Baseball Pounds No. 22 UNLV, 18-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/8/1998 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 8, 1998
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – OSU won the 18th annual Coors Desert Classic tonight, beating 22nd-ranked tournament host UNLV 18-1.
The Buckeyes were flawless, coasting on the wave of some hot bats and the masterful pitching of Andy Lee (Jr., West Chester, Ohio) who went seven innings, striking out a career high eight batters and giving up just one earned run and one walk to remain undefeated (3-0) on the year. UNLV pitcher Bryan Gidge got into trouble early, facing just five batters in the first inning before giving way to Mike Lopez.
The Buckeyes took advantage of the Rebel pitching woes, putting up seven runs in the opening inning. Mike Lockwood (So., Powell, Ohio) led off with a single to center field and Mark Carek (Sr., Bowling Green, Ohio) followed with a base hit to left. Jason Trott (Jr., Dublin, Ohio) walked to load the bases and Lockwood scored when Mike Kremblas (Sr., Carroll, Ohio) reached first on an error by left fielder Nate Smith. Gidge walked Chad Ehrnsberger (Fr., Kalida, Ohio), the last batter he faced, allowing Carek to score.
Jason Turner (So., Versailles, Ohio) brought in Trott and Kremblas with a double to left field and Dan Zabloudil (So., Newark, Ohio) walked to load the bases again. Ehrnsberger came home on a wild pitch by Lopez, Turner scored on a sacrifice fly by Tom Durant (Jr., Columbus, Ohio) which advanced Zabloudil to third, who scored when Lou Santangelo (Jr., Youngstown, Ohio) grounded out to first base. OSU tacked on three more runs in the second as Carek led off the inning reaching on an error by shortstop Eliott Sarabia.
Trott singled to right field and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Kremblas knocked in Carek with a single to center field and he and Trott both scored on sacrifice flies, taking the score to 10-0.
The Buckeye batters took the third inning off, but pumped out three more runs in the fourth, taking the OSU lead to 13-0. Kremblas stepped to the plate and was hit by relief pitcher Jerimiah Tipton and Ehrnsberger walked, giving the Bucks two runners with no outs. Turner proceeded to take Tipton deep to left field for his first home run of the year to increase the Scarlet and Gray lead.
The Rebels finally cracked the run column in the bottom of the fourth, posting one run. Lee froze the first two batters, taking his strikeout total to five for the day. Jesse Pryor doubled to right center field and came home when Sean Campbell doubled off the right field wall for UNLV’s first run of the ball game.
Lockwood led off the Buckeye fifth with a walk and advanced to second on a Tipton wild pitch. Carek doubled to center to move Lockwood to third, who came home on Trott’s ground out to first base. Kremblas brought in Carek when he sent a high towering fly ball to center for OSU’s fourth sacrifice of the game, putting the Bucks up by 14.
Ohio State continued to pour it on in the sixth, adding three runs for an 18-1 total. Turner singled to lead off the inning and moved to third on Durant’s double to left field. Lockwood singled to bring in Turner, Carek singled to score Durant and Trott brought home Lockwood when his infield single bounced around at second base.
Two Buckeyes made their first career appearances this evening. Chris Alvord (Fr., Mentor, Ohio) and Trent McIlvain (Fr., Louisville, Ohio) both pinch-hit and played the field in the latter innings.
OSU moves to 7-4 on the year and begins its home season next weekend, hosting Pittsburgh for a three-game series on Friday (3 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m. doubleheader) at Bill Davis Stadium.
