June 1, 2002

South Bend, Ind. — Third seed Ohio State (37-19-1) eliminated Kent State (37-21) from the 2002 NCAA Baseball Championship with a 12-8 victory at the South Bend regional on Saturday. The Buckeyes move on to face the loser of the Notre Dame – South Alabama matchup (3:05 p.m.) at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday evening.

Christian Snavely capped off four straight run-scoring innings for Ohio State in the top of the fifth, crushing a three-run homer deep over the centerfield wall for his second home run of the regional tournament. Snavely has three hits in the tournament, two of which have been multi RBI home runs after hitting a two-run shot against Notre Dame on Friday. Snavely finished the game against Kent State two for six with four RBI.

Kent State attempted a rally in the bottom of the fifth after loading the bases with one out. Ohio State reliever Matt Davis entered the game and walked the first batter he faced, then recovered for two consecutive strikeouts to keep the Buckeyes ahead 9-5.

Ohio State equaled a team record for hits in an NCAA game with 17, as seven Buckeye hitters enjoyed multiple hit games. Shortstop Brett Garrard ended up four for four in the game with two RBI and three runs scored. Davis (6-0) picked up the win for Ohio State, working a career-long 4.2 innings of relief (four hits, three runs, two strikeouts). Matt Lorenzo (6-3) took the season-ending loss for Kent State.

Eric O’Brien, Pat O’Brien, Brady Glass and Eric Holick all had two hits for the Golden Flashes.