May 19, 2000
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 5 seed Ohio State Buckeyes held on to defeat the No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers, 9-8, in the eighth game of the 2000 Big Ten Tournament at Siebert Field. Ohio State (37-22) has won two elimination games in the loser's bracket and advances to play Illinois on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Purdue (35-23) has been eliminated from the 2000 Big Ten Tournament.
"Give Ohio State credit," Purdue coach Schreiber said. :They came out early, played aggressively, and got a lead. But I give our kids credit as well. They got back into the game and a situation where we had a chance to win it. It was two teams fighting for their Big Ten Tournament lives. They ended up with the win."
Illinois (38-20) is the only undefeated team remaining in the 2000 Big Ten Tournament and can clinch the title Saturday by eliminating Penn State (40-15) on Saturday afternoon and Ohio State on Saturday night. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes each have one loss in the tournament and must win games on Saturday and Sunday to win the tournament title and claim the NCAA Tournament automatic berth.
Ohio State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. With one out, Mike Check beat out an infield single to shortstop Mike Duursma. Nick Swisher singled to left field, advancing Check to third base. Jason Turner beat out a fielder's choice to keep Ohio State out of a double play and allow Check to score the game's first run. The Buckeyes added a run in the third inning on Turner's 17th home run of the season. Turner's tape-measure blast made him the first player in the tournament to hit three home runs.
The Buckeyes increased their lead to 5-0 with three runs in the fourth inning. Chris Alvord singled to center field, and was erased on a fielder's choice by Jason Driscoll. Check legged out his second infield single of the game. Nick Swisher followed with his 10th home run of the season, a three-run shot to center field. Swisher tied the Ohio State freshman record for home runs in a season with his fourth-inning home run.
Purdue finally dented the scoreboard with one run in the fifth inning. With two out, senior Chris Walker singled and stole second. Third basemen David Blomberg followed with a long double to the right-center field fence, scoring Walker with the Boilermakers' first run of the game.
The Boilermakers continued their rally with four runs in the seventh inning. Junior center fielder Nate Sickler singled to begin the inning. Designated hitter Daryl Hallada reached on a fielder's choice and Sickler was safe at second base on a throwing error by Swisher. Freshman right fielder Dan Underwood doubled to center field to score Sickler and Hallada, but was tagged out in a rundown after slipping between second and third base. Kris Luce restarted the rally with a one-out walk. With two out, Mike Duursma reached on a throwing error by Ohio State's John Mayor, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Ohio State replaced starting pitcher Greg Prenger with Cory Cox, but Walker beat out an infield single that scored Luce and cut the Buckeye lead to 5-4. Blomberg followed with a bloop double to left field that scored Duursma and tied the game, 5-5.
Purdue broke a 5-5 tie with two runs in the top of the eighth inning without the benefit of a base hit. Sickler was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Hallada followed with a walk. Underwood put down a sacrifice bunt that Cox threw into left field, allowing Sickler to score. After a strikeout, Nate McIntyre was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Duursma was hit by a pitch to force in Hallada and give Purdue a 7-5 lead.
Ohio State came back with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Driscoll and Check led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Swisher and Turner followed with groundouts, with Driscoll scoring on Turner's groundout. With two out, pinch-hitter Chad Ehrnsberger laced a double to left-center, scoring Check with the tying run. After a walk to Doug Dendinger, pinch-hitter Lance Rolston singled up the middle, scoring Ehrnsberger and giving Ohio State an 8-7 lead. Trent McIlvain also singled up the middle, scoring Dendinger with the final run of the inning.
Purdue scored a run in the ninth inning, but left the tying run at second base. With one out, a double by Sickler and a single by Hallada produced a run to cut the Ohio State lead to 9-8. Underwood continued the rally with a si to sengle to second base. Cox was able to get Luce on a called third strike and induced McIntyre into a fielder's choice to end the game.
The Boilermakers must now sit and wait to see if the NCAA committee picks them as one of the 64 teams that qualify for the upcoming action NCAA regional action.
"I strongly feel that our RPI is the strongest in the conference," Schreiber said. "We finished 4-1 against Illinois and Minnesota. We have a lot of things in our favor."
2000 Big Ten Tournament -- Siebert Field, MinneapolisCurrent Tournament Score Summary
Wednesday, May 17Game 3 -- Illinois 6, Purdue 2 (12 innings)Game 2 -- Penn State 8, Ohio State 7
Thursday, May 18Game 1 -- Minnesota 8, Northwestern 4Game 4 -- Ohio State 4, Northwestern 2 (Northwestern eliminated)
Friday, May 19Game 5 -- Purdue 6, Minnesota 1Game 6 -- Illinois 5, Penn State 3Game 7 -- Penn State 5, Minnesota 2 (Minnesota eliminated)Game 8 -- Ohio State 9, Purdue 8 (Purdue eliminated)
Saturday, May 20Game 9 -- Illinois vs. Penn State, 1 p.m.Game 10 -- Illinois vs. Ohio State, 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 21Game 11 -- Teams to be determined (if necessary), 1 p.m.