Baseball Overpowers McNeese State – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/27/1998 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 27, 1998
LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Ohio State baseball team overpowered tournament host McNeese State, 12-3, at the Lake Area Classic behind the pitching of veteran right hander Justin Fry (Jr., Munhall, Pa.), who struck out 14 batters.
McNeese State got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning when Fry walked Grant Reed and hit Stuart Landreneau with two outs. Shane Heinen then singled to right center, bringing Reed home for the game-opening score. Fry walked Clint Barr to load the bases, but forced Bill Lowry to ground out to second for the final out of the inning.
The Cowboys added another run in the bottom of the third inning when Ben Broussard swatted a 2-1 pitch over the right field billboards with two outs.
In the top of the fourth, OSU took a 4-2 lead when Jason Trott (Jr., Dublin, Ohio) clobbered a two-out, bases loaded double to left center field, bringing in Mike Lockwood (So., Powell, Ohio) and Dan Seimetz (Sr., Massillon, Ohio) who had singled and Chad Ehrnsberger (Fr., Kalida, Ohio) who had walked. Trott advanced to third on a passed ball and came home when Dan Zabloudil (So., Newark, Ohio) rifled a double into the gap in right center field, putting the Buckeyes up by two. The Buckeyes added another run in the top of the seventh as Mike Kremblas (Sr., Carroll, Ohio) knocked in Lockwood who had led off the inning with a double.
OSU sealed the game in the ninth with a back-breaking seven-run inning. Seimetz opened the inning with a lead-off walk and advanced to second on Kremblas’s infield single. Lou Santangelo (Jr., Youngstown, Ohio), who had pinch-hit for Ehrnsberger in the seventh, walked to load the bases and Trott followed with the third free base of the inning to bring in Seimetz. Zabloudil then singled to left field to bring home Kremblas and Santangelo, and Lockwood cleared the bases with a three-run shot that hit the scoreboard in left field. Seimetz doubled in his second at bat of the inning to bring home Carek, who had reached on a two-base error, for the final Buckeye run.
Fry showed superior command on the mound from the bottom of the fourth through the eighth, allowing just two hits and striking out eight batters in five innings. His 14 strikeouts were two shy of the career high 16 he hurled against Penn State last season in the Bill Davis Stadium dedication game.
Fry gave way to Andy Lee (West Chester, Ohio) in the ninth who loaded the bases, but allowed just one run, ending the game.
“We got sloppy in the seventh and eighth,” said co-captain Seimetz. “But other than that we played a pretty solid mental and physical game.”
Ehrnsberger made his first career start as a Buckeye tonight at second base and Jason Driscoll (So., Middlefield, Ohio) appeared for the first time this season, starting in left field.
The Buckeyes play Louisiana Tech (4-5) tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. The Bulldogs lost to Iowa State 7-5 in extra innings in the tournament opener.
