Baseball
Buckeyes Pound Nittany Lions in Big Ten Opener
By John Porentas

OSU freshman shortstop Tyler Engle quipped that he was so excited when he delivered an RBI single in his very first Big Ten at bat that he lost consciousness for a minute. Turns out the rest of the Buckeye hitters were pretty much unconscious early on as well, and we mean that in the good way, not the bad.

The Buckeyes batting order came up with 10 hits in the first inning, nine of them singles, to score eight runs with the aid of one Penn State error, then proceeded to add six more runs on seven more hits over the next two innings to stake starter Jake Hale to a 14-0 lead. The Buckeyes cooled off after that, but their dream of a win in the Big Ten opener had pretty much come true. OSU went on to shut out the Nittany Lions 15-0 to and open the Big Ten season 1-0.

"Obviously the first three innings everything went our way," said OSU Head Coach Bob Todd.

"We hit some bleeders but I thought we had some very good at bats. I thought our hitters did what we asked them to do, laid off some bad pitches early, made him (Penn State starter Seth Whitehill) bring the ball up a little bit, then I thought we capitalized on that a little bit."

Hitting in the nine-hole, Engle made his Big Ten premier a memorable one with four hits and four RBI in five official trips to the plate. Junior centerfield J. B. Shuck had a three-hit game and three other Buckeyes accounted for two hits each including sophomore second baseman Cory Kovanda, freshman catcher Dan Burkhart and sophomore third baseman Corey Rupert.

Senior right hander Jake Hale allowed just two hits in six full innings of work.
Photo by Jim Davidson

Hale went six inning and allowed no runs and just two hits. He struck out three and walked two.

"I would just call this a very average performance for him, for what we expect, for what we look at as his potential," said Todd.

"He threw good at times but there were times at key spots in the ball game he pitched behind people," Todd said.

After a quick one-two-three first-inning in which he struck out two Nittany Lions Hale retreated to the dugout in the hopes that his teammates would score some runs. He got his wish, but the Buckeyes were at bat for what seemed like forever. Hale had no problem maintaining his focus despite the long at bat. He had more trouble keeping warm while waiting to return to the mound as his teammates knocked around the Penn State pitching staff on the chilly night in Columbus. During the long Buckeye at bat Hale spent his time sitting in the hall leading to the OSU locker room with a heat pad trying to keep warm. It must of worked, because Hale continued his mastery of the Lions despite the long wait.

"Everything was in synch and I thought it was going to be a lot colder than it was," said Hale.

Sophomore Josh Edgin went the last three and surrendered three hits and two walks while preserving the shutout.

"Josh Edgin needed to get some innings, needed some experience. He's somebody we're slowly trying to bring along and this was a good opportunity," said Todd.

The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions will meet tomorrow in a double-header at Bill Davis Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM. Senior left hander Dan DeLucia is expected to start game one for OSU while freshman right hander Dan Wolosiansky is the probable starter in game two.

Box Score

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