Northwestern University Athletics
Baseball Team Leads Penn State, 11-6
5/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern was leading Penn State, 11-6, in a game that was suspended after the conclusion of the top of the eighth inning Friday. According to Big Ten rules, the game will be picked up at the point of suspension tomorrow at noon at Rocky Miller Park, to be followed by the regularly-scheduled doubleheader between these two teams.
The Wildcats entered the day with a magic number of three to clinch a Big Ten Championship berth, and despite the suspended game saw that number dwindle to two as Iowa lost at Michigan, 6-2. Any combination of two Northwestern wins (including Friday's suspended game) or Iowa losses through the weekend will clinch the Big Ten bid.
Buoyed by the early scores from Ann Arbor, Northwestern started fast Friday, scoring six runs in the second inning on five hits and a Nittany Lion error. Pat Thompson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) led off with a double, ad after a strikeout was brought home on a double by Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel). Travis Tharp (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) singled and Kris Musselman (Indian Springs, Ohio/Fairfield) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and the merry-go-round began as Jeremy Kurella (Dunedin, Fla./Dunedin) and J.P. Williamson (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) singled home runs and Bob Dainton (Mokena, Ill./Lockport) brought two more home on an error. Joe Hietpas (Appleton, Wis./North) got the sixth run home with a sacrifice fly.
The Wildcats added two more runs in the third to take an 8-1 lead, as Williamson singled with two out and the bases loaded to score a pair of runs. In the sixth, the Wildcats again scored twice on an RBI single by Hietpas and a sacrifice fly by Ackley.
The teams traded runs in the seventh, and then Penn State -- which entered the game leading the nation in hitting with a staggering team average of .355 -- made things interesting in its half of the eighth. The Nittany Lions scored four times and loaded the bases on NU relief pitcher Michael Nall (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) before he was replaced by Ben Dodd (Belleville, Ill./West). As the rains began falling on the players, Dodd struck out the Lions' cleanup hitter, Chris Wright, on three pitches to close out the frame before the umpires suspended play.
Dan Padgett (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) got the start for Northwestern and settled down after allowing a first-inning run. Offensively, Williamson is 4-for-5 with four RBI.
