What fifth-year coach Greg Beals calls the backbone of the Ohio State baseball program is posted on the walls of the clubhouse for the players to see on a daily basis.
The Buckeyes are told that they will have a chance to win most games if they prevent big innings, keep the double play intact and keep free bases to a minimum.
They accomplished none of the above today against an Illinois team that showed why it is ranked sixth nationally for the second straight game.
The Illini scored three runs in the fifth inning on two errors and throws that did not hit the cut-off man or went to the wrong base and three more in the sixth to edge Ohio State 6-5 before 2,040 in Bill Davis Stadium.
>> Any reason why you’re not following @buckeyextra on Twitter?
The 20th straight victory for Illinois (39-6-1, 15-1) put Ohio State (31-12, 12-5) in what could be a fruitless game of catchup with regard to the Big Ten regular-season championship race with two conference series remaining.
“Today hurt a little more because I don’t think we got beat — we shot ourselves in the foot,” Beals said in comparing an 8-1 loss yesterday. “The fifth inning is the inning that opened the gates for them. The difference is two unearned runs.”
The Buckeyes had won their first four conference series. This is only the third time this season that they have lost two or more games.
The picture looked so bright going into the top of the fifth. Ohio State scored a run in the first inning when Illini second baseman Reid Roper let a routine ground ball glance off his glove to score Pat Porter with two out. A second run scored in the second on a two-out single by Troy Montgomery.
That momentum dissolved when Illinois lead-off man Pat McInerney singled to left-center off starter Travis Lakins and David Kerian reached when first baseman Connor Sabanosh let a grounder go between his legs for an error.
Lakins was charged with an error trying to flip a sacrifice bunt by Will Krug to catcher Aaron Gretz to catch McInerney speeding home. Adam Walton followed with a two-run single to right-center.
The Buckeyes showed mettle in the bottom half of the inning by scoring two runs to lead 4-3. Montgomery doubled home Tre’ Gantt, advanced to third on a popped up bunt by Sabanosh and scored on a groundout by Porter.
“We played a good ballgame, but we had a few iffy innings,” Montgomery said. “I felt like we had them. I felt momentum was shifting our way.”
Illinois scored three runs in the sixth when four batters reached base safely on two-strike counts. Krug and Ryne Roper drove in runs with singles and Walton one with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Buckeyes scored a run in the seventh off reliever J.D. Nielsen on a walk and stolen base by Montgomery and back-to-back groundouts by Sabanosh and Porter.
On came Illini left-handed closer Tyler Jay, who has been clocked between 95 mph to 97 mph and should be a first round draft pick in June.
Troy Kuhn got the crowd excited for a few seconds when he sent the first pitch from Jay to the warning track. Krug made a running catch.
“I barreled it up,” Kuhn said. “I thought it had a chance (to go over the wall), but they have good outfielders.”
Jay gave up a one-out single to Nick Sergakis in the eighth, but struck out Gretz and got Craig Nennig on a groundout to shortstop. In the ninth, Krug made a running catch in right-center to retire pinch-hitter Jordan McDonough for the first out and got Montgomery and Sabanosh on fly balls.
“I thought we swung the bats pretty well,” Beals said. “We hit a bunch of balls hard. Offensively, we competed. We stayed on the ball a little better.”
Beals admitted that it will be difficult to win the regular-season conference championship for the first time since 2009 after these losses, but said the Buckeyes must come to play in game three.
“We’ve got to win tomorrow for our national consideration (for the NCAA tournament),” he said. “It won’t look good to the committee to be swept at home. We had a chance to come in here and play for the Big Ten championship, and that’s slipping.”
The team’s philosophy has been to file and forget victories and losses and focus on the next game. Montgomery said that won’t change.
“It stinks,” he said. “I’ll try to flush it away when I get home. I think we’ll be fine. We have a lot of confidence as a team. I think we get it done tomorrow. We have to be true to our makeup and stay within the system.”
Kuhn said what’s frustrating is that Ohio State is just as good as Illinois.
“We feel we’re right there with them,” he said. “When we play good, we’re doing all the little things right.”
mznidar@dispatch.com
@markznidar
