Ugh! Bucks Lose to Air Force 9-8

With the score tied and the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Ohio State pitcher Drew Rucinski hit Air Force second baseman Jon McMahon to give the Falcons a 9-8 win over the Buckeyes (box score) in the opening game of the Papa John’s Palm Beach Challenge.

The Buckeyes took an 8-6 lead in the top of the inning after Cory Rupert drove in J.B. Shuck, who led off the inning with a triple. Rupert scored on a ground-ball, double play. Eric Best returned to the mound in the bottom of the inning and gave up a lead-off single before getting a strikeout. But the Buckeyes went with Rucinski, who hit his first batter, Nathan Carter, before giving up a two-run triple to Addison Gentry. Rucinski walked Ben Ausbun, then intentionally walked Jason Griggs to load the bases before his second hit by pitch cost the Buckeyes the game.

It is a tough loss for the Buckeyes, who fell to 4-3. It was the third win for Air Force in 10 games this season. Ohio State, which committed two errors, out-hit its opponent 12-9. Rupert led the team with three hits in the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Lead-off batter J.B. Shuck and Cory Kovanda, batting ninth, each had two hits. Dan DeLucia got the start and lasted five innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He did not have a strikeout but walked one.

The Buckeyes play Maine Saturday at 5 p.m. and close out the weekend vs. UConn Sunday at noon.

Scouting the Opposition

Air Force: The Falcons took a 2-5 record with them to West Palm Beach for the Papa John's Palm Beach Challenge. They were slated to open play Thursday against Maine, but the game was rained out. The team is batting .247 and is led by Nathan Carter’s .417 batting average. Of his 10 hits, he has three doubles and a triple while driving in five runs. Matt Alexander has a .385 batting average and has the team’s only home run. He paces the team with nine RBI and also has 10 hits, including a pair of doubles and a triple. The pitching staff has a 6.20 ERA. Alex Truesdale has made two starts and is 0-1 with 10 strikeouts and a 2.81 ERA in 16.0 innings. Michael Ruvolo has made four appearances and has a 0.93 ERA in 9.2 innings. Jake Petro leads the team with three starts, but has pitched 10.1 innings and shares the team lead with 10 strikeouts though has a 10.97 ERA. Air Force was 8-44 overall in 2007 and went winless in 23 Mountain West Conference games.

MAINE: The Black Bears are 4-5 and have lost five straight games after claiming a pair of doubleheaders at Delaware State to open the season. The team was swept in a three-game series at UNLV and is 0-2 on its current spring trip in south Florida, losing to Notre Dame and Florida International. A game vs. Air Force on Thursday was rained out. The team is batting .335 and is led by Curt Smith’s .487 average (19-for-39) and four home runs. He also has 10 RBI. Myckie Lugbauer is batting .474 and paces the squad with five doubles and 12 RBI. Joe Miller has made two starts and is 1-0 with an 0.75 ERA in 12.0 innings though has walked seven against six strikeouts. No other starter has an ERA lower than 4.91 on a staff that has a 7.07 collective ERA entering a split doubleheader between Air Force and Ohio State on Saturday. Maine compiled a 22-31 record for the 2007 season and went 12-11 to earn a fourth-place finish in the American East Conference.

CONNECTICUT: UConn has started its season 0-6 with losses to Missouri, Stetson, Michigan State and three to UNC-Greensboro. The Huskies will face Air Force on Saturday before squaring off against the Buckeyes on Sunday. Mike Oly leads the Huskies with a .409 average though the team is batting just .201. The team’s ERA is 6.75. The Huskies went 34-27 overall in 2007 and finished eighth in the Big East with a 10-14 record.

Check out the official Ohio State release entering the weekend.

Against the Opposition

Ohio State heads to West Palm Beach, Fla., this weekend for three games against Air Force, Maine and Connecticut. All three games will be played at the Santaluces Sports Complex. The Buckeyes will take on Air Force Friday at 7 p.m., ET, before meeting the Black Bears Saturday at 5 p.m. The team closes out the weekend vs. UConn Sunday at noon. Let The Buckeye Nine know if you’ll be going to the games. If so, email the blog a few photos at BuckeyeNine@gmail.com.

Air Force: Buckeyes lead series 1-0
This will be just the second ever meeting between Air Force and Ohio State. The Buckeyes claimed the first meeting 5-4 in 2000 at the Service Academies Spring Classic in Millington, Tenn., the same locale where both teams opened the 2008 season.

Maine: First meeting between programs
The Buckeyes and Black Bears have never met on the baseball diamond.

Connecticut: Buckeyes lead series 3-2
Ohio State has won two consecutive games in this series and took a one-game lead in the five previous games between the schools with a 2-1 victory last season in Jacksonville, Fla., at the Kennel Club Classic. OSU coach Bob Todd is 3-1 against the Huskies at Ohio State. UConn downed the Buckeyes 1-0 in the first-ever meeting between the programs in 1970. Three of the five games in the series have been decided by one run and another was a two-run game.