Michigan State University
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Ohio State Completes Sweep Of Spartan Baseball
5/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Michigan State pounded out a season-high 17 hits but it wasn't enough as it fell to Ohio State, 3-2, in a wild and windy game Sunday afternoon (May 11) before 2,901 at Bill Davis Stadium. The game featured five ties and five lead changes as both team fought off winds that reached up to 35 mph. MSU fell to 18-32 (8-17 Big Ten) for the season, while OSU improved to 35-15 (19-9 BT) with the four-game sweep.
Spartan right fielder Travis Gulick (So., East Lansing) scored a career-high four runs and went 4-for-5 at the plate, including his team-leading 12th double. Scott Koerber (Jr., Harper Woods) and Charlie Braun (Sr., Grosse Pointe) each collected three hits for MSU. Erik Morris (So., Orchard Lake) went 2-for-4 with two RBI to extend his career-best hitting streak to 13 games.
MSU jumped on OSU starter Chris Hanners right out of the gate, scoring three times in the first inning on three hits. Koerber and James Moreno (Jr., Holt) each had RBI singles in the inning, while Morris provided a sac fly.
The Buckeyes countered with five runs in the second, keyed by a Brett Garrard three-run homer to left field.
The two teams traded runs in the third. MSU briefly tied the game at five as Braun nailed a two-run triple to center field, but OSU plated a run in the bottom half of the inning to reclaim the 6-5 lead.
A two-out rally led to two more MSU runs in the fourth. After a double play, Brett Wattles (Sr., Rochester) hit his third solo homer of the series and seventh of the season with a deep shot to center field. Koerber added his second RBI single of the game to score Gulick two batters later.
MSU tied the game once again at eight with a Morris RBI single in the sixth. OSU jumped to a 9-8 lead on Garrard's second home run of the game in the last of the sixth and extended the lead to 10-8 on Paul Farinacci's second dinger of the contest with a shot off the scoreboard in right-center in the seventh. Ohio State added an insurance run on a Spartan wild pitch in the eighth.
Greg Prenger picked up his third win of the season for Ohio State, while Patrick Gill (Sr., Grandville) took the loss for MSU. Kyle Brown recorded seven strikeouts in three innings of work to earn his second save.
Michigan State returns to action for a single game against Central Michigan Wednesday, May 14 in Mount Pleasant. CMU has already defeated the Spartans twice earlier this season, 9-2 on March 4 in Jacksonville, Fla., and 3-2 on April 23 in Lansing's Oldsmobile Park.
GAME SUMMARY R H EMSU 302 201 000- 8 17 2OSU 051 021 11x- 11 13 0
WP: Prenger-OSU (3-1)LP: Gill-MSU (0-8)SV: Brown-OSU (2)
