COLUMBUS, Ohio – A day after Ohio State scored 15 runs off 18 hits, Penn State came back to shut down the Buckeye bats, sweeping a doubleheader, 3-1 and 5-2, Saturday at Bill Davis Stadium.
The Nittany Lions led the entire day as they took an early 1-0 lead in both games. In game two, Penn State’s Joe Blackburn reached on an infield error to start the second inning. Cory Wine singled, a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, and Blackburn scored on Ryan Boonie’s groundout.
The Nittany Lions took control of the game in the sixth. Brian Ernst and Rob Yodice led off with singles, and Wine doubled home Ernst. Two batters later, Boonie drove in Yodice and Wine with a two-run single to give Penn State a 4-0 lead.
The Buckeyes cut Penn State’s lead to 4-2 in the sixth. Justin Miller walked, Ryan Meade singled, and pinch hitter Zach Hurley and Dan Burkhart hit back-to-back RBI singles.
Penn State added an insurance run in the seventh when Wine singled to score Yodice. Ohio State loaded the bases in the seventh but could not get any closer, losing 5-2.
Ohio State starter Dean Wolosiansky suffered the loss, dropping his record to 2-2. He pitched 5.1 innings, striking out four and allowing four runs (three earned), four hits, and two walks. Burkhart and Tyler Engle each had two hits for the Buckeyes. Mike Lorentson scattered two runs on six hits over 5.1 innings to earn the win (3-2) for Penn State.
In game one, Penn State took a 1-0 lead in the first and then methodically added to it to win the second game of the series, 3-1. Dan DeLucia (1-1) took the loss after giving up just one earned run in 4.0 innings. He scattered five hits, walked just one and had two strikeouts.
“It was Dan’s first game pitching in cold weather this year,” Ohio State head coach Bob Todd said. “He told us his shoulder didn’t feel right, but it had nothing to do with his operation. He just didn’t have his good stuff this afternoon.”
Penn State starter Mike Wanamaker allowed just three hits and one earned run while evening his record at 2-2.
The Nittany Lions scored single runs in the first, fifth and sixth innings, but they had runners on base in every inning. In the first, Ernst doubled to left and scored on a two-out single by Blackburn.
Drew Rucinski relieved DeLucia in the fifth inning. It marked the first time in five starts this season that DeLucia did not exit with the lead.
Penn State added an insurance run in the fifth – Wes Borden led off with a double and scored on a sac fly by Yodice – and another in the sixth, and Wanamaker cruised through the next two innings.
The Buckeyes only run came in the fifth. Tony Kennedy and Cory Kovanda each drew one-out walks. J.B. Shuck blooped a single to center to score Kennedy, but the rally ended with runners on second and third.
“This team has to put three and four hits together,” Todd said. “Our guys didn’t have good at-bats at the plate. We had too many swings at bad pitches early in the count. I liked the way this team competed. Unfortunately, our timing was off today.”
The two teams close out their four-game set with a 1:05 p.m. start Sunday at Bill Davis Stadium.
Game Notes and Good Stuff:
• Tony Kennedy’s 17-game hitting streak was snapped in the first game, as he went 0-for-3 with a walk.
• With hits in both games, Ryan Meade and Cory Kovanda extended their hitting streaks to 15 and 11 games, respectively.
• Kovanda is now 22-for-39 (.564) in his last 10 games.
• Wolosiansky has started four games, pitching five or more innings in each of those starts.
• DeLucia has not allowed more than three runs in any of his five starts and has walked just six batters in 24.0 innings.
• DeLucia made his first start at Bill Davis Stadium since May 19, 2006 against Penn State, a 4-3 Ohio State win.
• Ohio State drops a home doubleheader to Penn State for the first time since 2004.
####
