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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Season Over

Indiana scored twice in the top of the 10th inning to beat Ohio State 10-8 Thursday, eliminating the Buckeyes from the Big Ten tournament and ending their season (Box Score). It was the first ever win by the Hoosiers against the Buckeyes in four tournament games.

Despite five solid outings, OSU freshman Alex Wimmers hit the first batter of the 10th and a bunt moved him over. Buckeye skipper Bob Todd brought in closer Eric Best. After a fly out moved a runner to third, he gave up the lead on a double by Andrew Means and a single by Chris Hervey added another insurance run.

The Buckeyes went quietly in the bottom of the inning.

Ohio State trailed early in the game and was able to tie it in the eighth to force extra innings after failing to score with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth.

Ohio State found themselves in a 4-0 hole to start the game and Indiana added another run in the second before the Buckeyes got two back in the bottom of the inning. The Scarlet and Gray took a 6-5 lead in the third inning with a four spot thanks to RBI by Dan Burkhart, Tyler Engle and Tony Kennedy. The first run of the inning scored on an error.

The lead was short-lived as the Hoosiers came back with three runs in the fourth. Ohio State put another run on the board in the fifth and left the bases loaded, yet trailed by an 8-7 score.

Jake Hale got the start and was less than stellar. He pitched four innings and allowed eight runs (only two earned) on 11 hits. He struck out three and did not walk a batter before handing over the Buckeyes' chances to Wimmers.

Wimmers pitched well, getting out of trouble in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings. He retired the batters in order in the seventh and kept the Hoosiers scoreless in his 5.1 innings. He allowed two hits, walked two and fanned two yet kept his team within striking distance. It is a shame he had to get the loss. Best replaced him with one on and one out in the top of the 10th.

Cory Kovanda's sacrifice plated Justin Miller to tie the game in the eighth, but the Buckeyes left two runners on, including Burkhart at third.

Kennedy led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to left. Hurley's sac bunt moved Kennedy into scoring position and then the Hoosiers intentionally walked J.B. Shuck, putting runners at first and second with one out for Miller, who drew a walk to load the bases.

Ryan Dew, who was hitting .400 with the bases loaded and .346 with runners in scoring position, was brought in to pinch hit for Meade and grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Tony Kennedy and Ryan Meade each had three hits to lead the Buckeyes, which also had multiple hits from Kovanda and Burkhart. Kennedy drove in three runs. Ohio State finished the game with 12 hits and walked 11 times. Buckeye pitching allowed 15 hits and walked just two.

It was a sloppy game with seven errors between the squads, including five by the Hoosiers.

Indiana was hot heading into the tournament, having won its last seven games and 10 of their previous 13. Even so, I never thought this game would be close. I certainly did not see the season ending today.

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Ohio State finished a disappointing 30-26. You have to look back to 1999 when the Buckeyes last went 0-2 in the Big Ten Tournament. Of course, that season fans didn't mind as much since they hosted a regional and super regional and came within one game of advancing to the College World Series.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do not have a good feeling. I really do not think this team has the leadership to fight out of this like last year's team. Plus even if we win today we certainly do not have the pitching staff to get much further (especially with us using 2 starters yesterday). Something really has to be done with the program... Todd made many questionable decision with playing time, the recuiting has suffered over the last few years and he really not longer seems to have the ability to inspire and motivate his team. I think we all have been hoping against hope but that is reality

formerlyanonymous said...

Who would have though there would be this many runs in a game started by Hale and Bashore. Why on earth didn't Todd use Hale in relief yesterday. The guy has been the weakest starter down the stretch. I really loved his choice to start DeLucia, but using Wolosiansky was puzzling. The decision not to start Shuck today was just as puzzling.

Buckeye Nine said...

I, too, like the decision to go with DeLucia yesterday and found the idea of using Wolo absurd, quite frankly. If Shuck would have had more rest I would have considered using him since Illinois hadn't seen him this year. I just wish the offense would have shown up yesterday. Going into the game today, I thought Hale was the right decision and then he came out and allowed four in the first. Fielding has been a thorn in our side all season (and for several years).

Buckeye Nine said...

Bucks tie it in the eighth. Left the bases loaded with one out in the ninth. Now in extras.

4 of the last 6 said...

HighHeat responded to my

"Armstrong and Rucinski were disappointing" post (in a prior thread) with the following. My response to that thrad's post in CAPS

You're kidding me, there freshmen. I ASSUME YOU MEAN THEY ARE (AS OPPOSED TO 'THERE'). DID YOU NOT READ MY ENTIRE POST!? I SAID THAT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THEY W/B SOPHS NEXT YEAR AND I EXPECT THEY'LL BE OK Is our pitching staff so bad that we have to count on freshman? YOU'VE ACTUALLY ANSWERED THE QUESTION YOU RAISE .... OBVIOUSLY, IF THESE KIDS HAD TO PITCH AS MUCH AS THEY DID .... OUR PITCHING WAS THAT BAD (AND FURTHER PROVED IN THE TOURNEY) IF IT WEREN'T; THEY WOULD HAVE RED-SHIRTED AS WOLO DID LAST YEAR!

Here is a link to all the D1 schools, look and see how our freshman compare.

www.ncaa-baseball.com/div1master.htm

ONE THING I'V LEARNED IS THAT YOU CANNOT MATCH NORTHERN BASEBALL STATS VS THE REST OF THE NCAA. IT'S LIKE SAYING THE MAC CAN BE COMPARED TO THE BCS CONFERENCES IN FOOTBALL. APPLES AND ORANGES.

I think we are in I ASSUME YOU MEAN WILL BE IN GREAT SHAPE. IF YOU REALLY MEAN 'ARE' WELL ... OUT OF THE TOURNAY IS HARDLY GREAT. OUR PITCHING HAS POTENTIAL BUT, AS I SAID IN MY ORIGINAL POST, JOSH AND THERON NEED TO COME BACK FROM INJURIES AND WE NEED MORE FROM EDGIN great shape and our pitching staff will be strong next year. I do hope the pitching coach gets a plan

rockybuckeye said...

There is so much to talk about regarding the game yesterday, the season, the program as a whole, I don't even know where to start and maybe I won't/shouldn't.

Thanks for having a great site Todd.

Nice to be able to speak to you yesterday 33.

rockybuckeye said...

Also thanks and congrats to Dan, Rory, Chris, and Tony. They've been with the program 5 years, and you really can't say anything bad about them. They're all team players, and contributed to the program.

Anonymous said...

Todd thanks for the great blog this season!

BaseballBucks33 said...

Just returned from AA. Had a fun week of Big Ten baseball up north. It was really good baseball,except for the Bucks early exit. More on that later.

Really wanted to see Purdue and UM play again today,but the best team won. Purdue pitched pretty well last night,but could not muster any hits vs. Burgoon/Powers. Tyler Burgoon was very impressive in person. Throws hard and has a good curve. He is going to be a good one.Purdue folks think a NCAA bid will come their way,but i don't think so. I did not want to ruin there dreams though.Very nice people from Boiler country to watch the game with last night.

Bad loss vs. IU the other day. I really felt the coaching staff lost that game.Some of the moves we made were BAD. I don't know what else to say.Todd was not on his A game to say the least. I could go on for days. You just have to hope it will change next year for good.

I also want to thank Rory,Chris,Tony and Dan. They are great ballplayers and even better people. They will be missed a lot.

RB,nice to meet you and talk. That was fun.Kinda dumb luck i guess.It was fun.LOL

Todd great site,i have been waiting for this for years.A good blog to talk Ohio State baseball. A job well done all year with news,inside info and opinions. Has been a rough year,but at least i had someone else out their to talk too.

Go Bucks!

Buckeye Nine said...

Thanks for the kind words about the site. It has been a lot of work this season, but it helped me still feel connected to the program. I will always follow Ohio State baseball.

My intent is to keep this blog going through the summer and into next season. I would like to follow summer leagues and try to catch up with Buckeyes now in pro ball while keeping tabs on recruiting, scheduling and other things affecting the program.

Enjoy your summer and Go Bucks!