Michigan State University
Ohio State
Ninth-Inning Rally Downs Baseball
4/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 17, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. - With the score tied at two in the top of the ninth inning, Ohio State scored twice with two outs and held on to defeat Michigan State, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at McLane Baseball Stadium. MSU is now even in the Big Ten at 4-4 and is now 22-9 overall. Ohio State is now 6-2 in the conference and 21-9 overall.
Both teams struggled all game to get clutch hitting as each left 10 runners on base through eight innings of play.
Ohio State managed to brake the trend in the top of the ninth though as it scored twice with two outs to take a 4-2 lead. Ryan Dew's RBI single made it 3-2 and then a wild pitch by MSU reliever Kurtis Frymier allowed another run to score.
Eli Boike led off the ninth inning with a home run that easily cleared the right field fence to pull MSU within one run, 4-3. OSU relief pitchers Theron Minium and Eric Best then combined to retire the next three Spartan hitters to end the game.
After giving up a hit on his first pitch of the game, MSU starter Kurt Wunderlich didn't allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning. Wunderlich stranded a total of seven runners on base until the Buckeyes finally got to him with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
With MSU leading 1-0, Zach Hurley's solo home run down the right field line tied the game. A Spartan error then kept the inning alive and OSU catcher Dan Burkhart capitalized with an RBI-double that gave OSU the lead, 2-1.
With two Buckeyes still on base, MSU relievers Tim Simpson and Trey Popp combined to get the Spartans out of the inning with no further damage.
Three consecutive hits by Chris Roberts, Andy Johnson and Eli Boike to start the bottom of the seventh inning put the Spartans in prime position to rally. Brandon Eckerle followed Boike's single with a base knock of his own that brought in Roberts to tie the game at two.
With the bases still loaded and no outs, MSU was poised to break loose and put up a big number in the inning, but Ohio State starter Drew Rucinski gave way to Minium who retired three consecutive Spartans and kept the game tied at two.
"That was a big turning point in the game," said MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. "We had a chance to shift the momentum and put a good team away and we didn't do it."
MSU took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when John Martinez drove in Torsten Boss with an infield single that he just beat out at first base. Martinez's RBI proved costly though as he was forced to leave the game with an upper-body injury after sliding into first base.
Popp (2-2) suffered the loss for MSU while Mimium (2-0) earned the win.
Michigan State will look to avoid being swept when the two teams meet tomorrow in the third and final game of the series at 1:05 p.m. at McLane Baseball Stadium.
