Buckeyes Win 1999 BELLSOUTH Classic, Durant Named MVP – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/7/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 1999
%^$
%^$
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Ohio State (5-2) dominated East Carolina (11-4) Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Stadium, claiming the 1999 BELLSOUTH Hurricane Diamond Classic with a 9-3 victory. OSU won three of four games on the weekend, defeating Georgia once and the Pirates twice in three days.%^$
%^$
Tom Durant (Sr., Columbus, Ohio) was selected tournament MVP and Trent McIlvain (So., Louisville, Ohio), Jason Turner (Jr., Versailles, Ohio), Andy Lee (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) and Durant were named to the all-tournament team. True freshman E.J. Laratta (Englewood, Colo.) started for the first time as a Buckeye and dealt seven shutout innings allowing just four hits, striking out three.%^$
%^$
Ohio State opened the game with three consecutive base hits to open a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Mike Lockwood (Jr., Powell, Ohio) led of with a single to left field and Durant followed with a base hit to the same spot. Jason Trott (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) slid a single right up the middle that brought Durant around to third and Lockwood home.%^$
%^$
After Chad Ehrnsberger (So., Kalida, Ohio) struck out looking, Turner popped up to shallow right field and Durant was thrown out attempting to score from third for an inning-ending double play. The Buckeyes pushed the lead to 3-0 in the top of the second. Jason Driscoll (Jr., Middlefield, Ohio) reached on an infield single and moved to second when McIlvain singled to center.%^$
%^$
Durant pulled his fifth double of the year down the left field line, brining home Driscoll and McIlvain. Turner and Laratta combined for some fine defensive work to avoid a potential East Carolina rally. With one out in the Pirate second, Laratta walked Eric Bakich and gave up a single to Chad Tracy. On the play, Bakich rounded second, attempting to reach third, but was gunned down by Turner who fired a perfect strike to Matt Middleton (Sr., Conover, Ohio). Lee Delfino then reached first when Ehrnsberger failed to field the ball for a Buckeye error. Laratta settled on the mound to face Joseph Hastings and executed a pick off move that caught Delfino napping for the final out.%^$
%^$
In the third inning, Ohio State added two more runs, increasing its lead to 5-0. Turner singled to left and moved to third when Doug Dendinger (Fr., Greenwich, Ohio) punched his first double of the year into centerfield. Middleton then drove a double into left center to bring in Turner and Dendinger. Lockwood led off the Buckeye fourth with an infield single and Durant followed with a shot that Bakich fielded but couldn’t make the play. Trott then roped a single into right field that brought in Lockwood and pushed Durant to third, who scored on a balk. Ehrnsberger dropped a single into left field to score Trott, continuing the Buckeye hitting display and pushing the lead to 8-0.%^$
%^$
The Buckeyes tacked on another run in the fifth, continuing to put a mark in each frame. McIlvain reached on a fielder’s choice and scored when Durant doubled for the second time on the day, this time to right centerfield. Kevin Goodrum (So.,Mentor, Ohio) entered in relief of Laratta in the eighth and walked three Pirates. ECU scored twice in the inning when Ehrnsberger fired a throw to first over Marcello Garofalo’s (Jr., Worthington, Ohio) head. Cory Cox (So., Chillicothe, Ohio) relieved Goodrum in the ninth to record the final three outs.%^$
%^$
OSU will play a three-game series at Houston, March 12-14.
