Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Ohio State
Baseball Drops Midweek Contest At Ohio State, 8-4
May 13, 2010 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team rallied within one run in the eighth inning before falling to Big Ten foe Ohio State 8-4 at Bill Davis Stadium Wednesday evening. The loss drops the Cardinals to 24-24 on the year while the Buckeyes improve to 26-19 on the year.
Junior T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) paced the Cardinals' attack as he tallied three hits, including his 11th double. Sophomore first baseman Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) and senior catcher Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) both recorded home runs in the loss for BSU.
Ohio State struck first in the bottom of the first inning against senior right-hander Brad Piatt (Galveston, Ind./Lewis Cass). Cory Kovanda started the attack with a one out single into left field. Dan Burkhart followed with a run-scoring double down the right field wall to plate Kovanda with the game's first run. Piatt settled in and quickly got the final two outs of the inning to strand Burkhart at second base.
Ball State quickly answered back in the top of the first inning against OSU left-hander Theron Minium. Nielsen led off the inning as he crushed a 1-0 pitch high over the left field wall for his eighth home run of the year to tie the game at 1-1.
The Buckeyes manufactured a run in the bottom of the second inning to retake the lead. Brad Hallberg drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position as he stole second base. Cory Rupert drove him in as he lined a single up the middle to make it a 2-1 ballgame. Ohio State extended the lead to 3-1 in the third inning as Zach Hurley hit a solo home run off the right field foul pole.
After OSU added its fourth run, the Cardinals answered back with a solo run in the top of the sixth inning to narrow the deficit to 4-2. Dygert hit Ball State's second solo home run as he notched his 10th of the season over the left field wall against reliever Jared Strayer.
Ohio State extended the lead to 5-2 with a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning against right-hander Heath Riley (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson). The Buckeyes strung together three straight singles with Tyler Engle notching the third to score OSU's fifth run of the evening.
Ball State pulled back within one run in the top of the eighth inning as it plated two runs to narrow the gap to 5-4.Baumet led off the inning with a single and moved to scoring position as Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) lined a double down the right field line.
After Dygert drew a walk to load the bases, Nielsen reached on a fielding error to plate Baumet and keep the bases loaded. OSU reliever Eric Best came on and issued a four-pitch walk to freshman Stephen Claypool (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) that allowed Vitek to score the Cardinals' fourth run. Best worked out of the jam as he induced an infield pop fly and a ground ball to strand the bases loaded and keep Ball State being 5-4.
Ohio State plated three crucial insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as it took advantage of a pivotal BSU fielding error to score the unearned runs. Senior Aaron Hammons (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) issued two walks in the inning before getting two outs.
The Cardinals looked like they were out of the inning as Hammons induced a fly ball down the left field line but Ryan Chenoweth (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) was unable to coral the ball for a two-base error to score a run. Kovanda followed with a two-run single to put OSU in front 8-4.
Piatt (3-4) was charged with the loss as he allowed three runs on four hits in 3.0 innings as he was the first of six BSU pitchers on the night. Strayer (1-0) picked up the victory as he worked 5.0 innings and allowed one run on four hits. Best tallied his fourth save as he worked the final 1.2 innings of shutout relief.
Ball State returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend as it hosts Northern Illinois in a three-game series at Ball Diamond. First pitch Friday is set for 3 p.m.
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