March 24, 2003
Box Score
The University of Illinois baseball team swept a doubleheader from Ohio State by scores of 4-1 and 5-2 Monday afternoon in non-conference action in Bradenton, Fla. With the wins Illinois improves to 10-2 overall, while the Buckeyes fall to 8-6 on the year.
Game one saw Ohio State jump to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when third baseman Christian Snavely took Illini starter Ted Rowe out of the park for a solo home run. That was all the offense Rowe would allow, though, as the junior shut down the Buckeye attack from there and allowed the Illinois offense to get to work on Buckeye starter Josh Newman.
Illinois first got to Newman in the top of the fourth inning. Brandon Cashman, who finished game one 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI, led off with a single and scored when Andy Schutzenhofer followed with a double up the middle. Dusty Bensko followed Schutzenhofer with a single of his own that plated Schutzenhofer and gave Illinois a 2-1 lead.
Illinois made it a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth with the help of a pair of OSU errors. T.F. Meagher led off with a bunt single, and a sacrifice bunt followed from Sean Patrick. But Newman, trying to retire Meagher at second, threw the ball away, allowing both runners to be safe. Vince DiMaria followed with a sac bunt attempt of his own, and when Newman also threw that ball away, Meagher scored from second and Patrick was standing at third and DiMaria was safe at second. Cashman followed DiMaria with a long sac fly to center that scored Patrick and gave Illinois its 4-1 final margin of victory.
Rowe earned the win in game one, improving to 2-1 on the year after allowing one run on six hits in five innings of work. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. Craig Lechowicz and Dave Mazurek each threw an inning of scoreless relief to secure the win.
Game two was much the same for the Illini. The team came out in the top of the first inning and immediately got to Buckeye starter Nate Smith. Meagher led off the game by getting hit by a pitch, and Brandon Cashman promptly gave Illinois a 2-0 lead with a home run. Bensko followed one out later with a solo home run of his own, and Illinois owned a 3-0 lead before OSU even had a chance to hit.
That lead grew to 4-0 in the top of the second. Patrick led off with a single, sent to second on the Meagher single that followed and advanced to third on an error by Smith. He then scored on a one-out grounder off the bat of Schutzenhofer.
OSU attempted to rally off Illini starter Josh Lane in the third but the rally fell short. The Buckeyes strung together a single, triple and sacrifice fly to pull to within 4-2 but never got closer as Lane shut down the OSU offense after the third inning.
Illinois added an insurance run in the top of the sixth on a Sean Patrick run-scoring single to open up the final 5-2 margin of victory.
Lane earned the win to improve to 3-0 on the year. He threw a complete game seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four and walking two.
Illinois and Ohio State resume their three-game non-conference series Tuesday with a single game scheduled for noon eastern time.
