Michigan State University
Ohio St
Spartan Baseball Falls Twice At Ohio State
5/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State captured two one-run victories over the Michigan State baseball team, 2-1 in game one and 6-5 in game two, Saturday night (May 10) at Bill Davis Stadium. MSU now stands at 18-31 (8-16 Big Ten) for the season, while OSU moves up to 34-16 (18-9 BT).
Michigan State scored four runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead in game two, but Ohio State countered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to keep its Big Ten title hopes alive. The Spartans now fall to 2-12 in one-run games this season.
In what appeared to be a dramatic game-winning comeback, the Spartans plated four runs off star OSU closer Matt Davis in the game's last frame. With the bases loaded and one out, Scott Koerber (Jr., Harper Woods) drilled a double down the right-field line to drive in two Spartan runs and cut the lead to 4-3. Erik Morris (So., Orchard Lake) tied the game with a sacrifice fly to deep left-center, scoring Travis Gulick (So., East Lansing). James Moreno (Jr., Holt) then gave the Spartans the lead, delivering a clutch two-out liner to right field that Buckeye Wes Schirtzinger couldn't handle, plating Koerber to put MSU up 5-4.
Ohio State didn't waste any time in its turn in the seventh, putting the first two runners on with a double and a walk off reliever Ryan Golem (Sr., Dearborn). The Buckeyes then tried to throw the Spartan defense off guard with a rare squeeze attempt with no outs and runners on first and third, but Golem (2-3) fired the ball to the plate to get the first out of the inning. However, the next two batters recorded back-to-back singles to right field to score OSU's fifth and sixth runs of the game. Steve Caravati registered the game-winning hit, a hard liner that slipped through the right side of the infield to score Mike Rabin.
Ohio State built a 3-0 lead after four innings, but Brett Wattles' (Sr., Rochester) career-high sixth homer of the season in the top of the fifth put the Spartans within two runs. The Buckeyes added an unearned run in bottom of the fifth before MSU's four-run outburst in the seventh.
Tim Day (So., West Chester, Ohio) came up short in yet another close game as the Spartans lost 2-1 in game one of the doubleheader. Day, who has only allowed 14 earned runs in his last 39 innings, surrendered the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth.
In a game eerily close to the 2-1 loss Day suffered at Michigan, OSU manufactured home the go-ahead run on a single, a wild pitch and a MSU throwing error. Buckeye second baseman Christian Snavely nailed a one-out single to right field to start the rally, and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Snavely crossed the plate as MSU shortstop Alan Cattrysse (Fr., Chatham, Ontario) fired an errant throw past first base after coming up just late on a Paul Farinacci infield single. Day falls to 1-4 in Big Ten action although he ranks in the top 10 in ERA during league play.
The Spartans tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth inning on Gulick's team-leading 10th homer of the season, a solo blast over the left-field fence.
It was the only offense MSU could muster against OSU lefty Josh Newman, however, as he limited the Spartans to three hits on a season-high nine strikeouts. The Spartans put just one runner in scoring position - which came in the first inning - but stranded him at third with a flyout.
Not unlike last night, OSU scored its first run with excellent situational hitting. Mike Rabin came around to score in the first on a single, a successful hit-and-run which got him to third, and an infield groundout.
Michigan State and Ohio State finish the series with a single game tomorrow (Sunday, May 11) at 1:05 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
* The doubleheader, originally scheduled to begin at 4:05 p.m., was delayed two hours due to thunderstorms in the Columbus area.
* Erik Morris extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 games.
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME ONE SUMMARY R H EMSU 000 100 0- 1 3 2OSU 100 001 x- 2 6 1
WP: Newman-OSU (5-4)LP: Day-MSU (3-7)
GAME TWO SUMMARY R H EMSU 000 010 4- 5 5 2OSU 000 310 2- 6 11 1
WP: Davis-OSU (2-1)LP: Golem-MSU (2-3)
