Baseball Downs Youngstown State 7-4 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/8/1998 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 8, 1998
COLUMBUS, Ohio – On the strength of two home runs by Jason Trott (Jr., Dublin, Ohio), the Ohio State baseball team captured a 7-4 win over Youngstown State under the lights in Bill Davis Stadium Wednesday night. Ohio State improves to 18-8 overall. Youngstown State, losers of nine straight, falls to 6-23. Kevin Goodrum (Fr., Mentor, Ohio) picked up his first career win against no losses for Ohio State in his first ever start as a Buckeye. Derek Nelson took the loss for YSU, and evens his season mark to 2-2. Mike Lockwood (So., Powell, Ohio) put the Buckeyes on the board in the first inning when he hit his eighth home run of the season to right field. OSU put four more runs up in the bottom of the third inning when Trott crushed his first home run of the year to straightaway center field. The 435-foot shot was a grand slam that brought in Mark Carek (Sr., Bowling Green, Ohio) and Dan Seimetz (Sr., Massillon, Ohio) who had singled and Mike Kremblas (Sr., Carroll, Ohio) who had walked. The Penguins scored their first run in the top of the fourth when Brad Habuda was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a double by Ray Farcas and scored when Eric Jones grounded into a fielder’s choice. Ohio State put another run on the board when Lockwood singled home Matt Middleton (Jr., Conover, Ohio) from second in the fourth frame. Trott then slammed his second homerun of the game – a 460-foot bomb to dead center field – to lead off the fifth. It marked the first time a Buckeye had went deep in consecutive at-bats since April 16, 1997 when Seimetz knocked out two straight against Indiana. OSU went on to load the bases with just one out in the same inning, but a ground out by Lockwood and fly-out by Carek ended the threat. The Penguins trimmed the lead to 7-4 in the top of the sixth when Eric Jones led off with a double and scored on a single by Andrew Clough. Eric Thompson (Jr., Fairborn, Ohio) and Mike Stafford (Sr., Canton, Mich.) combined to shut down the Penguins in the seventh and eighth. Thompson held Youngstown State hitless in the seventh, striking out two. Stafford proceeded to strike out the side in the eighth. Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Justin Fry (Jr., Munhall, Pa.) assuming the role of closer, struck out two Penguins in the top of the ninth to pick up his first save of the year.
