Baseball
Buckeyes Undefeated after First Weekend of Play
By John Porentas

OSU opened the baseball season with three wins last weekend for their first 3-0 start since the 2002 season.

The Buckeyes traveled to Milllington, Tennessee to participate in the Armed Services Academies Classic. They opened the season with a 7-3 win over Arkansas State, then posted a 1-0 win over Memphis before closing out the weekend with a 6-5 win over Seton Hall.

OSU pitching was very effective all weekend. No OSU starter went less than four innings and the starters allowed just three earned runs in 14 combined innings of work. Relievers Dean Wolosianski, Alex Wimmers and Drew Rucinski combined to allow one earned run and one walk while striking out seven in 10 combined innings. Reliever Eric Best pitched two innings of scoreless and hitless ball. The OSU pitching staff has an ERA of 1.33 after one week of play.

OSU third baseman Brian DeLucia was five-for-five at the plate before suffering a hamstring injury against Memphis and sitting out the rest of the trip. First baseman Justin Miller hit .500 on the trip with six hits in 12 at bats. He also drove in four runs. As a team, the Buckeyes are hitting .264 after the first weekend of play.

The lone dark spot on the trip was OSU's defense. The Buckeyes committed eight errors in three games, three each against Arkansas State and Seton Hall and two against Memphis. Against Seton Hall, three of the five runs allowed by OSU were unearned.

OSU 7, Arkansas State 3

The big story was the DeLucia family. Senior pitcher Dan DeLucia made his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. The 2006 Big Ten pitcher of the year went four innings, giving up one run and five hits while striking out two. In his first college action, freshman Dean Wolosiansky went three inning and gave up five hits and two runs, one of them earned. Eric Best them came on to pitch two hitless innings.

While Dan DeLucia was making a dramatic comeback, his little brother Brian was making noise as OSU's starter at third base. Dan was a perfect four-for-four with a home run, a double, two singles and two RBI. Center fielder J. B. Shuck had three hits and scored twice.

With the score tied 3-3, the Buckeyes put three runs on the board in the seventh inning to take the lead. OSU used five hits and an Arkansas State error to fuel the rally.

Box Score and Play by Play

OSU 1, Memphis 0

The Buckeyes scored a run in the first inning and made it hold up the rest of the way as starter J. B. Shuck pitched six innings of shutout ball and freshman Alex Wimmers followed with three innings of shutout ball to preserve the win in his very first college appearance. Shuck allowed just two hits and struck out nine. Wimmers allowed one hit and struck out five.

Sophomore outfielder Ryan Dew drove in the game's only run in the first inning with an RBI single. Leadoff hitter Cory Kovanda singled to open the game, moved to second on a hit and run ground out by Tony Kennedy and scored on Dew's single.

Box Score and Play by Play

OSU 6, Seton Hall 5

The Buckeyes scored two runs in the sixth inning to come from behind to tie the game, then added the game winner in the eighth to claim the win against the Pirates and remain perfect on the season. OSU got a leadoff homerun from Mike Arp, the first of his career, to begin the sixth inning, the added another run on a one-out single by J. B. Shuck and an RBI double by Tony Kennedy. OSU plated the game winner in the eighth on a two-out RBI double by Justin Miller.

Starter Josh Edgin went four innings, giving up four runs, just two of them earned. Drew Rucinski relieved and went four innings. He gave up one unearned run and just three hits. Closer Rory Meister pitched the ninth. He faced just three batters and retired all three.

Box Score and Play by Play

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