Michigan State University
Ohio St
Ohio State Edges Spartan Baseball, 3-2
5/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 9, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio - In a battle between two of the best pitchers in the Big Ten, Ohio State's Scott Lewis bested MSU's Bryan Gale (Jr., Decatur) as the Michigan State baseball team fell to the Buckeyes, 3-2, Friday night (May 9) at Bill Davis Stadium. Lewis improved to a perfect 9-0 for the season and helped OSU move to 32-15 (16-9 Big Ten), while MSU fell to 18-29 (8-14 BT).
Lewis, who entered the game second in the nation in strikeouts and third in ERA, struck out 11 batters, but MSU battled with the star lefty the entire game. Down 2-0 in the fifth, Spartan third baseman James Moreno (Jr., Holt) jumped all over a Lewis fastball, and crushed it over the center-field fence to cut the lead to one. The homer, Moreno's sixth of the year, was the first given up by Lewis all season in over 76 innings of action.
Gale, the Big Ten leader in innings pitched, was just as effective in pitching his sixth complete game of the season. The junior scattered six hits and all three Buckeye runs came via the sacrifice fly. Gale once again kept batters off balance all night with his trademark sidearm delivery, however, OSU notched single runs in the first, third and sixth innings by perfecting "small ball" tactics. When needed, the Buckeyes provided key situational hitting by advancing their runners with sacrifices, groundouts and flyouts in addition to stolen bases.
With Lewis wearing down in the seventh, Brett Wattles (Sr., Rochester) nailed a solo shot to left field, bringing MSU back to within one run. Wattles started his first game in center field since pulling his hamstring April 25 vs. Iowa.
Lewis finally exited the game in the eighth after firing 125 pitches. He left a runner on first for reliever Matt Davis, who gave up a two-out single to Erik Morris (So., Orchard Lake) to put runners on first and second. Moreno, the next batter, drilled a grounder to third baseman Jedidiah Stephen, but Stephen dived to stop the ball and threw it first for the third out of the inning.
Davis retired the Spartans in order in the ninth to record his school-record 10th save of the season.
The Spartans squandered many scoring opportunities, leaving eight runners on base, including four in scoring position. After Moreno's homer in the fourth, MSU turned up the pressure with runners on second and third with only one out, but Lewis recorded a strikeout and a grounder to end the threat.
Michigan State and Ohio State return to action with a doubleheader tomorrow (Saturday, May 10) beginning at 4:05 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
* Catcher Brady Burrill (Sr., Newhall, Calif.) extended his hitting streak to 13 games, which establishes a new career high. Burrill had a 12-game streak earlier this season as well as in 2002. He left the game in the fifth inning with an injured foot and is doubtful for the rest of the weekend.
* Brett Wattles hit his fifth homer of the season in the seventh inning, which sets a new career high.
* Bryan Gale struck out three batters and now has 182 for his career, which moves him up to fourth all-time in MSU history.
* Erik Morris stretched his career-best hitting streak to 10 games.
* MSU is now 2-10 in one-run games.
GAME SUMMARY R H EMSU 000 010 000- 2 5 0OSU 100 101 000- 3 6 1
WP: Lewis-OSU (9-0)LP: Gale-MSU (6-6)SV: Davis-OSU (10)
