Baseball Sweeps DH vs. Lehigh with 13-6 Victory in Game Two – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 10, 2006
Box Score
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Ohio State scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to blow open a one-run game and cruise to an 13-6 victory to sweep a doubleheader from Lehigh Saturday at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes had 22 hits in a 17-10 victory in game one and had 16 hits in game two giving them 58 hits in their last three games.
After Lehigh pulled within 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning of the nightcap, the Buckeyes answered in a big way, getting a bases-loaded walk, an RBI single, a sac fly and a two-run double.
Jacob Howell (Jr., Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) led off the top of the fifth inning with a single up the middle, but then after the first out of the game, Mountain Hawk starter Joe Matteo walked the next two runners to load the bases. That prompted a pitching change with Geoff Campbell entering. He promptly walked Eric Fryer (So., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg), which scored Howell. Jedidiah Stephen (Sr., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) scored on a base hit by J.B. Shuck (Fr., Galion, Ohio/Galion) and Josh Hula (Fr., Castalia, Ohio/Margaretta) drove in the final two runs of the inning with a single to left-center field.
Ohio State added three runs in the top of the seventh inning, the final inning of game two. Stephen and Ronnie Bourquin (Jr., Canton, Ohio/Canton South) each had RBI doubles and Shuck drove in a run with a single. Lehigh added two runws in the bottom of the seventh. Game one was a nine-inning contest.
Dan Barker (So., Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) got the win in his first start of the season. He pitched the first four innings and allowed three runs on four hits. Lehigh ace Joe Matteo walked six in his first loss of the season (1-1) and allowed eight runs on 10 hits.
On offense, Bourquin finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Fryer, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning, was 1-for-2 with three RBI. Howell, Angle, Stephen and Shuck each had two hits.
Ohio State (4-4) built a 2-0 lead getting single runs in the top of the second and third innings. Adam Schneider (Jr., Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura) led off the second with an infield single and went to second when Shuck drew a walk. Wes Schirtzinger (Jr., Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North), who had four hits and scored five runs in the first game, bunted the runners into scoring position before Schneider scored on a wild pitch.
In the third, Matt Angle (So., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling) sacrificed himself with a fly out to left to score Howell, who led off the inning with his seventh career triple.
The Mountain Hawks (5-7) answered in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a two-run home run by Andrew Smith, who sent a shot over the fence in left field. Josh Zaszewski, who led off the inning with a single down the left-field line, also scored to tie the game 2-2.
The Buckeyes scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 5-2 lead. Singles by Angle and Jedidiah Stephen (Sr., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) were followed with an RBI-single to center by Ronnie Bourquin (Jr., Canton, Ohio/Canton South). When centerfielder Joe Ercolano misplayed the ball, Bourquin was able to reach second, sending Stephen to third for pinch hitter Eric Fryer (So., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg). Fryer came through with his second career triple into the corner in right to give Ohio State a three-run lead.
First baseman Matt McBride was 3-for-4 with one RBI to lead Lehigh, which had 12 hits and committed two errors. Ohio State overcame six errors and game one and did not have an error for only the second time this season.
The Buckeyes’ next game will be against Northern Iowa Saturday at 3:30 p.m. followed by a game vs. Bethune-Cookman Sunday at 1 p.m.
