I really thought we had them. Going into the bottom of the sixth, we had a three-run lead. But then again, this was Ohio State and we all know about their offense. The Bucks scored two runs in each of the last three innings to defeat Illinois 7-4.
Aaron Johnson trots around the bases after his second inning two-run homer
We can thank Aaron Johnson for getting us into the game. In the second inning, after Dom Altobelli reached on an error, Johnson cranked a hard one to left centerfield fences to give us a 2-0 lead. Then in the sixth with Brandon Wikoff on base, Johnson doubled bringing him home. Johnson later scored on a Pete Cappetta single.
Strack checking the runner on first
Will Strack was pretty much cruising through the first the first part of the game, inducing pop out and grounders (no strikeouts for the game). Did anyone notice how often Josh Parr touched the ball the first few innings? Parr had five putouts and eight assists for the game.
Strack got in trouble in the sixth though when three hits led to two OSU runs. In the OSU seventh, control was an issue with two straight walks then a base hit.
Zerrusen during the tense 7th inning
Lee Zerrusen came in relief in the 7th. Considering what he was given (a bases-loaded situation with no outs), Big Z did all right. He induced two ground outs and a strikeout (with a intentional walk thrown in). The unfortunate thing is that the Buckeyes scored two runs out of that and there was no way out of that.
And those two runs gave the Buckeyes the lead. I could talk about the two runs Ohio State got in the eighth but that would be pointless. Illinois had already lost the game.
Two nice games by Aaron Johnson and Pete Cappetta. Johnson was 3 for 4 with a double and a homer, 3 rbis and 2 runs. Cappetta had 2 hits with an rbi.
Today, with the updated Tournament bracket, we will face the winner of the Minnesota-Purdue game. That game is at 2:35pm CT.
Lots of photos of the before game practice session, intros and of the game itself at the photo gallery.
Time to head back to the ballpark.
Tough loss, especially after having them where we wanted them, with a tough OSU pitcher on the hill, we were up three, BUMMER! In the top of the 5th, we should’ve taken the bunt off with 2 strikes, then in the bottom of the 6th Strack should have fired to 1st with runners on 1st & 2nd with no outs, and then I thought Bonadonna should’ve either scored on Wikoff’s double or on Altobelli’s flyball to RF. Either way, it was a good showing, disappointing, yes, but let’s get them today!!! I-L-L!!! I-N-I!!!