“Timing is everything,” Todd said. “Corey Kovanda had two hits tonight and the one time we needed it he grounded into a double play.”
Indiana singled in the first five at-bats against Wolosiansky before he was relieved by right-hander Jared Strayer, who did not do any better. Strayer hit the first batter he faced with a fastball to give the Hoosiers a 5-2 lead. Tyler Rogers hit a bases-clearing triple to left center field and Jake Dunning hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Rogers to give Indiana a 10-2 lead.
Strayer finished the last four innings of the game. He gave up five runs (three earned) on four hits.
With runners on first and third bases in the seventh inning, Stephens grounded out to Monar to score Streng.
Monar earned the win for Indiana. The freshman gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits in six and two-thirds innings pitched.
Buckeyes rally past Illini Thursday
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that OSU took a lead against Illinois Thursday, but the Buckeyes rallied to win 7-4 in the second round of the tournament.
In the second inning, Illinois jumped to an early 2-0 lead. Illinois’ Dominic Altobelli reached base on Justin Miller’s fielding error to start the inning. One batter later, Alex Wimmers’ 1-0 pitch led to a two-run home run to left field by catcher Aaron Johnson.
Johnson was 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Johnson hit a single in the fourth inning and doubled in the sixth inning to give Illinois a 4-1 lead.
The Buckeyes scored two runs in the sixth inning to narrow the Illinois lead to one run. The first three batters singled to load the bases. Miller hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Michael Stephens, and Michael Arp grounded out to third base to score Dan Burkhart.
The Buckeyes loaded the bases again in the seventh inning as Matt Streng and Zach Hurley walked and Corey Kovanda bunted for a single. OSU took a 5-4 lead when Stephens and Ryan Dew hit ground balls, each scoring a run.
The Buckeyes had already scored a run in the eighth inning when Hurley tried to score on an inside-the-park home run. He tripled past center fielder Joe Bonadonna, who dove for Hurley’s line drive, but was thrown out at home plate on shortstop Brandon Wikoff’s relay throw.
Wimmers gave up four runs on six hits and struck out nine batters in six and one-third inning pitched. He had trouble controlling his pitches in his last three innings, but Drew Rucinski bailed him out of a jam in the seventh inning.
With runners on second and third bases, Rucinski got Altobelli to fly out to right field and Johnson to line out to shortstop. Rucinski pitched a perfect eighth inning before he was relieved by closer Jake Hale in the ninth inning. Rucinski improved his record to 10-2 this year.
Hale gave up a lead off single to begin the ninth, but he struck out two of the next three batters to earn his Big Ten-leading 16th save of the season. Hale’s save tied the OSU single season saves record. It was his 27th of his career, which tied him for the OSU career saves mark with Cory Cox.
The win was the Buckeyes’ 40th win of the season and was the 12th time Todd has had a team win 40 or more games in a season.
Alex Kopilow can be reached at [email protected].
