Toledo Drops Decision at Big Ten Member Ohio State, 10-1
UT scored the game's first run, before the host Buckeyes (31-22) reeled off 10 straight tallies to defeat the Midnight Blue & Gold for a second time this spring. The Mid-American Conference West Division leaders sustained a 13-1 loss to Ohio State at the Chanticleer Classic on March 10 in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Junior RHP Jared Locke (3-7) was saddled with the setback, allowing three runs on five hits with four punchouts in 5.0 innings.
Offensively, senior 2B Joe Corfman (2-for-4) led the Rockets with two hits. Corfman opened today's game with a double to move into sole possession of first place in school history in career hits (256).
UT jumped on the scoreboard with a solo home run off the bat of senior 1B Mark Lapikas in the second frame. Lapikas turned on the first offering from OSU's Brett McKinney and crushed his team-best seventh home run of season over the wall down the right-field line.
The Buckeyes then took the game over with the 10 consecutive runs to coast to the home victory. OSU knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second on a perfectly executed double steal.
OSU captured the lead for good on a RBI single by Greg Solomon in the fourth inning to make the difference 2-1. Solomon's run-scoring hit started a string of five straight frames that the Scarlet & Gray plated runs.
In the fifth, Ohio State benefitted from a sacrifice fly by Patrick Porter to push the lead to 3-1.
The Rockets had a golden opportunity to make some noise in the sixth frame, as they had the bases loaded with no outs. Unfortunately for MAC West Division frontrunners, they were victimized by a shallow fly-ball out and a double play to keep the deficit at two runs.
OSU took advantage of that momentum and broke the game away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. The big hit in the inning was a two-run RBI off the bat of Ryan Cypret.
The Buckeyes then finished off the scoring with a RBI single from Aaron Gretz in the seventh and run-scoring hits from Ryan Leffel and David Corna in the eighth to make the final tally 10-1.
Kirby Pellant (2-for-3, 3 RS), Brad Hutton (2-for-5, RS) and Cypret (2-for-5, 3 RS, 2 RBI) each recorded multi-hit efforts for the Buckeyes in their home finale.
Trace Dempsey (3-1) was credited the win, allowing no runs on four hits in 3.0 innings of relief work.
Toledo will now return home to wrap up its regular season against MAC East Division rival Eastern Michigan (24-25, 14-10 MAC) on Thursday, May 17. The first pitch from Scott Park is slated for 3:05 p.m.
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