Two-Run Home Run in the Bottom of the Ninth Gives Penn State an 8-7 Win Over the Baseball Team. – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 17, 2000
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – %^$The No. 5-seed Ohio State baseball team (35-22 overall) seemed to have everything working in its favor for an upset win over No. 2 Penn State (39-13 overall). The Buckeyes went into the bottom of the ninth inning with a one-run lead and stopper Cory Cox (Jr., Chillicothe, Ohio) on the mound. After retiring the first two batters in the inning, PSU pinch-hitter Brett Showalter sliced a two-strike pitch to the opposite field for a single. Eric Spadt followed and lifted a ball into the right field air that look to be a routine fly out. But as the ball continued to carry over the leaping arms of right fielder Jason Turner (Sr., Versailles, Ohio) the OSU hopes for an upset were dashed as the Nittany Lions walked off with an 8-7 win courtesy of the two-run home run.%^$
%^$”The home run didn’t hurt us,” head coach Bob Todd said. “It’s what happened before that did. We had plenty of opportunities throughout the game to make some plays and take a good lead. As soon as the ball was hit, I looked to my assistants and said ‘we got a win.’ Next thing we knew, the wind carried it out and Penn State was celebrating their win. I take my hat off to the entire Penn State team. They got the job done when they needed to the most.”%^$
%^$The scoring began in the top of the second inning when the Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead. Turner led off with a walk. Two batters later, John Mayor (Jr., Chesterfield, Mo.) singled to center field to advance Turner to third base. Lance Rolston (Fr., Athens, Ohio) then drove in Turner when he grounded a ball to PSU starting pitcher Pete Yodis.%^$
%^$The OSU offense continued to put points on the board in the top of the second inning. With one out, Nick Swisher (Fr., Parkersburg, W.Va.) coaxed a walk off Yodis. Turner immediately followed and belted a 3-1 offering from Yodis over the center field wall for his 15th home run of the season. The two-run blast increased the OSU lead to 2-0.%^$
%^$In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Nittany Lions tied the game at three. Chris Wright led off and reached base on an error by Mayor at third base. Chris Netwall immediately followed with a walk and two outs later, Eric Spadt hit a three-run home run off OSU starting pitcher Kevin Goodrum (Jr., Mentor, Ohio).%^$
%^$In the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Nittany Lions broke the tie. Wright belted a two-run home run off Goodrum to give PSU a 5-3 edge. Brian Bishop continued the rally with a single and then advanced to third on a single by George Everly. The duo then executed a double steal to score Bishop to and increase the PSU lead to 6-3.%^$
%^$In the top of the sixth inning, OSU rallied to tie the game at six. Mayor led off with a walk and then moved to second on a wild pitch by Scott Russo. Two batters later, he moved to third base on single by Trent McIlvain (Jr., Louisville, Ohio). Chris Alvord (Jr., Mentor, Ohio) immediately followed and dropped a near perfect bunt to the right-side of the infield for a one-run single to score Mayor. Jason Driscoll (Sr., Middlefield, Ohio) then coaxed a walk off Russo to load the bases. Mike Check (Jr., Bay Village, Ohio) followed and plated OSU’s second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to center field to score McIlvain and advance Alvord to third base. Swisher then singled to center field to score Alvord and tie the ballgame.%^$
%^$In the bottom of the sixth inning, Penn State threatened to blow the game open by loading the bases with nobody out. Cox then entered the game then wowed the crowd by working his way out of the jam. Cox immediately got Spadt to ground into a fielder’s choice that resulted into Netwall getting thrown out at home plate for the first out. Zack Smithlin then popped out to shortstop McIlvain and Big Ten Player of the Year Michael Campo grounded out to second baseman Check to end the inning and potential rally.%^$
%^$The momentum from Cox’s pitching carried over to the top half of the eighth inning. With one out, Alvord doubled to left field. One out later, Check blooped a single to shallow left field to score Alvord and give OSU a 7-6 lead. In the top of the bottom of the inning, Cox was untouchable again. He struck out John Richmond looking, forced Fagan to foul out to Swisher and struck out Wright swinging to end the inning. This set the stage for the theatrical ninth inning.%^$
%^$Both starting pitchers did not factor into the decision. Goodrum threw 94 pitches, went 4.1 innings, gave up eight hits, six runs, three earned runs and struck out three. Cox took the loss. His record dropped to 5-3 after giving up just two hits in 2.2 innings of work. PSU’s Yodis did not factor in the decision. He went 4.2 innings, gave up three hits, three runs, walked five and struck out a pair. Mike Watson (8-1) took the win by pitching 1.2 innings of shutout relief.%^$
%^$The final game of today’s action in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament between the No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers and the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions has been postponed until noon tomorrow. Therefore, the Buckeyes will face the loser of that game at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow at Siebert Field.
