Northwestern Drops Crazy 15-14 Shootout With Ohio State

4/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

April 3, 2011

Box Score

Site: Columbus, Ohio (Bill Davis Stadium)
Score: Ohio State 15, Northwestern 14
Records: NU (8-16, 1-2 Big Ten), Ohio State (10-11, 2-1 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Tuesday, April 5 -- vs. Milwaukee (Rocky Miller Park), 3 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Northwestern scored four runs with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game, but Ohio State got a run in the bottom half to post a wild 15-14 win in the series finale between the teams Sunday afternoon at Bill Davis Stadium.

NU's 21 hits set a season high eclipsing its total of 17 in a 15-9 win March 12 at Saint Louis. Trevor Stevens led Northwestern with four hits while Paul Snieder (four RBI) and Chris Lashmet had three apiece. Ten different Northwestern players had at least one hit in the contest.

Trailing by seven after six innings and still down four with two outs in the ninth, the 'Cardiac Cats refused to quit. With one out in the ninth, Kyle Ruchim started things with a single before Lashmet followed with one of his own. When OSU pitcher Josh Dezse bounced in a pitch to Snieder, the Wildcats got runners hung up on the basepaths and Ruchim was thrown out at third for the second out. A walk to Snieder put runners at the corners for Chris Kontos.

Hitless on the day in his first five at-bats, Kontos posted an RBI single to right to make it 14-11. Jack Havey, who came on to pitch in the sixth and then stayed in the game at first base then launched a miraculous game-tying three-run homer to left-center to tie the game.

However, the Buckeyes got the winning run in the bottom of the ninth when Brian DeLucia drew a leadoff walk and then scored all the way from first on a throwing error following a bunt by Tim Wetzel.

After scoring three times in the first inning in Saturday's win, the Wildcats displayed some early offense against Ohio State freshman starter Greg Greve. Stevens bunted for a hit on the game's first pitch before Ruchim popped out on the first offering. Chris Lashmet followed suit by doubling on the first pitch he saw from Greve to plate Stevens from first. Snieder actually worked the count, taking it full before singling to left to make it 2-0 in NU's favor.

The Buckeyes bounced right back against Francis Brooke in the bottom of the first, though, getting a pair of runs on a groundout by Ryan Cypret and a two-out bloop double by Greg Solomon.

Three straight Ohio State hits to open the home half of the second marked the end of Brooke's day. Ethan Bramschreiber came on in relief, but the hosts scored four times on five hits in the inning to go in front 6-2.

Northwestern got right back in the game with three runs in the top of the fourth. Three straight singles to open the inning helped the Wildcats score three times to get within a run. All three runs were unearned thanks to an Ohio State error with one run scoring on the miscue, Lashmet bringing in another on a sacrifice fly while Snieder plated the third tally on an RBI double.

The Buckeyes continued the scoring spree, though, getting a solo tally in the bottom of the fourth and then a two-run homer from Matt Streng in the fifth to push their lead back up to four.

Lashmet got a one-out single in the top of the sixth and OSU opted to replace Jared Strayer with Andrew Armstrong to set up a lefty-lefty matchup with Snieder. The move backfired as Snieder continued to remain locked in at the plate, launching a two-run homer to right to get NU back within 9-7.

The game appeared to get out of Northwestern's reach in the home half of the sixth as Ohio State scored five times, including three unearned runs following a two-out error.

Once again, the Wildcats refused to go away, responding with three runs in the top of the seventh to close to within 14-10. With runners on first and second and two outs, Stevens' fourth single of the day loaded the bases before Ruchim scored Geoff Rowan with a single to left. Two more runs would come across when Lashmet's grounder was thrown away by Ohio State first baseman Brad Hallberg.

After NU stranded two men in the eighth, it put together the wild rally in the ninth only to come up short in the end.

The Wildcats return to action at 3 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Milwaukee at Rocky Miller Park.

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