Devon Torrence #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes intercepts a pass in the third quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Ohio Stadium on November 13, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. Torrence returned the interception 34-yards for a touchdown in the Buckeyes' 38-14 win over the Nittany Lions.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — As [...]]]> Associated Press

Devon Torrence #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes intercepts a pass in the third quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Ohio Stadium on November 13, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. Torrence returned the interception 34-yards for a touchdown in the Buckeyes' 38-14 win over the Nittany Lions.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — As the Ohio State Buckeyes left the field trailing 14-3 at halftime on Saturday, their fans really let them hear it.

By the end of the game, those boos had turned to cheers.

Devon Torrence tipped and snagged an interception and returned it 34 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, and the Buckeyes (No. 9 BCS, No. 8 AP) ran off the final 35 points for a 38-14 win.

“We know how much our fans are obsessed with Ohio State football,” said wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher, who caught a ricochet off a defender for a quirky 58-yard score in the 21-0 fourth quarter. “Booing us? I probably would have booed us.”

Travis Howard added another interception and brought it back 30 yards for a TD, also in the fourth.

“Obviously, I didn’t pay attention to it,” defensive end Cameron Heyward said of the boos. “It’s going to happen. But we had to respond in the second half.”

They certainly did. The two defensive scores gave Ohio State six interception returns for touchdowns in the last seven meetings with Penn State (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten).

The victory sent the Buckeyes (9-1, 5-1) into a critical showdown at Iowa next week tied for first place in the conference with Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Instead of win No. 401 for Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno, the second-half scores tagged him with his 133rd loss.

“There were a lot of things involved,” he said of his team’s second-half collapse. “I didn’t think they [the Buckeyes] did much different in the second half.”

The comeback from an 11-point deficit was the biggest in coach Jim Tressel’s 10 years in Columbus.

“They played their fannies off in the second half,” Tressel said of his Buckeyes. “I’m awfully proud of them.”

The game swung on one play.

With a 14-10 lead on second-and-9 at the Nittany Lions 37 midway through the third quarter, Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin fired a pass into the left flat meant for Michael Zordich. Torrence, a former outfielder in the Houston Astros system, had slipped off coverage of another receiver, sliding inside and streaking in front of Zordich.

“I saw it and jumped it,” Torrence said. “I had to tip it to myself.”

He flicked the ball up in the air once, juggled it off his shoulder and then finally collected it, racing for the touchdown and a 17-14 lead.

“He kind of baited me,” McGloin said. “At first he was rolling with Derek [Moye] and he came off. He just made a nice play.”

Ohio State then forced a punt and on second-and-23 from his own 42, Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor lobbed an arching pass down the middle of the field for DeVier Posey, with D’Anton Lynn and Drew Astorino pounding him as the ball arrived. But the ball squirted directly to Sanzenbacher trailing the play.

Lynn stood, hands on his hips, stunned as the Buckeyes celebrated in the end zone.

Howard then stepped in front of McGloin’s pass to end any drama.

Pryor, who was 8 of 13 for 139 yards with one interception and two scores, also hit Jake Stoneburner with a late TD pass.

The Buckeyes, down 14-3, were pinned deep in their own territory in the third quarter. But they covered 96 yards — actually 98 because they had a false start penalty before they ran a play. For the most part, they stayed on the ground, with Boom Herron, who had a career-best 190 yards on 21 carries, going the final 5 yards through a gaping hole for a TD.

Then came the interception that flipped the game.

Tressel improved to 27-4 in November games as Ohio State’s head coach — and 3-4 in the week after a bye.

The Nittany Lions, angry that they were listed as 2 1/2-touchdown underdogs, appeared to be the team that was rested and focused early.

McGloin, who finished 15 of 30 for 159 yards with the two interceptions, hit Justin Brown on a 23-yard score and Moye on a 6-yarder. They were the first touchdown passes Penn State had thrown in Ohio Stadium since joining the Big Ten in 1993, and gave the Lions the most points they’ve scored there in that span.

Torrence’s return helped the Buckeyes forget about the ugly first half and the torrent of boos.

“The halftime locker room was not a fun place,” Tressel said. “But it was not a place that looked like there was any quit in anybody.”

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Ohio State defensive lineman Cameron Heyward returns an interception against the Miami in the third quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Miami quarterback Jacory Harris and the 12th-ranked Hurricanes came into their showdown with No. 2 Ohio State confident and comfortable.

Four [...]]]> Associated Press

Ohio State defensive lineman Cameron Heyward returns an interception against the Miami in the third quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Miami quarterback Jacory Harris and the 12th-ranked Hurricanes came into their showdown with No. 2 Ohio State confident and comfortable.

Four interceptions later, they were deflated and defeated.

Terrelle Pryor ran for 113 yards and a touchdown and passed for another score Saturday as the Buckeyes took advantage of Miami’s miscues to hang a 36-24 loss on the Hurricanes.

“Feeling good doesn’t always end up good,” Harris said.

Eight seasons after the Buckeyes and Hurricanes played a classic game for the 2002 national championship, the rematch wasn’t nearly as close. In the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, the Buckeyes earned a dramatic and controversial 31-24 victory in double-overtime against a Miami team trying to repeat as national champs.

This one was no work of art, with numerous sloppy plays and bad tackling. But it kept the Buckeyes (2-0) perfect and prevented the Hurricanes (1-1) from making a case they belonged back among the nation’s elite.

It all came down to the mistakes.

“When you can create four takeaways, you’re going to have a chance,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “And when you have zero giveaways, you’re going to have a real good chance.”

In what was billed as a Heisman Trophy showcase, Pryor completed just 12 of 27 passes for 233 yards but kept alive drives with many of his 20 carries and scored on a 13-yard run. Harris was 22 of 39 passing for 232 yards and a touchdown but had the four interceptions — three of which could easily have been caught.

“Two of them the receivers ran the wrong route,” Miami coach Randy Shannon said. “But, still, if the receiver runs the wrong route then throw the ball out of bounds.”

It was the last interception which proved to be particularly costly for the Hurricanes.

Trailing 26-17 at the half, Miami took the kickoff and drove to a first down at the Ohio State 6. But on third-and-goal, Harris’ pass over the middle was wide of the mark and intercepted by burly Buckeyes defensive end Cameron Heyward, who had dropped back into pass coverage. He rumbled 80 yards with the ball.

“I was trying to take it to the house,” said the 6-foot-5, 288-pound Heyward, the son of former NFL running back Craig “Ironhead” Heyward. “They caught me. That shows they didn’t give up, and shows I’m not that fast.”

That was OK with his coach.

“They were going to bring it down to a one-score game,” Tressel said. “I was shocked how far he got. I kept thinking that someone was going to catch up to him and strip the ball. Oh, man I was petrified. That was a long run for a big guy.”

It set up Pryor’s touchdown run. He rolled right, looking to pass, then reversed field and scored untouched.

The Hurricanes, whose earlier TDs both came on kick returns, scored on Harris’ 9-yard pass to Chase Ford on the first play of the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 36-24.

Miami got the ball just once more, marching down the field only to lose it on downs at the Ohio State 39 with 7½ minutes left. The Buckeyes, with Pryor picking up big yardage on runs, then played keep-a-way the rest of the game.

Devin Barclay tied an Ohio State record with five field goals.

The first half had to leave both coaches exasperated.

The Buckeyes dominated, piling up 260 yards to just 104 with three turnovers for the Hurricanes. But Miami twice returned kicks for long scores. The first was Lamar Miller’s 88-yard kickoff return.

After Ohio State seemed to grab control at 20-10 on Dan Herron’s 4-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter, Travis Benjamin brought a punt back 79 yards for another score.

It was the first time in 121 years of football that the Buckeyes surrendered a touchdown on punt and kickoff returns in the same game.

The first interception Harris threw was tipped by Ohio State’s C.J. Barnett, into the hands of Nathan Williams, setting up Barclay’s field goal.

The second was a result of receiver Benjamin not even looking for the ball, with Chimdi Chekwa grabbing it to set up Herron’s TD run. Then Harris hit Benjamin with a pass along the right sideline, but he bobbled the ball into Chekwa’s hands to set up yet another Barclay field goal.

Three times in the half, Miami defenders got their hands on one of Pryor’s passes but none of them were intercepted.

“Today was the most calm I’ve ever been,” Pryor said. “I was really comfortable. I feel like I made good decisions and I was thinking about not making turnovers — and I got that done.”

Harris couldn’t say the same.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa – Bob Todd picked up his 900th win at Ohio State as the Buckeyes topped Iowa, 11-6, Sunday afternoon in Iowa City.

Bob Todd Wins No. 900 at Ohio State

With the win, Ohio State moves to 27-21 on the season, 10-11 in the Big Ten while Iowa drops to 23-26, [...]]]> Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Bob Todd picked up his 900th win at Ohio State as the Buckeyes topped Iowa, 11-6, Sunday afternoon in Iowa City.

Bob Todd Wins No. 900 at Ohio State

With the win, Ohio State moves to 27-21 on the season, 10-11 in the Big Ten while Iowa drops to 23-26, also 10-11 in the Big Ten.

Jared Strayer picked up his second win of the week in relief for the Buckeyes, tossing four innings, giving up five hits and just one earned run. Ryan Dew finished 2-for-5 with four runs batted in and two runs scored and Cory Rupert went 3-for-4 with a run batted in.

Like the first two games of the series, Zach Hurley led off the first inning with a single. After a fly out by Cory Kovanda, Dan Burkhart walked and Michael Stephens singled to right to load the bases. Dew then took Phil Schreiber offering deep to right for a grand slam to give the Buckeyes a 4-0 lead. It was Dew’s sixth home run of the season and third in the last five games. Brad Hallberg followed Dew with a walk and Rupert singled through the right side on a perfectly executed hit and run to move Hallberg over to third. Brian DeLucia then pushed the Buckeye lead to 5-0 on an RBI fielder’s choice to shortstop as Hallberg crossed home plate.

After recording the first two outs of the first inning, Ohio State starter Brett McKinney loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk but the freshman right-hander was able to get out of the jam as Mike Corbeil flew out to center to end the threat.

Iowa was able to get one back in the second as Trevor Willis came around to score on a single by Kurt Lee after tripling to lead off the inning.

The Hawkeyes scored two more in the bottom of the fourth when Tyson Blaser led off the inning with a double and Willis followed with his second triple of the game, this time down the right field line. Willis was then driven in on a sacrifice fly to center by Kurtis Muller to cut the Buckeye lead to 5-3 after four.

The Buckeyes answered right back with two of their own in the top of the fifth. Stephens led off the inning with his team-leading ninth home run of the season, a bomb to left center that not only cleared the scoreboard but cleared the street between Duane Banks Field and Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the home of the Iowa basketball and wrestling teams. Dew followed with a single to center to knock Schreiber out of the game. Hallberg then welcomed Iowa reliever Zach Kenyon with a single to right and Rupert then singled to drive in Dew to make it a 7-3 Buckeye lead.

After Rupert popped out to lead off the seventh, DeLucia and Tyler Engle each singled, Hurley walked to load the bases and Kovanda walked as DeLucia scored. Burkhart then singled through the left side to drive in a pair. Kovanda then scored on an error by Lee on a ground ball by Stephens as Ohio State extended the lead to 11-3.

Iowa tacked on one more run on three hits in the eighth and two more in the ninth but it proved to be too little, too late as Ohio State came away with the win.

The Buckeyes return home to Bill Davis Stadium Tuesday to take on Pittsburgh on Columbus City Schools Day at 12:05 p.m.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State bounced back from a four-run deficit to gain a much-needed, 8-4, win over Illinois in the third game of the series at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes move to .500 in the Big Ten Conference with a 9-9 record. That mark is good for fourth- [...]]]> Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State bounced back from a four-run deficit to gain a much-needed, 8-4, win over Illinois in the third game of the series at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes move to .500 in the Big Ten Conference with a 9-9 record. That mark is good for fourth- or fifth-place in the Big Ten depending on the outcome of the Minnesota/Michigan game. Overall, the Buckeyes move to 25-19 while putting to rest a season-long five-game losing streak.

Ryan Dew had a huge day Sunday with a home run, double and a career-high five RBI

Illinois wins the three-game series, 2-1, but drops to 8-10 with the Sunday loss and to 23-22 overall.

Senior Ryan Dew led a 15-hit attack for the Buckeyes with a home run, double and two singles plus he had a career-best five RBI. Dew’s Worthington Kilbourne High School teammate, senior Cory Kovanda, had four hits and two runs scored while Zach Hurley and Michael Stephens had two hits apiece. Hurley also scored two runs.

Illinois, as it has done in all three games this series, scored first, picking up a run in the first inning off a couple of singles with a stolen base in between. The Illini increased the lead to 4-0 with a three-run second inning off Buckeye starter Brett McKinney. Josh Parr’s second triple of the series was the big hit, driving in two runs.

Dew opened the Buckeye half of the second inning with a home run, his fourth home run this season to make the score 4-1.

Two fine defensive plays kept the Illini scoreless in the third. Brad Hallberg made a fine stab of a sharply hit ball at third with runners on second and third. He got the Ilini runner heading toward home in a rundown and he was eventually tagged out. Hurley then made a diving catch of Willie Argo’s line drive to left to get the Buckeyes out of the inning.

Pumped by those web gems, Ohio State got itself back in the game with a five-hit, four-run third inning.  Hurley led off the third with a hard hit single to left and Kovanda reached on a bunt single to chase Illini starter Matt Milroy.

Dan Burkhart greeted reliever Lee Zerussen, who lasted just one inning as the Friday starter for Illinois, with an RBI single with Kovanda taking third. Stephens then singled Kovanda home to make the score 4-3. Dew added two more RBI to his line score with a double to right, giving the Buckeyes their first lead in the series since the third inning of Game 1, 5-4.

Ohio State increased its lead to 7-4 with two more runs in the fourth. Dew’s two-out single scored Hurley and Kovanda, who had walked and singled, respectively.

While the Buckeyes were making their comeback at the plate, Theron Minium was keeping the Illini from scoring in 3.0 innings of two-hit, effective relief. He picked up the win to improve to 3-2 on the season.

Senior Eric Best pitched the final three innings to pick up his third save of the year. He gave up just two hits and one walk while striking out four.

Ohio State concludes its season-long six-game homestand Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. against Ball State.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Big Ten Conference says Ohio State will kick off against Purdue at noon on Saturday, Oct. 23.

Ohio State will kick off against Purdue at noon on Saturday, Oct. 23.

The game will be at Ohio Stadium in Columbus and will serve as Ohio State’s 2010 Homecoming game. Television coverage [...]]]> Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Big Ten Conference says Ohio State will kick off against Purdue at noon on Saturday, Oct. 23.

Ohio State will kick off against Purdue at noon on Saturday, Oct. 23.

The game will be at Ohio Stadium in Columbus and will serve as Ohio State’s 2010 Homecoming game. Television coverage will be announced later.

Four other games on the 2010 football schedule have confirmed starting times.

the Buckeyes’ opener on Thursday, Sept. 2, against Marshall will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Ohio Stadium.

The conference game at Wisconsin on Oct. 16 will begin at 7:15 p.m. Two weeks later, the Buckeyes, five-time defending Big Ten champions, travel to play Minnesota at its new TCF Bank Stadium at 8 p.m.

The highly anticipated matchup with the Miami Hurricanes on Sept. 11 will start at 3:40 p.m.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State and Louisville resumed their non-conference series for a third consecutive year on an incredibly lovely, buck-a-burger Tuesday night at Bill Stadium. Louisville, ranked as high as seventh nationally (Rivals.com), scored four runs in the second inning and got a solid start out of red-shirt freshman Justin Amlung to [...]]]> Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State and Louisville resumed their non-conference series for a third consecutive year on an incredibly lovely, buck-a-burger Tuesday night at Bill Stadium. Louisville, ranked as high as seventh nationally (Rivals.com), scored four runs in the second inning and got a solid start out of red-shirt freshman Justin Amlung to down the Buckeyes, 6-0, before a season’s-best crowd of 2,033 fans.

Brian DeLucia finished 1-for-3 with a single and a walk

The win was Louisville’s fourth over Ohio State in the last three years. It improved the Cardinals record to 37-7 this year and it also improved its record to 19-2 against the Big Ten under fourth-year coach Dan McDonnell. Ohio State falls to 24-16 with the loss.

After a scoreless first inning – the Buckeyes had two runners on with one out in their half but hit into an inning-ending double play – Louisville scored four runs in the second off three hits and one Buckeye error.

Amlung settled down after that first inning to retire 10 consecutive Buckeyes, a feat that was nearly matched by Ohio State starter Dean Wolosiansky. He had three perfect innings outside of the rough second, which included two unearned runs out of the four. Wolosiansky pitched 4.0 innings on the night and allowed two earned runs, three hits, one walk and four strikeouts. He retired the last eight batters he faced and had his record drop to 3-6.

Two more Louisville runs in the fifth – sparked by three hits to open the inning including back-to-back doubles by Adam Duval and Andrew Clark – increased the lead to 6-0.

Ohio State threatened in its half of the fifth as a Ryan Dew double, Brian DeLucia single and a passed ball put runners on second and third with one out. But Amlung stabbed a Matt Streng liner and threw to second for the double play and the inning was over. ( Full Story )

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Buckeyes Come Back to Top Michigan State, 4-3

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EAST LANSING, Mich. – Ohio State battled back from a 5-1 deficit early to tie the game, but it could not recover from a seven-run deficit later on and ended up losing the third game of this series with Michigan State, 14-7, Sunday at [...]]]> Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com

Buckeyes Come Back to Top Michigan State, 4-3

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Ohio State battled back from a 5-1 deficit early to tie the game, but it could not recover from a seven-run deficit later on and ended up losing the third game of this series with Michigan State, 14-7, Sunday at McLean Stadium. Ohio State drops to 21-10 overall but retains at least a share of the Big Ten Conference lead with a 6-3 record. Michigan State, which came into the series tied for the conference lead but dropped the first two games of the series, improved to 23-10 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten.

Things started out fine for the Buckeyes, who were seeking a fourth three-game sweep in this second season of three-game conference series. The team took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Zach Hurley led off with a single, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Cory Kovanda’s single.

The Spartans topped that total in their half of the first, though, scoring twice on three hits and a walk with the big blow a two-run double by Jeff Holm. Three more runs in the second by the home team increased the Spartan lead to 5-1 entering the fourth inning.

The Buckeye bats got hot in the fourth. The team scored four times to tie the score at 5-all on the strength of six singles. All four runs were scored with two out with RBI singles registered by Brian DeLucia, Matt Streng, Tyler Engle and Hurley.

It wasn’t a tie game for long. Eli Boike hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth and two-outs later an RBI single by Torsten Boss extended the lead to 8-5. Boike’s hit chased OSU starter Dean Wolosiansky, who surrendered seven runs on nine hits and dropped to 3-4 with the loss.

The Spartans opened things up again in the fifth inning with four more runs with Holm’s two-out, three-run home run the big hit of the inning that made the score 12-5…a lead that proved to, ultimately, be insurmountable.

Spartan starter Tony Bucciferro lasted into the eighth inning, scattered 12 hits and only had the one rough inning to improve to 5-3 with the win.

Buckeyes Come Back to Top Michigan State, 4-3

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EAST LANSING, Mich. – Okay, so we aren’t even halfway through the Big Ten Conference regular season – the teams are precisely one-third of the way through – and already one thing is becoming clear: Ohio State, the defending Big Ten champion and the [...]]]> Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com

Buckeyes Come Back to Top Michigan State, 4-3

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Okay, so we aren’t even halfway through the Big Ten Conference regular season – the teams are precisely one-third of the way through – and already one thing is becoming clear: Ohio State, the defending Big Ten champion and the team with the target symbol on its back entering the season, is indeed confirming it is the team to beat this year.

Saturday on a windy, 40-something-degree-February-like-day at McLean Stadium and Kobs Field, Ohio State came from behind and scored four late runs to defeat the Spartans, 4-3, and improve to a league-best 6-2 in the Big Ten and 21-9 overall. Michigan State drops to 4-4 in the Big Ten and 22-9 overall with Game 3 set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

“We like wearing the target,” Ohio State coach Bob Todd said way back in October when discussing the difference between being the defending Big Ten champion and striving to win a title. “We recruit players who want to be the team to beat.”

Right now, the Buckeyes have a bunch of guys who are relishing their roles and doing whatever it takes to win games. And once again, there were numerous Buckeye stars on a day when the stat sheets weren’t particularly impressive from an offensive standpoint. Zach Hurley led the way with three hits, including a critical home run to tie the game in the seventh inning. Dan Burkhart and Ryan Dew also had RBI hits on a day when RBI hits were few and far between. Cory Kovanda scored twice, with both of his runs breaking tie scores.

The pitching staffs from both teams were solid with the Ohio State pitching numbers most impressive as three pitchers – starter Drew Rucinski and relievers Theron Minium and Eric Best – combined to scatter 10 hits, give up just three earned runs, walk only three and record five big strikeouts.

Michigan State scored a run in the second inning to go up 1-0. Freshman Torsten Boss, the Michigan high school football player of the year as a senior last year, walked, went to third on a single by Chris Roberts and scored on John Martinez’s infield single. Martinez slid into first base similar to what Tyler Engle did Friday and ended up injuring his right arm or shoulder on the play. He left the game.

Ohio State had runners on base in five of the first six innings, but the Buckeye bats weren’t responding to the challenge: the team was just 1-for-9 with runners on and 0-for-6 in RBI opportunities. After Hurley singled off the first pitch of the game to extend his hitting streak to seven games, Ohio State didn’t collect another hit until Hurley’s two-out single to left in the fifth.

Michigan State threatened to add to its 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, with the first two batters drawing walks off Rucinski. The Ohio State junior got out of the inning with two strikeouts on either side of a fly ball to right that Brian DeLucia played perfectly – positioning himself and using body language that suggested “make my day” – to keep the Spartan runner on third from even thinking about tagging up.

Hurley, who is 16-for-34 (.470) in his last seven games, finally put Ohio State on the scoreboard with a two-out home run to left field in the seventh to tie the score at 1-all. The ball was crushed, landing in the Red Cedar River that runs just beyond right field.

“I think it was the boost that we needed to get the offense going,” Hurley said of his fifth home run of the season. “I think we were getting a little frustrated by getting guys on base but not being able to drive any of them home. From that point everyone felt a sense of relief and it just opened the game up for us.”

After that hit, Kovanda reached on an error at third and that play seemed to take the steam out of MSU starter Kurt Wunderlich, who had pitched a solid game up to that point. After a wild pitch moved Kovanda to second, Burkhart stroked an RBI double to left center that scored Kovanda to give the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead. Wunderlich was replaced after his next pitch – a ball to Michael Stephens – and he hit the dugout having pitched 6.2 innings of six-hit ball with just one earned run allowed.

MSU came right back in its half of the seventh with a leadoff double and infield singles to load the bases. After Brandon Eckerle stroked a single just past Kovanda at second, one run scored and OSU starter Drew Rucinski’s nice 6.0-inning effort on a cold day was over. He was replaced by the junior Minium, who came into the game in the tightest of tense situations: the bases were loaded with nobody out.

And goodness gracious did Minium ever perform well. The left-hander struck out Ryan Jones looking. He got Jeff Holm to line out – fortunately – to a perfectly positioned DeLucia in right. He closed the inning – and its oddly sweet line of one run off four hits with no errors and three runners left – and preserved the tie by getting a soft pop-out to Kovanda.

The Buckeyes tacked on two more runs – the winning runs – in the ninth. Kovanda had a one-out single and stole second. With two outs, Michael Stephens was intentionally walked so the left-hander Trey Popp could face lefty-hitting Ryan Dew. All that move did – albeit the right baseball move…on paper – was annoy the personable Dew, who smashed a single to left center to score Kovanda with Stephens taking third. Stephens then scored on a wild pitch for a 4-2 lead.

Minium didn’t let a leadoff home run by Eli Boike in the ninth bother him. He promptly got the next two batters out before Best came in to record the final out of the game. Minium picked up the win with 2.2 innings of work and improves to 2-0. Best notched his first save of the year and 10th of his career to move into a tie for eighth-place on Ohio State’s career saves charts.

Ohio State defeat Michigan State, 10-1

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Ohio State rode solid pitching from All-American Alex Wimmers, timely hitting up-and-down the lineup and dirt-eating hustle to defeat Michigan State, 10-1, in this first of three games between the Big Ten Conference leaders. Game two of the series will be televised live [...]]]> Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com

Ohio State defeat Michigan State, 10-1

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Ohio State rode solid pitching from All-American Alex Wimmers, timely hitting up-and-down the lineup and dirt-eating hustle to defeat Michigan State, 10-1, in this first of three games between the Big Ten Conference leaders. Game two of the series will be televised live on the Big Ten Network Saturday at 1 p.m.

Wimmers scattered seven hits through eight innings while allowing just one run to improve to 8-0 this season and to 17-2 the last two years. He struck out seven and walked just two. Eric Shinn relieved in the ninth and recorded two backward Ks in his scoreless inning to finish the game.

The Buckeyes wrapped 16 hits, including 13 against MSU starter A.J. Achter (4-2), who pitched into the eighth inning. Cory Rupert had three hits and two runs batted in and Tyler Engle had three hits, a run scored and an RBI to stoke the hot-hitting Buckeyes. Zach Hurley, Dan Burkhart and Matt Streng each had a couple of hits in support and Michael Stephens and Ryan Dew contributed a pair of RBIs apiece.

The biggest and most decisive hit of the game came off the bat of junior Brian DeLucia, who extended his hitting streak to eight games by stroking a three-run home run to right in the second inning to give Ohio State a quick, 3-0 lead. DeLucia now has 11 RBI the last three games. The home run was his fifth this season…a line drive shot that never appeared to be more than 20 feet off the ground and it scored Stephens, who was hit by a pitch, and Dew, who reached on an error.

Burkhart led off the third with a triple to right center and Dew singled him home with one out to increase Ohio State’s lead to 4-0.

Engle had the hustle play of the day, an effort that ended up resulting in two fourth inning runs to give Wimmers and the Buckeyes a commanding 6-0 lead. His low, one-hop liner was reached by shortstop Jonathan Roof diving to his right. He got up firing and Engle dove, slid and crashed into the bag just ahead of the throw. Covered in dirt head to toe and tasting it as well, Engle would later score – along with Cory Kovanda, who reached on a bunt single – on a Stephens single.

The Buckeyes tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning and another in the ninth. Michigan State scored its only run in the sixth inning on three hits.

Ohio State improves to 20-9 with the win and sits in first place in the Big Ten with a 5-2 record. Michigan State is now 22-8 and 4-3 in the conference.

COLUMBUS — For a dozen games last season, Ohio State was true to its roots and ran the ball about twice as often as it threw it.

Then came the team’s trip to the Rose Bowl. And something strange happened.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor tossed 38 passes, the most all year. Both Buckeyes touchdowns [...]]]> Associated Press

COLUMBUS — For a dozen games last season, Ohio State was true to its roots and ran the ball about twice as often as it threw it.

Then came the team’s trip to the Rose Bowl. And something strange happened.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor tossed 38 passes, the most all year. Both Buckeyes touchdowns came on passes and, for the first time, Ohio State looked as if it had embraced a pass-first-and-ask-questions-later offense.

Midway through workouts this spring, the fans — and, for that matter, the Buckeyes themselves — are wondering about the 2010 plan of attack.

“It’s nice to not only get that (passing game) but also get a win — and to bring that into spring ball,” wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher said. “It brings a whole new pep to everybody’s step. As far as opening up the offense, you get that question a lot. I don’t know any more than you guys know. But I think being able to be successful at something like that will give the coaches confidence.”

Maybe it was faith in the growth of the mercurial Pryor. Or the offensive line had improved enough to let him throw more. Or it was the maturation of a young receiver corps. Or maybe it was just the matchups against Oregon that led to the air show in a 26-17 win over the Ducks in Pasadena, Calif.

So, are the Buckeyes opening things up?

“I don’t know what that means,” assistant head coach Darrell Hazell, who also oversees the receivers, said with a laugh. “With older players you can run more things and those guys are all a year older. That gives you a chance to do that. But you’re always going to do, as a coach, what you think is the best thing to win the football game, no matter what the fans are saying.”

One thing is for certain: The Buckeyes receivers and Pryor are feeling more confident and comfortable the more they play together. And the coaching staff is giving them more leeway because of that.

“I definitely feel that they’re giving us a lot more ability to make our own (plays),” said DeVier Posey, who led the Buckeyes with 60 catches for 828 yards and 8 TDs a year ago. “That comes with losing your youth and getting older and (the coaches) being able to trust you. This is all a trust factor, the coaches trusting you to get your job done.”

Matchup advantages had to have played a role in the Rose Bowl. Pryor attempted 17 passes in each of the last three regular season games, completing a combined 31 passes for 285 yards. Against Oregon, he was 23 of 37 for 266 yards.

Asked if he sits at home hoping that the coaching staff wants to continue to throw that much, Sanzenbacher flashed a wide grin and joked, “Every night.”

Ohio State is toying with the idea of throwing more to backs and tight ends. However, this isn’t the first time the coaches have suggested that. In the past, though, they’ve changed their minds once they get caught up in the heat of battle.

But this spring they like the idea of getting co-tailbacks Brandon Saine and Dan Herron on the field together. They also like the speed and size (6-foot-5, 245) of tight end Jake Stoneburner.

Still, the key is the wide receivers, one in particular. With a year of experience as a starter under his belt, Posey believes he’ll be called upon more and more.

“It’s weird that I’m growing up,” said Posey, a junior. “(I was) a talented youngster; I’m expected to be a seasoned veteran now. It’s crazy how your role just flips within a winter.”

Hazell believes Posey could explode as a player, if he continues to mature, harnesses his abilities and grows into a leadership role.

“Right now he’s his biggest enemy because he looks for perfection in everything he does,” Hazell said. “So when he makes a mistake, it kind of looms on him for a while. He has to learn to get over that, because he’s going to make a mistake.”

For a coach who has seen Brian Robiskie, Ted Ginn Jr., Santonio Holmes and Michael Jenkins come through Ohio State in his seven years at Ohio State, Hazell has high hopes for Posey, who’s reception provided the clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl.

“He is an exceptional receiver. One of the best we’ve had since I’ve been here,” he said. “But he’s got to learn to put some of those things that he doesn’t do as well as he’d like behind him so it doesn’t compound (problems for) him on the next play.”