Cory Luebke improved to 6-0 this season as OSU downed Purdue, 6-2, Friday

April 27, 2007

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Ohio State junior pitcher Cory Luebke threw his second complete game of the season to improve to 6-0 on the year as the Buckeyes downed Purdue, 6-2, Friday in the first game of a four-game Big Ten series at Lambert Field in West Lafayette, Ind.

Luebke (Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local) gave up no earned runs, scattering seven hits and striking out seven. He walked none and is now 2-0 in Big Ten action.

Ohio State improves to 24-11 overall and 9-6 in Big Ten action, while Purdue fell to 17-18 overall and 7-9 in the conference. The Buckeyes and Boilermakers will play games two and three of the series starting at 1:05 p.m. Saturday at Lambert Field. Saturday's two seven-inning games will be followed a final nine-inning game at 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

The Buckeyes took an early lead, scoring one run in the top of the first. Jacob Howell (Sr., Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) started the game off with a single to center and then stole second. Howell moved to third on a ground out and Eric Fryer (Jr., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) reached on an error by the third baseman but Howell was unable to score. Fryer was thrown out trying to steal second for the second out but after a J.B. Shuck (So., Galion, Ohio/Galion) walk, Justin Miller (So., Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) came through with a two-out RBI single to make it 1-0.

In the top of the second, OSU added a second run. Cory Kovanda (Fr., Croton, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) tallied a two-out single and moved to second on Tony Sedlmeyer's wild pitch. Howell then connected on his second hit in as many at bats for a 2-0 lead.

Ohio State stretched its lead to 5-0 with three runs in the top of the fourth. Jason Zoeller (Sr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy) got things going with a one-out single. Kovanda followed with a single and Zoeller and Kovanda advanced to second and third, respectively, on a passed ball. Howell picked up an RBI with a ground out to short and Matt Angle (Jr., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling) brought home Kovanda with an RBI single. Fryer singled and Shuck walked to load the bases and Sedlmeyer uncorked another wild pitch that allowed Angle to score for a 5-0 OSU advantage.

The lead grew to 6-0 as the Buckeyes tacked on one run in the top of the sixth. Angle started off the inning with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a ground out. Shuck then doubled down the left field line to drive in Angle.

The Boilermakers got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of two OSU errors to make it 6-2 after six but that was as close at PU would get. The Buckeyes turned three double plays on the day.

Sedlmeyer took the loss for Purdue, giving up five earned runs on nine hits in four innings of work. Allan Donato and Andrew Groves also pitched for the Boilermakers.

The Buckeyes had 15 hits and the Boilermakers seven.