Feeling its season slipping away, Ohio State baseball stepped up on offense Sunday, defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 11-6 to avoid a sweep and earn coach Bob Todd his 900th victory at OSU.
Center fielder Ryan Dew led the Buckeyes (27-21, 10-11) in the win, going 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs against Iowa (23-26, 10-11).
Dew’s four RBIs came from a first-inning grand slam that gave OSU the lead for good.
OSU added another run in the first inning when third baseman Brad Hallberg scored on a fielder’s choice from right fielder Brian DeLucia.
The Buckeyes added two more runs in the fifth, and four in the seventh inning to secure the road victory.
Buckeye catcher Dan Burkhart also contributed two RBIs in the win.
Pitchers Brett McKinney and Jared Strayer combined to give up only four runs in eight innings, allowing the Buckeyes to build a big lead.
The Hawkeyes scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to cut the deficit to 11-6, but pitcher Eric Best was able to get the final two outs to end the game.
OSU, in seventh place in the Big Ten before the game, needed a win to get some important positioning before the conference tournament begins.
Iowa took the first game Friday 7-5 on a three-run home run by shortstop Zach Lee in the eighth inning. The loss erased a strong effort by Strayer, who allowed just three runs on four hits in 6.1 innings of relief work.
OSU gave up a 3-0 lead to Iowa on Saturday and lost 4-3.
OSU returns to Bill Davis Stadium at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday to face the Pittsburgh Panthers in its final non-conference game of the 2010 season.
