Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn St
Baseball Clinches Big Ten Berth
5/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 13, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern baseball team made things interesting for itself Saturday against Penn State - twice.
Entering Saturday's Big Ten action against Penn State with a magic number of two toward clinching a berth in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, the Wildcats needed Gabe Ribas (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick) to shut the door in the conclusion of Friday's suspended game for one win, 11-6, then came back in the first game of the scheduled doubleheader after blowing a 9-0 lead to win again, 12-11, and seal their bid. In the final game Saturday, the Nittany Lions defeated the 'Cats, 6-3.
Northwestern is now 30-24 overall, its best win total since 1995 and the third-best in head coach Paul Stevens' 13-year tenure. At 13-14 in the Big Ten, the Wildcats are sixth in the standings and will likely meet host Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday in Minneapolis. The final seedings will be known after Sunday's conference games are completed.
Northwestern survived a Penn State rally in the eighth inning Friday before the rains came, forcing the contest to be suspended until today. After going down in order in the bottom of the eighth to start the day, the Wildcats saw Penn State load the bases with two outs on Ben Dodd (Belleville, Ill./East). Ribas, who was scheduled to start Game 1 today, was summoned early from the bullpen, and induced a flyout from PSU's dangerous Michael Campo to seal the win. It was Ribas' first collegiate relief appearance and first save.
Spurred by that victory, Northwestern jumped all over Nittany Lion starter Dan Goebeler in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. The Wildcats scored seven runs on eight hits in the first inning, then plated two more in the second to take a 9-0 lead.
That seemed more than enough for Ribas, the Big Ten's overall ERA leader, in a seven-inning contest. But Penn State chipped him for two runs in the third, then exploded in the fifth and sixth frames. In the fifth, with two on and two outs, the Nittany Lions roped two singles to score a pair of runs, then Eric Spadt slammed a three-run homer to make the score 9-7. One inning later, Chris Wright hit another three-run shot and Chris Netwall followed with a solo home run to make the score 11-9 in Penn State's favor and chase Ribas.
Lightning struck right back in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and a runner on first after Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) walked, pinch hitter Matt Thompson (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) ripped a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence to tie the game. The next batter was another pinch hitter, senior Jason Anderson, and ther result was the same as he took a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall to give NU an improbable lead.
In the seventh, Michael Nall (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) allowed a one-out single to Zack Smithlin, who advanced all the way to third on a steal and a wild pitch around a Campo groundout. With Smithlin 90 feet away, Nall struck out John Richmond to clinch the win and the Big Ten berth.
In the final game Saturday, Penn State and Northwestern traded a pair of runs in the first inning before the 'Cats took a 3-2 lead in the third on a solo homer by Jeremy Kurella (Dunedin, Fla./Dunedin). The Nittany Lions tied it back up in the fourth on starter Zach Schara (Madison, Wis./West), then took a lead it would not relinquish on reliever J.J. Standring (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita).
Northwestern and Penn State will conclude their four-game set Sunday at Rocky Miller Park with a single game beginning at 1 p.m.
