Minnesota Falls to Ohio State in Big Ten Tournament Championship
The Minnesota baseball team (40-16) fell to Ohio State (37-22) 4-2 in the Big Ten Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Sunday, May 27. The Golden Gophers' appearance in the championship, marked the seventh straight year they were in the championship game.
Minnesota had seven players named to the All-Tournament team as senior catcher Kevin Carlson, sophomore first baseman Bryan Jost, senior shortstop Dan Lyons, senior outfielder Mike Mee who received the honors at designated hitter, senior outfielder Kyle Baran, sophomore outfielder Matt Nohelty and senior pitcher Bill Johnson all claimed the honors.
Baran finished the tournament with a .444 batting average for the second year in a row, as he went 8-for-18 with two runs and five RBI. Carlson had a .429 batting average, going 6-for-14 with two RBI. Jost batted .400 (6-for-15) in the tournament, led Minnesota in RBI with five, scored three runs and had a home run.
Lyons batted .368 (7-for-19) with four runs and four RBI, while Mee was 6-for-17 (.353) with two runs and three RBI. Nohelty was also 7-for-20 (.350) with two runs, two stolen bases and two RBI.
Johnson made two relief appearances (against Penn State and Illinois) and did not give up a run in six and two thirds innings.
Junior starter Gary Perinar (Shorewood, Ill.) had a strong outing as he pitched seven innings, gave up six hits, three runs and struck out eight batters. Perinar took a tough-luck loss to fall to 4-5 on the season.
Minnesota was led offensively by Nohelty who was 2-for-4 with a run. Nohelty finished the day 5-for-9 with a run and two RBI in the final two games of the tournament. Baran also had a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4.
Lyons was 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI and also had a sacrifice bunt in the game. Mee reached base twice, and was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Ohio State starter Cory Luebke went seven and two thirds innings, gave up seven hits, two ruins and struck out five to take a no-decision. Jake Hale came in to relieve Luebke and picked up his second win of the tournament, as he pitched one and a third shutout innings.
The Golden Gophers were trailing 2-0 for most of the game due to a strong pitching performance by Ohio State starter Cory Luebke. However, Minnesota got a threat started when Jeremy Chlan (Apple Valley, Minn.) hit a one-out single in the top of the eighth. Chlan was wiped out at second for the second out when Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) reached on a fielder's choice.
Lyons ripped a ball down the left field line for an RBI double to plate Nohelty to cut the Buckeye lead to 2-1. Mee followed with an RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 2-2.
Ohio State broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth with pair of runs. The Buckeyes got things started when Eric Fryer drew a walk, after Perinar narrowly missed striking him out with a 2-2 slider. J.B. Shuck moved Fryer to second with a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore reliever Kyle Carr (Linton, N.D.) got the next Buckeye batter to fly out for the second out of the inning.
Jason Zoeller drew a walk to make it first and second, and pinch-hitter Michael Arp delivered a two-run double down the left field line to give Ohio State a 4-2 lead.
Minnesota tried to battle back when Baran delivered a one-out single in the top of the ninth, but Buckeye reliever Jake Hale retired the next two batters to give the Buckeyes the championship.
Ohio State got on the board first with two runs in the bottom of the second inning to move ahead 2-0. Jacob Howell was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and came home to score on three wild pitches to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead. Eric Fryer singled with one out, but was wiped out at second on a fielder's choice by J.B. Shuck. Justin Miller singled to move Shuck to second, and Jason Zoeller followed with an RBI single to give Ohio State the two-run lead.
Earlier in the day, Minnesota had its game with Penn State go down to the final strike before rallying to win 4-3 in 11 innings. It was the 19th time this season that the Golden Gophers had a comeback victory.
The Golden Gophers matched their highest victory total since 2003 with their 40th win earlier today.
Today's game will be replayed on CSTV on Monday, May 28 at 2 p.m. (CT)
Minnesota will wait to find out its postseason fate when the NCAA Tournament selections are revealed on ESPN on Monday, May 28 at 11:30 a.m. (CT).
