May 24, 2002

Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - As Northwestern began its semifinal bout with Ohio State at the 2002 Big Ten Tournament, freshman starter James Happ (Peru, Ill./St. Bede Academy) got off to a shaky start, falling behind 2-0 after the top of the first inning. Happ's last start was the regular-season finale against Indiana, when he tossed six innings and picked up his third win.

In the first inning, Happ walked Buckeye leadoff hitter Christian Snavely on four pitches. Snavely then went to third on a Mike Rabin single and a Doug Deed base-on-balls. Snavely crossed the plate when No. 4 hitter Nick Swisher hit into a fielder's choice to Travis Tharp (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) at first base. Catcher Joe Wilkins hit the second pitch he saw to right field for a sacrifice fly, which gave the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead.

Northwestern's never-say-die attitude, which has been the key storyline in this year's Big Ten Tournament, was thrust into action in the bottom of the third inning when Wildcat catcher Ken Padgett (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) roped a line drive home run, estimated at 344 feet, over the left field wall. Padgett's sixth homer of the season cut the Buckeye lead in half, making the score 2-1.

In the top of the third, right fielder Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) kept the score at 2-1 when he cut down Rabin at the plate on a perfect throw to Padgett for his ninth assist on the season.

Settling down after the first inning, the left-handed Happ gave up back-to-back home runs in the top of the seventh inning, putting OSU ahead 5-1.

"It's kind of a scenario where I got to give Ohio State credit," said head coach Paul Stevens."They got the big hits at the right time. We had a chance to get a double play in the sixth, but we were lucky to get out with only the three runs. My hat goes off to them; they (Ohio State) played a great game."

The first of the two round-trippers was a two-run shot by left fielder Doug Dendinger. The very next pitch, designated hitter Terry Pettorini hit a solo shot to straight away center.

In the bottom half of the sixth, Padgett was at it again, driving in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field.

In the top of the seventh, sophomore Dan Konecny (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) relieved Happ, striking out Dendinger to end the inning.

NU threatened in the bottom of the eighth as designated hitter Steve Haake (Belleville, Ill./Gibault) hit a one-out single, followed by a two-out liner to left by Padgett. The runners were stranded as Stevens went to his bench, pinch-hitting for shortstop Jon Mikrut (Wauconda, Ill./Carmel). Stevens called on one of NU's leading home run hitters, Jason Krynski (Niles, Ill./Niles West). Krynski struck out to end the inning with the Wilcats heading into the ninth, down 5-2.

NU went quietly in the ninth as OSU starter E.J. Laratta went the distance, striking out three Wildcats in the process.

"We had nine or 10 hits; that's not chicken feed versus a pretty good pitcher," said Stevens. "We just didn't get the key hits in key situations. It's not that our guys weren't trying. We hit the ball hard all night. Our hitters were attacking. That's why there are fielders out there. Ohio State did a good job of shutting us down."

"I saw [E.J. Laratta] before; we're from the same hometown," said Padgett. "He kept us off balance all night. We hadn't seen that before in this tournament. He kept us down the whole game. He threw a great game."

The loss puts Northwestern in a 3:30 p.m. contest with tournament host and No. 1 seed Minnesota.

If the 'Cats win, they play a 7 p.m. rematch against Ohio State.

For more information on the 2002 Big Ten Tournament, visit Minnesota's tournament site at Big Ten Baseball Tournament.

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