Ohio State catcher Matt Graveline tags out Illinois runner Cameron Chee-Aloy attempting to score on a wild pitch in the sixth inning. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
The score was better, and it was closer. But in the end the familiar issues of free bases and sloppy play cost Ohis State its 36th loss of the season in a 4-2 decision to Illinois.
Columbus, OH – No doubt, it was closer than the weekend losses at Northwestern, and it was competitive.
The Buckeyes dropped their 36th contest of the season Thursday night in the first game of the their season-ending series with Illinois, 4-3…but not without a visit from some of the old familiar skeletons out of the closet.
Trey Lipsey gave a moment of promise with a leadoff home run in the top of the first.
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Sahil Patel started on the mound, pitched competitively despite 6 walks in four innings. But he pitched around those walks, allowing only 2 hits and 1 earned run when he exited the game after four innings, trusting a 2-1 lead to reliever Doug Bauer…the Buckeyes’ second run coming in the third on a walk to Lipsey and back-to-back singles by Matt Graveline and Tyler Pettorini.
Bauer came on in the fifth to pitch well, allowing a run on 3 hits with a pair of strikeouts through the seventh inning. His only run was unearned, the result of a two-out throwing error by Maddix Simpson at shortstop that allowed Illinois designated hitter Nick Groves to score – Groves, who had doubled with two outs.
Still, the Buckeyes were tied 2-2 going to the eighth, and their third pitcher of the game, the usually reliable Hunter Shaw, came out of the bullpen to record six outs while hopefully the offense could manage the winning run. But in a season of mishaps, missed assignments, and missed opportunities, the best-laid plan, along with Hunter Shaw, came undone.
Shaw started the top of the eighth by hitting the leadoff hitter, of course. A sac bunt moved that runner to second, and an RBI single by Groves scored the runner hit by the pitch for the go-ahead run…3-2, Illinois.
Sahil Patel pitched around six walks allowed over the first four innings and left the game with a 2-1 lead.
Still, the Buckeyes were in it with their own at bat in the bottom of the eighth.
Tyler Pettorini walked to lead off the eighth, then stole second. But Mason Eckelman, with a chance to drive him in with a base hit…struck out.
Ryan Miller walked, now runners at first and second with Maddix Simpson at the plate with a chance to atone for his error in the sixth. He struck out.
And in need of a two-out base hit, like they’ve been all season, Will Carpenter stranded Pettorini with a groundout to second base.
Shaw returned to the mound in the ninth with a chance for a shutdown inning, again. But with two outs Illinois’ Kyle Schupmann hit a high fly ball to center field that Reggie Bussey lost in the lights, allowing Schupmann, who never broke stride, to circle the bases and score what turned out to be the winning run…4-2, Illinois.
Still with a chance to come back, Sal Mineo led off the Buckeyes’ ninth with a single, followed by another single by Reggie Bussey. With men on first and third and the meat of the batting order coming to the plate, there was one last hope.
Trey Lipsey’s ground out scored Mineo to close the deficit to 4-3. But Graveline followed with a strikeout, and Pettorini grounded out to second base for the final out…and you had the familiar result. Of the nine free bases given up, only one scored, the hit batsman to lead off the eighth.
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But the throwing error by Simpson in the sixth, and the error in center by Bussey in the ninth were all that was necessary for Illinois to find a way to come away with their 28th win, and at least for a day, hold the twelfth tournament spot in the Big Ten standings.
The season, and the stress of familiar issues leading to familiar results was telling on Justin Haire as he talked post-game.
“Yeah, if we just play clean on defense that’s a win,” he began. “But we didn’t do that. It’s frustrating. We have a tailor-made ground ball double play in the third that we don’t turn…we’ve got the two-out ground ball in the sixth that we muffed the throw…and we missed the two-out fly ball in the ninth that the guy comes all the way around and scores.
Painful, said Justin Haire over lack of support for the pitching. Doug Bauer pitched well, allowing a run on three hits in three innings.
“It’s painful,” he added. “It’s painful because for as many challenges as our pitching staff has had Patel and Bauer competed their butts off tonight. I was proud of their commitment and their competitiveness.”
With two games left in the season, he was asked, “Is there anything left to say that hasn’t been said?”
“No, there’s not a whole lot,” Haire reasoned. “It boils down to having two games left to put on the Ohio State uniform, and you want those guys to give everything they’ve got to each other. They’re teammates, and there’s nothing to be held back at this point. Praise to our pitchers tonight because they gave us a chance to win. And hopefully, we’ll give everything we’ve got for these last two days.”
The Buckeyes fell to 12-36 with 3 runs on 8 hits and a pair of costly errors.
Illinois improved to 28-22 with 4 runs in 8 hits and no errors.
Friday’s second game of the series has been pushed up to 3 pm because of impending weather concerns, and sophomore Jake Michalak (1-6) will go to the mound once more, seeking his second win of the season.
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