Men’s Baseball Wins the Second Game of a Split Doubleheader – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/22/1998 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 22, 1998
FT. MYERS, Fla. – The Buckeye baseball team won the second game of a split doubleheader and moved to 3-0 at the Gene Cusic Tournament with an 18-1 dismantling of Albright College at Duane Swanson Field this afternoon. Kurt Fullenkamp (Jr., Minster, Ohio) moved to 2-0 on the year after pitching 7.0 innings of five-hit, one-walk, one-run ball.
Ohio State took the lead early in the game, putting up five runs in the second inning. Marcello Garofalo (So., Worthington, Ohio) put the first run on the board when he hit the first home run of his career, a solo shot to center field. Tom Durant (Jr., Columbus, Ohio) was hit by a Jim Whited pitch and proceeded to steal second and move to third on David Miller’s bad throw to second. He came home when Trent McIlvain (Fr., Louisville, Ohio), who was making his first career start at shortstop, grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Lou Santangelo (Jr., Youngstown, Ohio) took four pitches and walked, moving to second when Chris Alvord (Fr., Mentor, Ohio) rapped his first career hit as a Buckeye, a single to left field. Alvord was making his starting debut as well, a stint at catcher in the No. 9 spot. Dan Zabloudil (So., Newark, Ohio) followed with a double that brought home Alvord and scored when Chad Ehrnsberger (Fr., Kalida, Ohio) doubled to left center field. The Lions scored once in the bottom of the third inning to pull within four runs. Joe Brody led off the inning with a double to left field and moved to third on a wild pitch by Fullenkamp. He scored when Jim Sweeney hit into a fielder’s choice.
The Buckeyes tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth when Dan Seimetz (Sr., Massillon, Ohio) smashed his fifth home run of the year over the right field fence. Zabloudil and Mike Lockwood (So., Powell, Ohio) both had walked and came home on Seimetz’s three-run shot.
OSU put the game out of reach in the fifth inning, posting four more runs to move the score to 12-1. McIlvain led off the inning with a single to left field and moved to second when Mike Check (Fr., Bay Village, Ohio) walked. Alvord brought home McIlvain with a single to right field and Check came home when Zabloudil singled to center. Ehrnsberger brought in Alvord with a single to left and scored when Brandon LeBay (So., Columbus, Ohio) reached on an error by third baseman Chris Farley. The Scarlet and Gray pounded out six more runs in the sixth and added a pair in the seventh, making the contest 18-1. Check hit his first career home run in the seventh, a two-run shot to left field. The Buckeyes 20 runs marks their best offensive output since pounding Cleveland State last April 23-6. The game was called in the seventh inning due to the newly instituted NCAA mercy rule which states that the game will be final if a team is leading by 12 or more runs after the seventh inning. OSU is now 10-4 on the year and will play Central Connecticut State tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Terry Park.
