More on yesterday's loss
Buckeyes Sent to Loser's Bracket in 7-3 Loss to Minnesota
Ohio State will meet host Michigan Saturday at 3:35 p.m.
Jason Zoeller had one of
two extra base hits for
Ohio State against Minnesota.
May 27, 2006
Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Minnesota rallied from a 3-0 deficit to score four in the third and three in the fifth on its way to a 7-3 victory over Ohio State Friday at Ray Fisher Stadium, sending the Buckeyes to the loser's bracket of the Big Ten tournament. Ohio State, the third-seed in the tournament will face top-seed Michigan Saturday at 3:35 p.m. for the right to take on the Golden Gophers in the championship.
Minnesota advanced to the Big Ten championship game for the sixth straight season and would await Ohio State or Michigan, which would need to beat Minnesota twice to win the championship. The championship game would be Saturday at 7:10 p.m. and the second championship game, if necessary, would be played Sunday at 12:05 p.m.
Ohio State scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the early lead. After going down in the count 0-2,
Jedidiah Stephen (Sr., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) drew a lead off walk and went to third on a single to right by
Jonathan Zizzo (So., Youngstown, Ohio/Sarasota [Fla.]). Stephen scored on a fielder's choice by
Jason Zoeller (Jr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy) that caught Zizzo at second. Zoeller stole second and scored when
Justin Miller (Fr., Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) singled to center.
Wes Schirtzinger (Jr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) reached on a fielder's choice that stopped Miller at second for the second out. Schirtzinger was able to get from first to third on a single to shallow right-center field by
Michael Arp (Fr., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) and then scored on a single up the middle by
Matt Angle (So., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling).
J.B. Shuck (Fr., Galion, Ohio/Galion), who had pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to keep the Golden Gophers off the scoreboard in the second, found trouble in the third.
Luke MacLean led off the inning with a single up the middle before Shuck walked Mike Mee. Andy Hunter singled up the middle to score MacLean for the first run. Shuck got a pop up and a fly out for the first two outs of the inning, but he walked Kyle Baran to load the bases before a wild pitch scored the Gophers' second run of the inning. After issuing his third walk of the inning to reload the bases, OSU coach
Bob Todd went to his bullpen to bring in
Dan Barker (So., Dayton, Ohio/Northmont).
Barker gave up an infield single to Chris Herbert to tie the game and then hit Matt Nohelty with the bases loaded as Minnesota went in front, 4-3. A fielder's choice ended the inning, but damage had been done.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Buckeyes tried to capitalize on a pair of walks and an error to either tie the game or take the lead. Miller drew a lead off walk. With one out, Minnesota starter Dustin Brabender tried to pick off Arp at first, but the errant throw sailed down the right-field fence and Miller was able to get over to third base. Arp struck out, but Brabender issued a free pass to Angle, who stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Fryer. The Ohio State catcher ended the inning with a ground ball to short. The stolen base was the 25th for Angle this year, which is the sixth highest season total in school history.
Minnesota added three runs in the fifth inning to take a four-run lead. Dan Lyons led off the inning with a single up the middle and went to second when Baran drew his second walk of the game. Leseman singled to center to drive in Lyons. A throwing error on Angle on a throw from center to home, trying to stop Lyons from scoring from second was well wide of the plate and Baran and Leseman each moved into scoring position for Herbert, who doubled down the left-field line to plate both runners for a 7-3 advantage.
The Buckeyes wasted a lead-off double by
Ronnie Bourquin (Jr., Canton, Ohio/Canton South) after a pair of ground outs and a lineout ended the inning. Schirtzinger beat out a one-out bunt down the third-base line in the sixth, but Brabender caught Arp looking at strike three and got Angle to fly out to strand Bourquin at second. The hit by Bourquin was his 91st of the season, pulling him within one of
Steve Caravati's 2004 school record (92).
Bill Johnson came on for Brabender with one out in the eighth after Brabender gave up a one-out double to Zoeller. Johnson struck out Miller and got Schirtzinger to fly out in foul ground to strand the runner.
In all, Ohio State left 10 runners on base in the game, including six in scoring position. The Buckeyes left runners on base in all but the seventh inning and did not have more than one hit in any inning other than the second when four hits gave the Buckeyes the early 3-0 lead in the second.
Arp was the only Buckeye with two hits, getting singles in the first and second innings. Ohio State had nine hits, while Minnesota had 10. Herbert had three hits for the Gophers, while Hunter and Lyons each had two. Each team had an error.
Shuck pitched 2.2 innings and allowed four runs on five hits while issuing a season-high four walks without a strikeout. Shuck, who got the win Wednesday vs. Purdue, slipped to 8-5 on the year. Brabender got the win to improve to 6-5 on the year. He lasted 7.1 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. He overcame four walks.
Earlier Friday, Northwestern won an elimination game vs. Purdue, 8-5, before Michigan stayed alive by rebounding from its morning loss to Minnesota with an 8-4 victory to end the Wildcats' season.
All of Ohio State's games in the Big Ten tournament will be broadcast on AM 920 WMNI and are free on ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
