Buckeyes pound Oakland

[JCOSU86]

The Buckeyes drilled the mighty A's...er..Golden Grizzlies, 14-4


Garrard's Five RBI Help Lift Ohio State to 14-4 Win Over Oakland

Team belts out season high 18 hits as every starter has a hit


Brett Garrard batted in five runs in going 3-for-5 against Oakland.

April 7, 2004

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - In the bottom of the fourth inning, Ohio State senior shortstop Brett Garrard broke the game wide-open with a two-out, bases-loaded double to propel the Buckeyes to their fourth win in five games. Garrard finished the game 3-for-5, knocking in a career-best five RBI in Ohio State's 14-4 route of the Oakland Golden Grizzles Wednesday night at Bill Davis Stadium.

With a 4-2 lead, the Buckeyes scored eight runs on seven hits in the fourth inning, all with two outs, to take a commanding 12-2 lead. Drew Anderson (Jr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) and Mike Rabin (Jr., West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) provided singles before a pair of walk plated the first run. Paul Farinacci (Jr., Westlake Village, Calif./Agoura) singled up the middle to score Rabin and Steve Caravati (Jr., Dover, Ohio/Dover) and then after the third walk of the inning, Garrard, a junior from Brownsburg, Ind. (Brownsburg) delivered his third and fourth RBI with a double to make the score 9-4.

Cody Caughenbaugh (So., Newark, Ohio/Licking Valley) provided a pinch hit single to left-center field to score the sixth and seventh runs of the inning and then two more singles scored one more run to give the Buckeyes a 10-run lead.

The Golden Grizzlies scored twice in the top of the to close within a 12-4 score after a pinch hit single by Bryan DeLamielleure and a double by Tim Doig. With runners at second and third and one out John Sullivan singled to left and reached second on a fielding error by Caravati and both runners scored.

Ohio State scored twice more in the eighth as Garrard drove in his fifth run of the game, doubling down the left field line to score Ronnie Bourquin (Fr., Canton, Ohio/Canton South), who led off the inning with a double, and Farinacci, who singled up the middle. The runs gave the Buckeyes their second 10-run lead.

Every starter had a hit, including Rabin, Caravati and Garrard, who provided three hits apiece in the Buckeyes' season-high 18 hit attack. Anderson and Farinacci added two hits each, while Farinacci drove in three runs. No Oakland player had more than one hit.

The Buckeyes opened the scoring as they took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a lead-off home run by Jedidiah Stephen (So., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) over the fence in left-center field. The blast was his third home run of the year.

Oakland responded by scoring twice in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead. The Golden Grizzlies benefited from a pair of walks by OSU starter Jesse Paciorek (Jr., Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) to start the inning and then a double in the left-center field gap scored both Kurt Rosenacker and Bryan Marulli.

Ohio State countered with three runs of its own to go back on top 4-2. Anderson reached second on a two-base error on a dropped pop up just off the infield dirt to start the third inning. He scored on a single through the left side by Rabin. Caravati doubled down the left-field line to put runners out the corners with no one out. After two outs and a walk to load the bases, Garrard singled to shallow center field to plate both Rabin and Caravati.

Paciorek got the win in the scheduled abbreviated start, going 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on one hit and four walks. He tied a career high with four strikeouts. Ohio State also pitched Trey Fausnaugh (Fr., Circleville, Ohio/Westfall) for 2.0 innings, Jeffrey Carroll (Fr., Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) for 3.0 innings before bringing in Dan DeLucia (Fr., Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) for the final inning of the game. Dominic Carmosino got the loss for Oakland, which fell to 5-18 on the year.

This is the third time this season the Buckeyes have been at the .500 mark and both previous times the team has not been able to register more wins than losses. Ohio State (11-11 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) will play a four-game Big Ten series this weekend at Purdue (11-12, 2-2). The teams will play at 4 p.m. (3 p.m., CDT) Friday before playing a doubleheader at 2 p.m. (1 p.m., CDT) Saturday. The series ends Sunday with a single game at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. CDT). The next Buckeye home game will be April 14 against Dayton at 6:35 p.m.

[sears3820]

If we would have lost to Oakland, I would cease to follow the team.

Nice to see the sticks wake up. I just hope they can stay consistent and don't disappear.

[CleveBucks]

Got some good pitching from Paciorek and the three freshmen... Fausnaugh, Carroll, and DeLucia.

[Nixon]

Honestly, Carroll didn't pitch that well. 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 W, 2 K, 58 pitches.