Baseball Buckeyes win weekend series against Big Ten leaders Michigan State

The Buckeyes took two of three from the Michigan State Spartans in a weekend series at Bill Davis Stadium, drawing to within one game of first place in the conference standings.

The Buckeyes used their powerful bats in beating the Spartans, recording double-digit hits in each game (12, 16 and 14) and a total of 17 multi-hit games from its starters for the weekend, including three each from Brian DeLucia, Tim Wetzel, Josh Dezse, the Buckeyes' one, two and four hitters.

The Spartans' game one, 5-4 victory on Friday night was a pitchers duel between Spartans' right-hander Kurt Wunderlich, who pitched eight strong innings and yielded only four runs, while recording five strikeouts, and Ohio State righty Drew Rucinski, who went 7.1 innings while yielding four runs with two strikeouts.

The Spartans won the game thanks to a 10th inning solo home run from LF Jordan Keur, after Ohio State 1B Josh Dezse managed to tie the game at four on an 8th inning two-run homer. The Buckeyes then left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th after suffering back-to-back strikeouts at the hands of Spartans' reliever Tony Weiber to end the game.

The Buckeyes battled back to win Saturday's game two 9-8, behind RF Brian DeLucia's two-hit, three-RBI afternoon. The Buckeyes took the lead in the bottom of the 8th inning on a RBI double from CF Tim Wetzel, who drove in SS Tyler Engle. Pitcher Jared Strayer recorded the save for the Buckeyes after shutting down the Spartans' comeback bid in the 9th.

Sunday's rubber match was a 10-5 win for the Buckeyes as they plated three runs in each the 7th and 8th innings. Josh Dezse's bases-loaded, three-RBI, off-the-wall triple in the bottom of the 7th inning was the difference in the ball game as it turned a 5-4 Spartans' lead into a 7-5 Buckeye advantage, a lead the Buckeyes would never relinquish.

The weekend series pushed the Buckeyes' record to an even 15-15 (5-4) and slotted them a game back of first place in the Big Ten Conference.

The Buckeyes play Bowling Green this Wednesday, 6:35 p.m., at Bill Davis Stadium.