Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Minnesota
Baseball Drops Game 2 of Doubleheader, 7-3
5/12/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2001
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The Northwestern baseball team dropped the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against Minnesota by the score of 7-3. A six-run, sixth inning for the Gophers was too much for the 'Cats to overcome.
Junior Gabe Ribas (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick), NU's hard-luck loser, threw his fifth complete game of the season. All five of those games have come during the conference season. He has a team-leading conference ERA of 4.12. In the game, Ribas gave up seven runs (just three earned) on eight hits and struck out six. He didn't allow a walk, and this season he has a 3.27/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has struck out 72 and walked 22 in 14 appearances.
Offensively, designated hitter Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) went 1-for-2 with a two-out, two-RBI single in the fifth inning that put NU ahead 3-1. Centerfielder Steve Haake (Belleville, Ill./Gibault) went 2-for-4, while leftfielder David Gresky (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Ignatius) and third baseman Ken Padgett (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) went 2-for-3. Catcher Joe Hietpas (Appleton, Wis./North) executed a perfect safety squeeze to score NU's first run of the game.
NU falls to 24-31, 11-16 in the conference, but is still in the playoff picture with Ohio State sweeping a doubleheader from Michigan today. If NU can win tomorrow and the Buckeyes can take one more from Michigan, the 'Cats will advance to the postseason for the second straight year by virtue of being percentage points ahead of the Wolverines.
