OSU Trio One-Hits, Upsets #2 Miami

(CORAL GABLES, FL) – A trio of Ohio State pitchers, led by starter and winner Alex Wimmers (now 5-0), one-hit the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes and the Buckeye bats did more than enough to secure a 7-1 victory Tuesday before 1,755 fans at Alex Rodriguez Park. Ohio State, ranked 16th in the Collegiate Baseball poll, improves to 18-3 with the win while Miami falls to 18-5.

Wimmers, pitching on three days rest for the first time as a collegian, tossed 5.0 innings and did not allow a base hit. He exited with the Buckeyes up, 6-1, with a first inning Miami run unearned and set up by two errors and a walk. Wimmers walked five and struck out two for the game.

He was replaced in the sixth by Drew Rucinski, who worked 3.0 innings with his only base runners the result of a first-batter-faced single and a walk allowed in the seventh.

Hale then came in and slammed the door shut on a win for the 11th time this season. He struck out two of the three batters he faced. In all, Hale and Rucinski faced 14 batters and allowed just one hit and one walk.

“We pitched Alex on three days rest and we didn’t expect that he was going to give us a complete game, but he competed and when he left in the fifth inning he hadn’t given up a hit,” Ohio State coach Bob Todd said. “We were also being very conscious of the fact that we have conference play this weekend at Penn State.

“So Drew Rucinski came in and gave us three quality innings and, most importantly, he was able to throw strikes with three pitches. And it’s great to see that Jake Hale has bitten into the idea that he wants to be our closer and he did a great job, too.

Ohio State scored four times in the top of the third inning – off five hits and one error – to chase Miami starter Daniel Miranda (1-2) and claim a 4-1 lead. Ryan Dew and Matt Streng opened with doubles down the opposite lines to tie the score at 1-1. Zach Hurley singled and Cory Kovanda walked, and after both moved up on a nicely executed sac bunt by Michael Stephens, both scored on a soft, two-out single to right center field by Dan Burkhart, with Kovanda hustling and diving head first to beat the throw to the plate.

Four Buckeye errors through the first five innings hurt the team’s pride more than the score. Two first-inning errors allowed Miami to score without getting a hit. In the fourth inning, another error put the leadoff runner on board, but a 6-4-3 double play erased the error, and Wimmers was able to get another ground out to escape the inning with a 4-1 lead.

For the game, Ohio State had seven runs, eight hits and four errors. The Hurricanes had one run off one hit and committed two errors.

Ohio State defeated No. 4 North Carolina, 2-1, in Greenville, N.C., for its last win over a top five team on March 5, 2005.

(Courtesy Ohio State University)