Baseball Earns Split Taking Game Four 8-5 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/12/1998 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
%^$April 12, 1998%^$
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio – The OSU baseball team took game four of the Illinois series, winning 8-5 today at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes move to 20-10 on the year. Dan Seimetz (Sr., Massillon, Ohio) put Ohio State on the board first in the bottom of the first inning, homering to right center field for his second round tripper of the series and ninth of the season. Illini pitcher Jason Anderson struck out Mike Lockwood (So., Powell, Ohio) and Mark Carek (Sr., Bowling Green, Ohio) in order before Seimetz took him deep and Mike Kremblas (Sr., Carroll, Ohio) walked. Anderson threw wildly to first in an attempted pick-off that allowed Kremblas to move to third and the Buckeye catcher came home when Jason Trott (Jr., Dublin, Ohio) singled up the middle. The Fighting Illini scored once in the second inning, slicing the OSU lead to 2-1. Craig Marquie got ahead of Andy Lee (Jr., West Chester, Ohio) and walked, moving to first when Danny Rhodes singled to left field. Aaron Nieckula sent a shot deep to center field that Lockwood leapt for, but dropped when he hit the wall. The double brought in Marquie but Rhodes was gunned down at the plate on the rely from Carek to Kremblas as he tried to score from first. Kevin Rudden tied the game in the top of the fourth when he led off with a walk, advanced to third on Marquie’s single to center and scored when Rhodes singled to right field. Marquie and Rhodes waltzed to third and second respectively on Nieckula’s sacrifice bunt and D.J. Svihlik singled to center, scoring Marquie to give Illinois a 3-2 lead. OSU tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Chad Ehrnsberger (Fr., Kalida, Ohio) walked, moved to second on a fielder’s choice and over to third when Jason Driscoll (So., Middlefield, Ohio) singled to right. Lockwood then sent a towering fly ball to right field that allowed Ehrnsberger to score, moving the score to 3-3. Illinois took the lead again in the top of the fifth, scoring once when Dusty Rhodes walked, moved to third on Rudden’s single and came home when Marquie rapped his second base hit of the day. OSU knotted the score at four apiece in the bottom of the inning when Seimetz walked, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on Trott’s single to center field. The Fighting Illini took their third lead of the day, scoring once in the top of the sixth making the score 5-4. After Jon Anderson lined out to Carek, Creston Whitaker walked, moved to second on Dusty Rhodes single and came home when Dan O’Neill singled to right field. The Buckeyes took the lead in the seventh as Kremblas scored after being hit by a pitch and Trott scored after a base hit to left field. OSU scored twice in the eighth to secure an 8-5 victory, earning the split with Illinois. %^$
