Buckeyes Leave Homestead with Eight Wins – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/28/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 28, 1999
Box Score
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Ohio State (13-6) brought its record at the Homestead Challenge to 8-1 with a 12-10 defeat of Harvard (3-4) Sunday morning at the Homestead Sports Complex. The Buckeyes won the Final Four Tournament Saturday evening with a 4-2 decision over the Crimson.
In the bottom of the second inning, Harvard took a 1-0 lead. Jason Keck opened the inning with a double to left centerfield and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Andy Lee (Sr., West Chester, Ohio). Erik Binkowski singled deep in the hole to shortstop, beating the throw, allowing Keck to score.
In the top of the third, Crimson head coach Joe Walsh was mistakenly ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Ryan Phitton. Walsh was allowed to remain in the dugout in favor of one of his assistant Gary Donovan who was asked to leave after throwing a box of baseballs onto the playing field. Doug Dendinger (Fr., Greenwich, Ohio) led off with a single to left field and Mike Lockwood (Jr., Powell, Ohio) followed with an infield single to short. Tom Durant (Sr., Columbus, Ohio) ripped a single to left that scored Dendinger, tying the score at 1-1. OSU went ahead seconds later when Jason Trott (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) smashed a base hit to right field that enabled Lockwood to score. Durant scored when Chad Ehrnsberger (So., Kalida, Ohio) grounded out to short and Trott scored on Jason Turner’s (Jr., Versailles, Ohio) double down the right field line.
Harvard tied the contest in the bottom of the third as Andrew Huling hit the Crimson’s first home run of the year, a three-run shot that brought in John Portman and Hal Carey who had both singled. Peter Woodfork reached on an error by Matt Middleton (Sr., Conover, Ohio) and then Lee hit Scott Carmack. Binkowski then took Lee deep to right for the second homerun of the inning and a 7-4 lead.
Lockwood reached base on an error to open the fifth for OSU and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Trott dropped a single into shallow centerfield that brought Lockwood home from second. Trott moved to second base on Ben Crockett’s second wild pitch of the inning and Ehrnsberger took Crockett out of the park for his fifth homerun of the year, a no-doubter into the wind over the left centerfield wall to knot the score at seven apiece.
Buckeye reliever Kurt Fullenkamp (Sr., Minster, Ohio) hit Keck to open the fifth and moved to second on Binkowski’s single to center. The Crimson then took the lead when Nick Carter singled to center, bringing Keck across the plate and manufactured a second run, taking a 9-7 lead.
Ohio State took the lead back in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs. Dendinger drew a leadoff walk and Lockwood was hit by Donny Jamieson. Durant then singled to left field, leading the bags for Ehrnsberger who doubled to left center, bringing in all three base runners.
John Mayor (So., Chesterfield, Mo.), who pinch-hit for Middleton in the fifth, drew a leadoff walk and stole second to open the seventh inning. Trent McIlvain (So., Louisville, Ohio) singled to left and Lockwood was hit for the third time in the game to load the bases. Durant connected for a two-run double, pushing the OSU lead to three runs.
Harvard pulled within two in the bottom of the eighth as Joe Llanes scored from second on Carey’s double to the right field power alley.
Nate Smith (Fr., Bryan, Ohio) picked up the win in relief and Kevin Goodrum (So., Mentor, Ohio) closed the door, recording his first save of the year.
Ohio State opens its home season, Wednesday, March 31 against Ohio Wesleyan at Bill Davis Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
