Lee Puts Buckeyes in Championship With Complete Game – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/6/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 6, 1999
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – With a 7-2 win over Georgia (11-3) Saturday afternoon, Ohio State (4-1) clinched a spot in tomorrows BellSouth Hurricane Diamond Classic Championship against East Carolina.
Senior right hander Andy Lee (West Chester, Ohio) recorded the first complete game win of his career, hurling 9.0 innings, striking out five.
Lee took the mound for his second start of the year and unveiled the new look of the OSU pitching staffblonde hair. Almost all of the hurlers chose to sport the sunny Florida look, dying their hair at the hotel Friday night.
With two out in the top of the second, Georgia scored first, taking a 1-0 lead. Right fielder Dustin McNally doubled to the gap in left center and scored when Chris Hays dropped a single into shallow left field.OSU right fielder Jason Turner (Jr., Versailles, Ohio) knotted the score in the bottom half of the inning with a towering solo homerun to right center, his third of the season. Designated hitter Doug Dendinger (Fr., Greenwich, Ohio) drew a walk and moved to second on an infield single by Trent McIlvain (So., Louisville, Ohio). Matt Middleton (Sr., Conover, Ohio) doubled down the left field line, moving McIlvain to third and allowing Dendinger to score. Mike Lockwood (Jr., Powell, Ohio) gave the Buckeyes a two-run lead when he flew out to center, sacrificing home McIlvain for a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, Buckeye first baseman Jason Trott (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) took the first offering by UGAs Rob Moravek out of the park to right, recording his first round-trip of the season.
The Buckeyes left two stranded in the inning, but increased their lead to three runs.
Josh Dorminy led off the Bulldog fourth with a double to right center field that Turner just missed after he was crossed up on the play. Dorminy moved to third on a single by Mark Thornhill and scored on Doc Brooks sacrifice fly, moving the score to 4-2 in favor of the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes increased their lead to four runs in the bottom of the fifth, putting up a pair of unearned runs. Trott led off with a double to left and moved down to third on a passed ball. Chad Ehrnsberger (So., Kalida, Ohio) followed with a base on balls and John Mayor (So., Chesterfield, Mo.) pinch-hit for Dendinger and sacrificed to score Trott. Ehrnsberger then stole second and advanced to third on an error by Brooks and scored on McIlvains single to centerfield.
Trott tacked on his third run of the day in the bottom of the seventh, moving the score to 7-2. He opened the inning with his second double of the contest, moved to third on a single by Ehrnsberger and crossed the plate when Turner grounded into a fielders choice, strengthening the Buckeye lead.
OSU plays No. 3 Miami, tonight at 8 p.m.
