Baseball Wins in Dramatic Fashion – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/4/1998 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 4, 1998
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the third great game of the 1998 Ohio State vs. Michigan series, the Buckeyes came from behind in the last inning to beat the Wolverines 3-2. Junior right hander Kurt Fullenkamp (Minster, Ohio) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, pitching 4.2 innings and striking out two. The Buckeyes jumped on the board early, scoring once in the first inning, but also left the bases loaded. Mike Lockwood (So., Powell, Ohio) came home when Jason Trott (Jr., Dublin, Ohio) reached first on a fielder’s choice to score the lone run. The Wolverines evened the score at one apiece when Rob Bobeda tripled to the gap in right center field and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Brian Besco. With two outs and two on, Fullenkamp gave way to Mike Stafford (Sr., Canton, Mich.) who forced Scott Tousa to ground out, ending what could have been a damaging Michigan rally. Michigan went on top 2-1 in the top of the seventh inning when Stafford loaded the bases and with two outs and Tom Durant (Jr., Columbus, Ohio) dropped a foul ball that would have ended the inning. Instead, Besco scored when Tousa singled to right field, but the Bucks got out of the jam on the same play when Dan Zabloudil gunned down Mick Kalahar who was rounding third for home. With two out in the bottom of the seventh, Brian Steinbach hit Mike Kremblas (Sr., Carroll, Ohio), gave up a hit to Trott and walked Jason Turner (So., Versailles, Ohio) before exiting the game in favor of Tyler Steketee. Steketee proceeded to walk in the tying run, putting Chad Ehrnsberger on first and the bases remained full for Durant. The veteran Buckeye singled to right field, scoring Trott and ending the game. The Buckeyes move to 3-0 in the series and prepare for the final game tomorrow at 1 p.m.
