Baseball
Buckeyes Embarrassed in NCAA Opener
By John PorentasThey say that with time you begin to remember only the good things in life and the bad things start to fade in memory. The 2009 OSU baseball team will surely remember it's Big Ten regular-season championship. It's experience in the NCAA tournament, not so much.
The Buckeyes got absolutely ground into the dust, or rather the mud, by Georgia in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The final score of 24-8 did not really reflect how badly the Buckeyes played.
Georgia's very first inning at the plate kind of summed up the day. OSU pitching ace Andrew Wimmers got roughed up for eight runs, four of them coming on a solo homerun and a three-run homer. It was Georgia's first run of the inning however that really set the tone. With one out and nobody on right fielder Peter Verdin sent what looked like an innocent grounder to OSU shortstop Tyler Engle for what should have been a routine ground out. Engle's throw was wide of first however, and ended up rolling around in right field long enough for Verdin to go all the way to third. When he got there he stopped, looked up, and saw that there were no Buckeyes covering home plate. He simply took off running for home with nobody there to cover it and scored. It was the kind of play that makes a little league coach shudder. Had the Buckeyes known what was to follow, they may have been smart to quit right there and save themselves a lot of time and misery.
Wimmers could not contain Georgia's hard-hitting lineup and ended up giving up 10 runs in four innings. His stint on the mound was cut short by a rain delay that stretched into five hours and 12 minutes of prolonged agony for OSU. Neither starter resumed pitching after the delay leaving Head Coach Bob Todd with the decision of going with his better pitching in the hopes of salvaging this game in the last five innings or trying to just get through the game without burning his better arms. With his team trailing 10-2, he chose the latter.
Senior Josh Barrera came on in relief and was probably OSU's most effective hurler. He allowed one run in two innings. Things got out of control however when Barrera left the mound. Andrew Armstrong gave up three runs in his one inning of work, not exactly a great performance. He was topped however by the duo of Theron Minium and Eric Shinn. Minium managed to retire two hitters in the eighth, in the process giving up seven runs on six hits. Shinn came on to get the final out of the inning, but not before three more runs had scored. That little league coach that was shuddering after the four-base error in the first inning was shuddering again.
Three Georgia hitters had a total of seven homeruns against Ohio State pitching. First baseman Rich Poythress hit three to drive in seven runs while right fielder Matt Cerione hit two for five RBI. Catcher Joey Lewis also hit two to drive in four more. Poythress and Cerione each had a grand slam to their credit.
The Buckeyes resume NCAA play today at noon when they take on Marist in an elimination game in the loser's bracket of the four-team regional. Marist was defeated by host Florida State 16-4 in the first round of the regional. The Buckeyes are expected to start Dean Wolosianski. The loser of that game will end its season. The winner will go on to play the loser of the Florida State vs. Georgia game.
Overall it was not a good day for Big Ten baseball. The other two Big Ten teams in the NCAA tournament also lost. Baylor shut out Minnesota 5-0 and Louisville defeated Indiana 8-2. The league is now 0-3 in NCAA play this year.
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