Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Ohio State
Army Falls To Ohio State, 7-1
March 04, 2011 | Baseball
Box Score
FOREST CITY, N.C. - Josh Dezse went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI, and Drew Rucinski allowed just one run on two hits over eight innings of work as Ohio State defeated Army, 7-1, on Friday at McNair Field.
Matt Streng went 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Buckeyes, who improve to 5-3 on the young season. Brent Peterson and David Darnell both collected singles for the Black Knights, who fall to 1-7 on the year.
Army starting pitcher Nick Dignacco (0-1), making his third career start, allowed four runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings. Andy Seaman came out of the bullpen and yielded three runs on three hits in one inning of work, while Colin Briant pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Dezse smacked a two-run double during Ohio State's three-run seventh inning rally that put the Buckeyes on top 7-1.
The run support was more than enough for Rucinski (2-0), who faced the minimum over the first three innings and struck out four batters during his outing. Theron Minium came on in the ninth inning and got the final three outs.
A two-out single up the middle by Dezse ignited a first-inning rally for Ohio State that resulted in the Buckeyes plating the game's first run. Dezse advanced to second base after Brian DeLucia worked a walk, and he scored on Streng's single to left field.
Army, which was held hitless over the first two frames, got a rally going in the third inning as Peterson led off with a single and J.T. Watkins was hit by a pitch. Rucinski was able to get out of the situation unscathed, however, as Peterson was picked off of second base and Darnell grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Ohio State pushed across two more runs in the bottom of the third inning to assume a 3-0 advantage. Dezse, as he did in the first inning, started the uprising with a two-out single. He moved to second base as DeLucia drew another walk and scored on Streng's single up the middle. DeLucia, who moved to third on Streng's base hit, scored the Buckeyes' second run of the inning on an attempted double steal. Streng was cut down at second base on the play, but DeLucia had already crossed the plate with OSU's third run.
Army finally broke through in the top of the fourth inning as the Black Knights manufactured a run without the aid of a hit to pull to within 3-1. Steve May walked, moved to second base on a Joey Henshaw groundout, took third on a wild pitch and scored when Kevin McKague stole second.
Ohio State got that run back in the bottom of the fourth when Brad Hallberg singled, moved to third on Dignacco's errant pickoff attempt and scored on Ryan Cypret's sacrifice fly to right field. The Buckeyes loaded the bases with one out in the inning, but Dignacco escaped further damage as he got Tyler Engle to line into a double play to end the threat. Engle ripped a rising liner to second baseman Zach Price, who caught it cleanly and quickly tossed the ball to Peterson to double up Greg Solomon.
The Buckeyes capped the scoring in the seventh inning, plating three runs in the frame. The first three batters of the inning reached to load the bases for Dezse, who hit a two-run double down the left field line. DeLucia followed with a run-scoring single to make it 7-1.
Army put the leadoff man on in both the eighth and ninth innings, but the Black Knights were unable to generate a serious threat.
Army will return to McNair Field later today when the Black Knights face Akron at 7 p.m.
Game Notes: Army falls to 0-5 all-time versus Ohio State ... the Black Knights and Buckeyes will meet again in just nine days (March 13) during Army's spring break trip to Florida ... Army turned four double plays in eight defensive innings ... it marked the first time since 2006 that the Black Knights registered four double plays in a game ... Ohio State turned two double plays ... seven different players (three Army, four Ohio State) were hit by a pitch in the game ... Army wore its all-grey uniforms with black caps in today's game ... Ohio State outhit Army 12-2 in the contest.
