Baseball Claims Eighth Annual Lake Area Classic – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/1/1998 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Mar. 1, 1998
LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Ohio State baseball team claimed the eighth annual Lake Area Classic championship today as Dan Seimetz (Sr., Massillon, Ohio) hit his 40th career home run, setting a new Ohio State record. The Buckeyes opened the tournament by beating host McNeese State 12-3 on Friday but lost their second game yesterday as Louisiana Tech took advantage of sloppy OSU play, besting the Bucks 9-7. OSU rallied in their final game, handing Iowa State a 10-3 loss to finish the weekend 2-1, claiming its second ever Classic title (The Bucks won the championship in 1996). Mike Lockwood (So., Powell, Ohio) started the Bucks off on the right foot, taking the second pitch of the game deep to right center field for his third home run of the year. Cyclone right hander Brian Curtin retired the next two Buckeyes, but OSU managed one more run to open the game with a 2-0 lead. Mike Kremblas (Sr., Carroll, Ohio) walked and advanced to second when Jason Trott (Jr., Dublin, Ohio) singled to left field. Matt Middleton (Jr., Conover, Ohio) then doubled to left center to bring home Kremblas, giving OSU its second run. OSU added another run in the top of the fourth to give the Buckeyes a three run lead. Mark Belcher (So., Hilliard, Ohio) reached first on an infield single that he chopped down the left field line. He moved to second when Lockwood singled to left field and scored on Mark Carek’s (Sr., Bowling Green, Ohio) single to right. In the fifth inning, the Buckeyes stretched their lead to 5-0 with the help of a pair of Cycolne fielding miscues. Dan Zabloudil (So., Newark, Ohio) drove a ball into deep right center, tripling off the wall. He waltzed home when Belcher reached on an error by shortstop Brad Bjorklund. Belcher then stole second, took third when catcher Matt McDonough’s throw trickled into center field and scored on a wild pitch. Iowa State brought the Buckeye lead back to three, scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth. Tom Wierzbicki led off the inning with a bunt single down the third base line. With two out, Jeff Duncan singled to left field, bringing in Wierzbicki and then came home when Bill Uelman doubled to left. Curtin gave way to Jeremy Taylor in the top of the sixth, who struck out the first two Buckeye batters. OSU, Trott walked, stole second and came home when Middleton singled to center field. The Buckeyes went up 8-2 in the seventh inning on Seimetz’s record setting blast. With two out, Carek walked and Seimetz followed with a high arcing home run to right field, eclipsing Scott Kaczmar’s (1992-95) previous career best mark of 39. The Cyclones gave away a run in the eighth inning as Zabloudil scored on a wild pitch after doubling and advancing to third on a fielder’s choice. Iowa State tallied its final run of the contest in the bottom half of the eighth, as Wierzbicki scored after singling to right field, advancing to second on a balk and coming home on a Duncan single. In OSU’s final at-bat, Carek added another run after walking, taking third on a Seimetz single and coming home on Kremblas’s sacrifice fly to right field. Belcher made his first career start as a Buckeye today, batting in the No. 9 slot as the designated hitter. OSU travels to Las Vegas, Nev. on Tuesday to play in the UNLV/Coors Desert Classic.
