April 3, 2004

Box Score

Columbus, Ohio - The University of Illinois baseball team got a seventh inning rally to tie the game at three but saw a bottom of the seventh home run fly over the right field wall as Ohio State beat Illinois 5-3 in the nightcap of the Saturday doubleheader at Bill Davis Stadium. The loss drops Illinois to 6-13 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten while OSU improves to 10-10 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten.

The second game of Saturday's doubleheader saw Ohio State score first for the first time in the series. After a scoreless first, OSU used three-straight hits, a double and a pair of singles) to plate a run and grab a 1-0 lead.

OSU extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third. Ted Rowe allowed a lead off walk, and one out later an RBI single off the bat of Jedidiah Stephen scored the second run of the game.

The lead moved to 3-0 in the bottom half of the fourth when a lead off walk again came back to haunt Rowe. After he walked Brett Garrard to open the inning, Rowe got two outs but saw Garrard move to third in the process, and the shortstop opened the 3-0 lead when Drew Anderson came up and legged out an infield single, just outrunning an Eric Eymann throw from deep in the hole at short.

Illinois got on the board for the first time in the top half of the sixth. A lead off walk to Shawn Roof and a hit batter put runners on first and third for Drew Davidson, who saw an RBI single drop in front of a diving right fielder to score Roof and move the Illini to within two runs at 3-1.

Illinois came back to tie the game in the top half of the seventh. J.R. Kyes, pinch hitting for Dusty Bensko, singled to left to bring up Chris Robinson, who lifted his second home run of the series and second of the season over the right field wall to tie the game at three.

But with the wind whipping out of the stadium in right, OSU answered Robinson's blast with a home run of its own in the bottom half of the seventh. Stephen drew a one out walk, and after Rowe got the second out of the inning, Ronnie Bourquin smashed a home run over the right field wall to give OSU the 5-3 win.

Rowe fell to 1-3 with the loss. He threw 6 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits. He walked seven and struck out five. OSU starter Trent Luyster went the distance for the Buckeyes, improving to 1-3 on the year after allowing three runs on five hits in seven complete innings of work. He walked two and struck out eight.

Illinois and Ohio State conclude their four-game series with a single game Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time.