[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Swinging success: Buckeyes start Big Ten play in style by riding an eight-run first inning

Saturday, March 29, 2008 3:18 AM
By Mark Znidar


The Columbus Dispatch
NEAL C. LAURON Dispatch photos
Penn State shortstop Lou Picconi mishandles a throw as Ohio State's J.B. Shuck slides into second with a stolen base.


Ohio State starting pitcher Jake Hale allowed two hits and two walks and struck out three in six innings to improve to 2-0.



By the time Tyler Engle started digging in as the ninth man in the batting order, Ohio State had scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning.
That didn't loosen the walnut-sized knot he had in the pit of his stomach.
"I felt like there was a lot of pressure on me to keep it up," said Engle, a true freshman from Fort Frye High School in Beverly, Ohio. "Coach (Bob) Todd has been on me for taking fastballs, and the first fastball I saw I tried to get on it and get a good a swing on it."
And how did Engle feel running to first base with a single?
"I kind of lost consciousness for a minute," he said.
Engle had three more hits and drove in four runs as the Buckeyes routed Penn State 15-0 in their Big Ten opener last night in Bill Davis Stadium.

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