Ohio State Draws No. 2 Seed in Big Ten Baseball Tourney – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 18, 2003
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – For the third time in the last four years, Minnesota will serve as host of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament after clinching the regular-season league championship Friday. The Gophers welcome Ohio State, the defending Big Ten Tournament champion, Michigan, Penn State, Northwestern and Indiana to Siebert Field for the 2003 event, which will be held Wednesday through Saturday.
Minnesota entered the final weekend of conference play needing one victory against Ohio State to win the regular season championship and the right to host the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers took three of four from Ohio State to finish 37-18 overall and 24-6 in conference play, just one triumph shy of the league record of 25 Big Ten wins, set on by Ohio State in 1994 and 1999. The Buckeyes finished the year 37-18 overall and 20-11 to capture the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Both teams earned first-round byes and will begin play Thursday. Ohio State will play the higher seed of the winners from the two games Wednesday, pitting No. 4 seed Penn State vs. No. 5 seed Northwestern and No. 3 seed Michigan vs. No. 6 seed Indiana. That game will be played at 4:35 p.m. (EDT).
Minnesota and Ohio State clinched their respective seeds Saturday, but seeding for the other four teams in the tournament came down to the final day of the regular season. After claiming the first two games of its series in Bloomington, Ind., Indiana had a chance to clinch the No. 3 seed with a victory in the season finale against Northwestern. However, the Wildcats jumped out to a four-run lead and held on for the 5-3 win to drop the Hoosiers to the No. 6 spot. Indiana’s loss boosted Michigan (29-25, 16-14) into the No. 3 position despite the Wolverines dropping three of four games at Purdue over the weekend. Penn State (26-26, 17-15) split a four-game set at Michigan State to clinch the No. 4 seed while Northwestern (25-23, 15-14) was ensured the No. 5 seed with its season-ending victory, dropping Indiana (33-20, 16-15) into the No. 6 position. The 2003 Big Ten Tournament will open Wednesday as No. 4 Penn State will battle No. 5 Northwestern at 1:05 p.m. before No. 3 Michigan takes on No. 6 Indiana at 4:35 p.m. The losers of those first two games will meet at 1:05 p.m. Thursday and then No. 2 Ohio State will face the highest-seeded winner from Wednesday at 4:35 p.m. and No. 1 Minnesota will square off against the lowest-seeded winner at 8:05 p.m.
