Northwestern Rallies in the Top of the Ninth to Defeat the Baseball Team, 7-6 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 25, 2000
Box Score
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – As the Big Ten Conference opened league play this weekend, both Ohio State and Northwestern were finishing Spring Break trips as the two schools were scheduled with bye weeks. But as fate would have it, the two Big Ten schools rolled through the Homestead Challenge tournament field and found themselves matched in the championship game. In a nonconference game, Northwestern (12-6 overall) scored two runs in the top of the ninth to defeat Ohio State (15-7 overall), 7-6 and win the 2000 Homestead Challenge.
“Give Northwestern a lot of credit, they made the plays when they needed to the most,” head coach Bob Todd said. “This was a tough ballgame. There were four lead changes because both teams refused to quit. These are the types of games that build character and hopefully we will build off of this.”
The Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. With one out, John Mayor (Jr., Chesterfield, Mo.) beat a grounder to NU third baseman Eric Roeder for the first hit of the game. He then moved to third on a double by Chad Ehrnsberger (Jr., Kalida, Ohio). Cleanup hitter Jason Turner (Sr., Versailles, Ohio) followed and gave OSU a 1-0 lead when he grounded out to NU first baseman Robert Dainton to score Mayor.
In the top of the second inning, the Wildcats tied the game. Joe Hietpas reached base on a fielding error by Mayor at third base. Two batters later, he scored on a groundout by Roeder. In the bottom half of the inning, OSU retook the lead. With one out, Trent McIlvain (Jr., Louisville, Ohio) singled to centerfield and then moved to second base on a walk by Jason Driscoll (Sr., Middlefield, Ohio). The duo moved into scoring position with a double steal to set the table for Chris Alvord (Jr., Mentor, Ohio). The OSU catcher then stepped to the plate and lined a single to centerfield to give OSU a 3-1 lead. OSU added its final run of the inning when Mayor tripled to score Alvord. In the top of the third, Northwestern cut the OSU lead to 4-2 when Kris Musselman scored on a bunt single by Dainton.
In the top of the fifth inning, Northwestern added three runs to take its first lead of the ballgame. Jeremy Kurella led off with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by J.P. Williamson. Heitpas chipped in with a RBI double and Todd Morgan added a pinch-hit, RBI single to give the Wildcats a 5-4 lead.
The Buckeyes tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Alvord led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Check. Mayor followed and sent a single to rightfield. On the play, NU rightfielder Brandon Ackley juggled the ball, which allowed Alvord to score from second base.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Turner took a 2-2 offering from reliever Ryan Bos over the rightfield wall for his sixth home run of the year. The blast gave OSU a 6-5 lead.
But the Wildcats answered in the top of the ninth. Willliamson led off with a single off reliever E.J. Laratta (So., Englewood, Colo.). He later scored on a double by Hieptas off reliever Cory Cox (Jr., Chillicothe, Ohio). Two batters later, Hieptas scored the winning run on a single by Wesley Robinson.
OSU starting pitcher Brandon Steen (So., Hendersonville, Tenn.) did not factor in the decision. He went five innings, threw 88 pitches, gave up five runs, three earned runs and struck out five. Cox (2-1) took the loss with 0.2 innings of work. NU’s Michael Nall improved to 2-0 for the season.
The Buckeyes finished the Homestead Challenge with a 3-1 record.
On Wednesday, the Buckeyes open the 2000 home season with a 6:35 p.m. game against Shawnee State at Bill Davis Stadium.
