No. 25 Baseball Defeats Youngstown State, 4-2 – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/18/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2001
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 25 Ohio State baseball team (28-8 overall, 9-3 in the Big Ten) endured frigid temperatures and a stiff breeze in defeating Youngstown State (13-18-1 overall) 4-2 Wednesday night at Bill Davis Stadium. Doug Dendinger (Jr., Greenwich, Ohio) led the Buckeyes with a stellar performance at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.
Ohio State broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning. With one out, Check drew a walk from YSU reliever Jonathon Smart. Dendinger took the 2-1 pitch from Smart and deposited it over the right-center field wall for his seventh home run of the season. Dendinger drove in three runs in the game, pushing his team-leading RBI total to 36.
Youngstown State did get off to a good start, jumping on Ohio State starter Kyle Brown (So., Washington Court House, Ohio) quickly, scoring two runs in the first inning. Steve Mefferd led off and reached on an error. He moved to second on a single by Joe Marzano. After a sacrifice bunt, both runners scored on a single by Todd Santore.
Ohio State sliced the lead in half in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Mike Check (Sr., Bay Village, Ohio) extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single to right field. He then stole second base. Dendinger brought Check home with a single to left field, cutting YSU’s lead to 2-1.
The Buckeyes knotted the score in the third inning. Mike Harris (Sr., Hillsborough, N.C.) led off with a single and promptly stole second base – his team-leading 22nd steal of the season. Check followed with a high infield chopper that he beat out for a single. On the play, a wild throw allowed Harris to score.
Buckeye reliever Kyle Blachuta (Fr., Bloomdale, Ohio) tossed three solid innings of relief to improve to 2-0 this season. Brandon Steen (Jr., Hendersonville, Tenn.) notched his second save after hurling a perfect ninth inning. Smart (4-3) took the defeat.
The Buckeyes return to league play this weekend, hosting Penn State in a key Big Ten series. Ohio State is percentage points out of first place in the Big Ten, while Penn State stands fourth in the league standings. The teams square off in game one at 6:35 p.m. Friday at Bill Davis Stadium. After a 4:05 p.m. doubleheader Saturday, the squads conclude the series Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m.
