Swisher Belts a Grand Slam and Drives in Six Runs to Lead Baseball over Penn State, 9-3 – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 7, 2000
Box Score
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Led by hot-hitting Nick Swisher’s (Fr., Parkersburg, W.Va.) grand slam and six runs batted in along with a solid outing from starting pitcher Kevin Goodrum (Jr., Mentor, Ohio), the Ohio State baseball team (32-18 overall, 12-10 in the Big Ten) defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions (35-11 overall, 15-6 in the Big Ten) 9-3, to take game one of a doubleheader. With the win, OSU takes a 2-0 edge in the four-game series.
The Nittany Lions took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Chris Wright hit a solo home run off Goodrum to give PSU the first lead of the ballgame.
The Ohio State offense came to life in the top of the fourth inning. Chad Ehrnsberger (Jr., Kalida, Ohio) led off with a walk off PSU starting pitcher Pete Yodis. Jason Turner (Sr., Versailles, Ohio) immediately followed with a single to left field. Two batters later, OSU scored its first runs of the ballgame when Swisher drilled a double to the left field alley to score both Ehrnsberger and Turner. Doug Dendinger (So., Greenwich, Ohio) kept the rally by blasting a 3-1 offering from Yodis over the left field wall to drive in Swisher and give OSU a 4-1 lead. The two-run homer was the first of the season for Dendinger.
The Buckeye bats exploded for five more runs in the top of the fifth inning. Jason Driscoll (Sr., Middlefield, Ohio) led off with a single down the first base line. Mike Check (Jr., Bay Village, Ohio) then pushed him to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Ehrnsberger and John Mayor (Jr., Chesterfield, Mo.) immediately followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases with just one out. Swisher then responded again by driving a 3-2 offering from Yodis over the wall in the left field alley to clear the bases and give OSU a commanding 9-1 lead. The grand slam was his second in two weeks and his ninth home run of the season. PSU cut the OSU lead to 9-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Scott Hamilton drove in Fagan on a sacrifice fly. The Nittany Lions added another run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Goodrum was solid on the afternoon and improved to 5-4 on the season. The big lefty tossed his fourth complete game of the year. He went seven innings, threw 140 pitches, gave up 12 hits, three runs (two earned) and struck out eight batters. Yodis (6-2) took the loss. The PSU ace went six innings, gave up 10 hits, nine runs and struck out a pair.
The second game of today’s doubleheader will begin at approximately 3:45 p.m.
