Laratta Gives Baseball Championship Game Berth – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/26/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 26, 1999
Box Score
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Freshman pitcher E.J. Laratta (Englewood, Colo.) picked up his second win of the Homestead Challenge, leading Ohio State (11-6) to a 7-2 win over Dartmouth (1-9) at the Homestead Sports Complex Friday afternoon. Laratta pitched 8.0 innings, scattering six hits and allowing just two runs, while striking out seven, putting OSU in Saturdays championship game against either Harvard or Oklahoma State, Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Scarlet and Gray opened the game with the lead, scoring once in the first inning. John Mayor (So., Chesterfield, Mo.) reached base on an error by Big Green shortstop Brian Nickerson. He moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Jason Trott (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) and was sacrificed home by Chad Ehrnsberger (So., Kalida, Ohio) who lifted a high fly ball to deep centerfield.
Dartmouth answered in the bottom half of the inning, knotting the score at one apiece. Michael Levy singled to right field and advanced to second when James Little grounded out to second base. Levy scored when Aaron Meyer dropped a single into centerfield.
Jason Turner (Jr., Versailles, Ohio) led of the Buckeye second with a single up the middle that bounced over pitcher John Veloskys head and into the outfield. Matt Middleton (Sr., Conover, Ohio) followed with a single to right and both runners moved up when Velosky hurled a pitch into the dirt which skidded away from Eric Anderson. Jason Driscoll (Jr., Middlefield, Ohio) then singled to centerfield, scoring Turner and Middleton scored on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Alvord (So., Mentor, Ohio). Driscoll crossed the plate for a 4-1 lead when Mike Lockwood (Jr., Powell, Ohio) singled into the gap in right centerfield.
The Big Green cut the OSU lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Aaron Meyer doubled to left field and then stole third. He scored when Nickerson grounded out to short, bringing in Dartmouths second run.
Heading into the sixth inning, the Florida skies opened up, unleashing a downpour that halted the game for 17 minutes. Ehrnsberger led off the eighth inning with a single to center and then moved to second on a passed ball. Turner pushed him to third with another hit right back up the middle and Ehrnsberger scored when Middleton grounded into a double play.
Trent McIlvain (So., Louisville, Ohio) led off the ninth with a double to left field and moved to third on Alvords second sacrifice of the game. Dartmouth reliever Bernard Mauricia walked Lockwood and Mayor doubled down the left field line, bringing in McIlvain for a 6-2 lead. Trott then sacrificed home Lockwood with a towering shot to centerfield for the second out of the inning. Jon Miller, who entered for Mauricia, forced Ehrnsberger to fly out to center, ending the Buckeye ninth with the score 7-2.
Andy Lee (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) entered in relief of Laratta in the bottom of the ninth, recording the final three outs.
