Baseball Advances to the Service Academies Classic Championship Game With 11-4 Win – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2000
Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Thanks to a daylong rainstorm that cancelled Saturday’s games, the Ohio State baseball team opened the final day of the 2000 Service Academies Classic with an early morning game at Nat Burling Stadium on the campus of the University of Memphis. A slow start offensively led to an eight-run eruption in the fifth-inning as Ohio State (2-1 overall) defeated Memphis (0-7 overall), 11-4. The Buckeyes now face Air Force in the tournament championship game.
The Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Joe Wilkins (So., Commercial Point, Ohio), reached base on an error by Memphis shortstop Gabe Interiano. Wilkins proceeded to steal second base and scored two batters later on a single by Mike Check (Jr., Bay Village, Ohio).
In the top of the fifth inning, the Buckeyes exploded for eight runs. Doug Dendinger (So., Greenwich, Ohio) led off with a walk. He advanced to second base on a single by Wilkins and than moved to third on foul ball flyout by Joe Palazzo (So., Tucson, Ariz.). Dendinger than scored when Jason Driscoll (Sr., Middlefield, Ohio) hit a ball back to Memphis pitcher Jonathan Leicester who than threw the ball wide of second base into centerfield to score Dendinger. Check then cleared the bases with a two-run triple to leftfield. Trent McIlvain (Jr., Louisville, Ohio) than drove in Check with a bunt single. All-American Chad Ehrnsberger (Jr., Kalida, Ohio) immediately put an exclamation point on the inning by belting his first home run of the season, a three-run poke over the leftfield wall. The Buckeyes added two more runs as they batted around the order. Dendinger drove in Jason Turner (Sr., Versailles, Ohio) and Wilkins drove in Nick Swisher (Fr., Parkersburg, Ohio) with back-to-back singles.
Check ended the game going 3-for-4 with three runs batted in, a triple and a stolen base. He and Swisher have recorded at least one hit in each of the three games this season.
The Buckeyes received another quality start from the pitching rotation. Starter Nate Smith (So., Bryan, Ohio) earned the win by going five innings, giving up four hits one run (earned) and striking out four. He is 1-0 on the year.
The Tigers mounted a small rally in the bottom of the sixth inning with three runs on one hit off OSU reliever Jason Bullens (Fr., Dayton, Ohio) in his first career appearance. OSU stopper Cory Cox (Jr., Chillicothe, Ohio) slammed the door on the Tigers with 1.1 innings of perfect baseball. Memphis starter Jonathan Leicester gave up nine runs (six earned) and eight hits in 4.1 innings of work to earn the loss.
Ohio State added two more runs in the seventh inning. Marcello Garofalo (Sr., Worthington, Ohio) led off with a crushing double off the left-centerfield wall. He later scored on a wild pitch by Memphis reliever Lance Dawson. Driscoll scored Dendinger on a sacrifice fly to bring the score to its final, 11-4.
Ohio State and Air Force will play begin play at approximately 3 p.m. (EST) at USA Baseball Stadium in Millington, Tenn. Brandon Steen (So., Hendersonville, Tenn.) is expected to start for OSU.
