Baseball Claims 5-3 Triumph vs. Harvard – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 23, 2002
Box Score
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Ohio State overcame poor defense to defeat Harvard 5-3 in the Homestead Challenge Saturday night at the Homestead Sports Complex. The Buckeyes committed a season-high five errors, but had solid pitching from pitcher E.J. Laratta (Sr., Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek), who pitched all nine innings.
Laratta improved to 4-0 this season, getting his 30th career victory as a Buckeye, which ties him for second place on the all-time wins list. He pitched his second complete game of the year, striking out seven and walking just two while giving up three runs (all unearned) on six hits. Hendricks got the loss for Harvard.
Harvard (0-6) scored first when second baseman Ian Wallace scored on a ground out by catcher Schuyler Mann. Wallace board courtesy of an error by Brett Garrard (So., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg), who started at third base for the first time this season. He started the first 12 games of the season at short.
Ohio State (10-2-1) scored in the bottom of the second inning. Nick Swisher (Jr., Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) led off the inning with a double off the fence in right-centerfield. He scored on a pair of balks by Harvard starter Ben Crockett.
The Crimson reclaimed the lead in the top of the fourth inning thanks to a pair of errors and a hit by pitch. Laratta hit third baseman Nick Carter to start the inning. After a ground out by Mann, first baseman Marc Hordon reached on a throwing error by Laratta, that also allowed Carter to move to third. An accurate throw by Ohio State catcher Joe Wilkins (Sr., Grove City, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) was bobbled by Garrard and then rolled into left field, scoring Carter and giving the Crimson a 2-1 lead. Ohio State evened the game 2-2, in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Buckeyes loaded the bases thanks to base hits by Lance Rolston (Jr., Athens, Ohio/Alexander) and Drew Anderson (Fr., Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg). Crockett walked Larason and the second walk of the inning to Doug Deeds plated Rolston.
Trey Hendricks relieved Crockett to start the eighth inning and Swisher immediately tripled to the gap in right-center field and then scored on a single up the middle by Doug Larason (Fr., Alexandria, Ohio/Johnstown). Anderson singled scoring Garrard, who was hit by a pitch to reach base. Harvard then brought in reliever T.J. Sevier with runners at first and then. Sevier walked Doug Dendinger (Sr., Greenwich, Ohio/South Central) to load the bases and then walked in Doug Deeds (So., Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) to score Geoff Buchanan (Fr., Camarillo, Calif./Adolfo Camarillo), who was pinch running for Larason, the fifth run for Ohio State.
Harvard scored a run in the ninth to pull within the two-run final. Carter was 2-for-3 and Mann went 2-for-4 for the Crimson.
For Ohio State offensively, Anderson went 3-for-5 with one RBI. Rolston was the only other Buckeye with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 and scoring once.
Ohio State will play Illinois-Chicago Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Homestead Sports Complex.
