Fullerton Ties Super Regional at One Game Each With 11-5 Win – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/5/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 5, 1999
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cal State Fullerton hit three home runs and received a strong effort from starting pitcher Jon Smith on its way to a 10-4 victory over Ohio State. The win ties the NCAA super regional at one game apiece and forces a climactic Game 3 Sunday at 1 p.m.
CSF got on the board right off the bat, scoring three times in the bottom of the first. Reed Johnson led off with a double down the right field line. Two outs later, Aaron Rifkin walked, setting up Ryan Owens, who promptly blasted his 22nd home run of the season well over the wall in left-centerfield. After one inning, the Titans led 3-0.
The Titans tacked on one more in the third. Robert Guzman singled to lead off the inning. After a flyout by Johnson, Spencer Oborn doubled down the left field line, sending Guzman to third. Chris Beck followed with a groundout, scoring Guzman to make the score 4-0.
The long ball came in handy for Fullerton again in the fourth. Shawn Norris led off with a home run to deep right field to make it 5-0.
The lead continued to mount for Fullerton in the fifth inning. Oborn and Beck singled back-to-back to lead off the inning, the second of which put runners on the corners and chased Buckeye starter E.J. Laratta from the game. Cory Cox relieved Laratta, and he promptly uncorked a wild pitch that scored Oborn and advanced Beck to second base. After a Rifkin flyout, Owens hit his second home run of the game well over the wall in left-centerfield to make the score 8-0. The homer was Owens 23rd of the season, third of the super regional and fifth of the NCAA Tournament.
The margin swelled to 10-0 in the sixth. With two outs and nobody on, Johnson and Oborn singled back-to-back. Beck followed suit with a single of his own, driving in Johnson. Rifkin then singled to plate Oborn.
OSU got on the board in its half of the seventh. Jason Turner led off by getting hit by a Smith pitch. He advanced to second on a balk and to third on a passed ball. With two outs, Matt Middleton lined a single to right field, knocking in Turner to make the score 10-1. The Buckeyes chipped away at the Titan lead a little more in the eighth. With one out, Tom Durant and Jason Trott hit consecutive singles. The next batter, Chad Ehrnsberger, lined a single up the middle to score Durant. Jason Turner then hit a triple into right-centerfield, scoring Trott and Ehrnsberger.
Fullerton got one of those runs back in the bottom of the eighth. Oborn led off with a single and stole second. Two batters later, Owens knocked in his sixth run of the game when he chopped a single in the hole between short and third, scoring Oborn to make the score 11-4.
OSU got that run right back in its last at-bat. With one out and Trent McIlvain on first, Mike Lockwood and Durant singled back-to-back, the second of which scored McIlvain to make the score 11-5.
Jon Smith pitched 7.1 innings, allowed six hits, three runs while striking out seven to get the win. It was his first start since April 25 and his longest since March 27. E.J. Laratta picked up the loss, pitching four innings, giving up eight hits and six runs. The run total is the most he has given up at Bill Davis Stadium this season.
Cal State Fullerton and Ohio State will battle in the third and final game of the super regional Sunday at 1 p.m. at Bill Davis Stadium. The winner of that game earns a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. and will play Stanford in the first round. Tickets for the game go on sale Sunday at 10 a.m. in the OSU Athletic Ticket Office, located on the northwest corner of the Jerome Schottenstein Center.
1999 NCAA Baseball Tournament, Super Regional
