Michigan State University
Ohio St
Baseball Shuts Down Ohio State, 8-3
5/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2000
Columbus, Ohio - Led by a complete game pitching performance from Josh Axelson (Jr., Brooklyn, Mich.), the Michigan State baseball team (19-34, 8-16 Big Ten) defeated Ohio State (33-20, 13-12), 8-3, on Friday night at Bill Davis Stadium on the OSU campus.
Axelson, who entered the game ninth in the Big Ten in strikeouts, fanned a season and team-high nine batters. In just his second complete game of the season, Axelson (3-6) scattered six hits and three runs in his nine innings of work.
The Spartan starter received plenty of offensive support, as the Spartans pounded out 11 hits for eight runs.
MSU jumped on Buckeye starter E.J. Laretta (6-5) early, scoring seven runs in his four innings of work. Rick Court (Jr., Grosse Pointe, Mich.) led a four-run second inning with his fourth home run of the year, a two-run shot over the centerfield fence. Ted Demetral (Sr., Sterling Heights, Mich.) added an RBI single later in the inning.
Ohio State closed the gap to 4-2 after scoring runs in the second and third innings, but the Spartan bats responded with three runs in the fourth. After consecutive singles by Chris McCuiston (So., Birmingham, Mich.) and Troy Bergman (So., Grosse Pointe, Mich.) to lead off the inning, Brett Wattles (Fr., Rochester, Mich.) crushed a two-run triple to the gap in right-center. Demetral followed Wattles with his second RBI single of the game to increase the MSU lead to five runs. Demetral finished the game 3-for-6 with two RBI and one run scored.
MSU completed its scoring in the sixth on a RBI single by Bob Malek (Fr., Canton, Mich.). Malek's 56 RBI this year are good for fifth best in a single MSU season.
Axelson shut down the Buckeyes the rest of the way, allowing just one more run in the ninth.
Michigan State and Ohio State return to action tomorrow in a doubleheader at Bill Davis Stadium. The first game is scheduled to begin at 4:05 p.m.
Game Summary R H EMSU 040 301 000- 8 11 1OSU 011 000 001- 3 6 2
WP: Axelson-MSU (3-6) LP: Laretta-OSU (6-5)
