Baseball
Pitching, Indiana Miscues, Lift Buckeyes to Double-Header Sweep of Hoosiers
By John Porentas
OSU's offensive struggles continue, but Buckeye pitching rose up to enable Ohio State to take both ends of a doubleheader from visiting Indiana before a season-high crowd of 3,612 on a windy, cold day in Columbus. The Buckeyes took the opener 3-0 behind a four-hit complete-game shutout by freshman left-hander Corey Luebke, then prevailed in the nightcap 7-3 as starter Mike Madsen and reliever Rory Meister combined for a four-hitter that featured 12 strikeouts, eight from Madsen and four from Meister, in the seven-inning game. The strikeout total was a game-high for the Buckeyes this season.
Madsen was considered to be the ace of the OSU staff as the season began, but has struggled with tendonitis in his shoulder and has not been as effective as had been expected. The OSU coaching staff has rested Madsen some of late, and the strategy seems to have paid off.
"Madsen started showing signs of the Mike Madsen we were counting on," said OSU Head Coach Bob Todd.
"I thought he did a good job of keeping the ball down. He had his velocity, and he had much better control with his breaking pitch today.
"He missed two starts and in one other start we only gave him two innings. He went through really a three week to one month period where he really wasn't in the rotation.
"There's no question that he's starting to feel more comfortable out there."
Madsen went 4 2/3 innings before Meister came on in relief. Meister did not allow a base runner in his 2 1/3 innings.
OSU's offense didn't exactly set the world on fire in game one, but it didn't have to. Luebke simply mowed down the Hoosiers, allowing just four hit in his seven innings of work. Luebke walked one while striking out three. He pitched out of jams in the first and fifth innings. The Hoosiers put two aboard in both of those innings but could not break through against Luebke.
"Luebke did a good job," said Todd.
"I thought he kept his poise, did a good job of mixing pitches, threw strikes with two pitches. All day long our pitchers did a very good job.
The Buckeyes got all the runs they would need with a single run in the second inning. An error by I. U. second baseman Josh Richardson put Buckeye second baseman Jason Zoeller aboard leading off the inning. Zoeller scored on a one-out RBI single off the bat of shortstop Jedidiah Stephen.
The Buckeyes got an insurance run in the fifth when Mike Rabin singled with two out, stole second, and came home on an RBI single by designated hitter Steve Caravati. Third baseman Ronnie Bourquin provided the last run of the game with his second home run of the season, a shot over the right field wall in the sixth inning.
Ohio State got out to a 3-0 lead in the second game with a three-run first inning. Freshman right fielder Matt Angle led off the game with a single, and Mike Rabin reached first when he was hit by the baseball thrown by I. U. catcher Kurt Weigle as Rabin attempted to beat the throw on a bunt. Caravati then followed with a double to drive in two runs. Zoeller then delivered Caravati with a two-out single.
OSU scored two more in the third on a sacrifice fly by Stephen and on a wild pitch by I. U. pitcher Matt Saba. OSU then plated two more in the sixth. This time an error by Indiana shortstop Tyler Cox sandwiched between singles by Angle and Caravati led to two runs on consecutive ground outs by Bourquin and pinch hitter Cody Caughenbaugh.
The Buckeyes pushed seven across in the game, but Indiana errors led to much of that scoring. The Buckeyes left eight runners on base, including three in the fifth inning when they loaded them up and did not score.
"We had a chance in the second game to put Indiana away in a couple different innings, and did not do it," said Todd.
"That's been the the Achilles Heel of this team. Fortunately Indiana made an error, opened the door for us, and we were able to capitalize."
Ohio State now stands at 22-15 overall and 6-10 in Big Ten play. The wins lifted OSU out of the basement of the Big Ten standing. Indiana now occupies that spot with a Big Ten record of 5-14 and an overall record of 21-21.
The Buckeyes and Hoosiers will conclude the four-game series with a single game on Sunday afternoon.
Notes:
* Meister Emerging: Freshman reliever Rory Meister has suddenly become a hot pitcher. Meister was perfect in his relief appearance against Indiana. Last Wednesday in the double header against Eastern Michigan Meister pitched two innings in the first game without allowing a hit or a walk, the followed up in the second game of that double header with 3 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball. In his last three appearances combined, Meister has pitched 7 2/3 innings without giving up a hit and has walked just two.
"Rory Meister is truly starting to come into his own," said Bob Todd.
Meister has the knack of pitching ahead in the count, and relies on his fastball and slider to keep hitters off balance, a formula he used against the Hoosiers on Saturday.
"It's confidence. If you have confidence getting your first pitch as a strike, then you're going to do well out on the mound," said Meister.
"I did exactly what Coach Todd told me to do. He said just go out there and get the first hitter.
"The key to getting the first hitter is getting ahead of him.
"You've got to throw strikes. I got down in the count two balls, but I just went out there firing really.
"I just threw the slider and fastball tonight, and I felt as comfortable with the slider as I did with the fast ball.
"I tried to work ahead with the fastball, then work ahead with the off-speed."
* Keeping it in Perspective: Two wins will never hurt, but Bob Todd doesn't harbor any illusions that the wins over I. U. signal the end of OSU's problems this season.
"I didn't exactly pat them on the back after game one," said Todd.
"We've got to keep things in perspective. A one-game win streak, that's not what Ohio State baseball is all about.
"We've still got a mountain to climb. There's no doubt about that. Games like Friday night potentially can come back to haunt you."
I want to be able to utilize our speed, but we continue to play behind. Then you can't do anything except play station-to-station until you get close.
While there is work to do, the wins are something the Buckeyes can use to build on.
"This is more of a confidence builder," said outfielder Matt Angle.
"We can enjoy it in the locker room, but we have to put today behind us, and Friday, and come in here tomorrow and just concentrate on getting the job done tomorrow."
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