After splitting the first two games of a weekend series with Michigan State, the Ohio State baseball team lost the rubber match, 7-2, at Bill Davis Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Senior pitcher Brian King was on the hill for the first seven innings for the Buckeyes. He gave up four earned runs on eight hits. The loss was King’s third, bringing his record to 4-3 and his ERA to 3.13.
Spartans sophomore pitcher Mick VanVossen pitched a shutout until the ninth inning, but then gave up two earned runs on seven hits in the bottom of the ninth.
OSU coach Greg Beals gave VanVossen credit for his outing.
“He pitched well. He just seemed to work up and down and did a good job at that,” Beals said. “We hit some hard hits at him but yet we were shutout for eight straight innings.”
The Buckeyes scattered seven hits and it wasn’t until the sixth inning that they were able to get a man on base with no outs. MSU scored its first run in the top of the second and added three more in the third, putting the Spartans ahead, 4-0. In the sixth inning, MSU scored two more runs as the Buckeyes continue to fail in their attempts to score.
With OSU down six runs, senior shortstop Kirby Pellant reached base on a bunt hit down the first base line in the seventh inning, but the Buckeyes weren’t able to do anything with it.
Pellant fractured his finger laying down a bunt earlier in the season.
In the top of the eighth, MSU scored its seventh and final run of the game, bringing their lead to 7-0.
The Buckeyes finally scored in the bottom of the ninth when freshman third baseman Jacob Bosiokovic’s single scored sophomore outfielder Pat Porter, the first Buckeye in the game to make it to second base.
With two-outs and runners on first and third, redshirt senior first baseman Brad Hallberg had a base hit that scored redshirt junior outfielder Mike Carroll.
Redshirt senior outfielder Joe Ciamacco reached on a fielder’s choice, but the game ended without another run, leaving the final score at 7-2.
Redshirt senior second baseman Ryan Cypret said MSU simply played better than the Buckeyes.
“We barreled up a lot of balls and I think we just got a little bit unlucky,” Cypret said. “I don’t think the scoreboard really reflected how good our at-bats were, but I think they just outplayed us.”
Friday night, the Buckeyes fell against the Spartans, 8-7.
After the Buckeyes scored two runs in the second inning, the Spartans tied the score at 5-5 in the sixth. MSU added another four runs in the top of the eighth and OSU added one in the bottom of the inning, but without either team scoring in the ninth, the Spartans won by one.
OSU, though, took the Saturday afternoon game, 8-3. The Buckeyes scored their eight runs on 12 hits, while redshirt senior pitcher Brad Goldberg allowed two earned runs and struck out two MSU batters.
The series brings OSU to 16-8 on the year and 4-2 in Big Ten play.
OSU is scheduled to play Youngstown State Tuesday at Bill Davis Stadium at 6:35 p.m.