Baseball
Buckeyes Come Back for Win in Big Ten Tournament
By John PorentasThe Buckeyes (40-15) have counted on pitching ace Alex Wimmers all season, and all season long the hard-throwing sophomore from Cincinnati has delivered. But in front of a crowd of 4,575 that showed up for the second day of the Big Ten baseball tournament, most of them to see the hometown Buckeyes and their ace pitcher take on Illinois in the third and final game of the day, Wimmers simply didn't have it.
"People that have watched Alex Wimmers pitch all year realized he did not have his best stuff," said OSU Head Coach Bob Todd.
"He pitched behind hitters a lot and he was really inconsistent with his off-speed pitches. Usually if he's struggling after two or three innings he'll settle down and find one of his off-speed pitches. Tonight he didn't really do that," said Todd.
Illinois got to Wimmers for two runs in the second inning thanks to a homerun to left field by catcher Aaron Johnson. Johnson's blast came on the heels of a throwing error by OSU third baseman Justin Miller to put a runner at first. The two-run shot put Illinois up 2-0. OSU answered with a run of their own in the third but OSU couldn't really solve Illini starter Will Strack. Strack held the Buckeyes off for five innings relatively easily while Wimmers was struggling to do the same for OSU against the Illini. Wimmers pitched out of trouble in the fifth when he issued consecutive walks to open the inning but wriggled out of the jam with two strikeouts and foul out. He wasn't quite as lucky in the sixth when the Illini got to him for two more runs to take a 4-1 lead.
Trailing by three runs and with innings running out the Buckeyes finally got to Strack in the bottom of the sixth. They loaded the bases with none out and were able to push two runs across on a sacrifice and a fielder's choice to cut the lead to 4-3. Strack got out out of the inning but didn't fare as well in the seventh. The Buckeyes once again loaded the bases with none out, this time on consecutive walks and a drag bunt single by second baseman Corey Kovanda. That was the end of Strack's day. He was relieved by Lee Zerrusen. Zerrusen retired the Buckeyes but not before they plated two more runs on ground outs to take a 5-4 lead.
Wimmers started the seventh but was lifted with one out and runners at second and third. Reliever Drew Rucinski came on to retire the Illini without allowing a run on a short fly to right and a line drive to shortstop Tyler Engle.
"I definitely had the adrenaline going," said Rucinski.
"I was definitely fortunate that I got a ball hit right at our shortstop. You've got to have luck sometimes too and I just tried to do what I do and throw strikes and help the team."
OSU added two insurance runs in the eighth inning on a one-out RBI single by first baseman Matt Streng followed by a triple to the right-centerfield gap by left fielder Zach Hurley to score Streng. Hurley was waved home on the play as he rounded third but was thrown out at the plate to deny him the inside the park homerun.
"It was kind of funny because I was talking to our coach Pete Jenkins at third base earlier tonight and we were just kind of giving each other a hard time," smiled Hurley.
"I said 'Hey, don't stop me at second. I'm going to three.' When he sent me I thought I was going to make it but I hit some quicksand rounding third and I gassed out so I didn't have anything left in the tank."
Wimmers struggled but the Illini were never able to put together a big inning against him. He kept OSU close enough to stage the late-inning rally and get to their effective bullpen.
"He may not have had his best stuff but you can make some mistakes and still get by when you are throwing in the mid-90s," said Illinois Head Coach Can Hartleb.
OSU closer Jake Hale came on to finish the ninth inning. Hale allowed a leadoff single but then retired three straight to end the game. Todd praised the work of Rucinski and Hale out of the bullpen in the win.
"Illinois is an outstanding hitting ball club and they really neutralized their hitters," said Todd.
Earlier in the day Michigan State was eliminated by Purdue in the losers bracket and second-seed Minnesota was drubbed by the Hoosiers in the winners bracket. Purdue and Minnesota will play at 12:05 on Friday with the loser going home. The winner of that game will play Illinois at 3:35.
Ohio State and Indiana are the only teams remaining undefeated in the winner's bracket. Those two will meet at 7:05 tomorrow evening with the winner of that game advancing to the championship game of the tournament.
Game Notes:
* Hurley's triple in the eighth inning was OSU's 25th of the season. That ties the team record for a single season set by the 1991 team.
* Wimmers was not sharp but still managed to strike out nine hitters in six and one third innings. That brought his season total to 131, second best in OSU school history. Wimmers passed Steve Arlin's 1966 total of 129 to gain that spot. Arlin recorded a school record 165 strikeouts in the 1965 season.
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