March 28, 1998

Baseball Drops a Pair to Ohio State

'Cats go for series split on Sunday

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Ohio State pitchers allowed just six hits in 14 innings while the Buckeye offense tallied 17 runs and 23 hits as OSU swept a Saturday doubleheader from Northwestern, 12-1 and 5-2. The Buckeyes are now 14-5, 2-1 Big Ten. NU drops to 12-7, 1-2 Big Ten.

In game one, Ohio State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the main hit a two-RBI triple by first baseman Jason Trott. OSU slowly pulled away, scoring once in the fourth, twice in the fifth and twice in the sixth innings for an 8-1 lead after six innings. The lone Wildcat run came in the fourth inning on a solo homer to right field by Mike Stritch, his third of the season. Freshman catcher Joe Hietpas was the only other Wildcat to get a base hit, going 2-for-3. Eric Thompson (3-1) went the distance for OSU while Nick Franzese (2-1) took the loss for the Wildcats.

In game two, the Buckeyes roughed up NU starter Phil Rosengren for two runs in the top of the first inning. It was 4-0 in favor of Ohio State before NU got on the board in the third inning. With two outs, shortstop Jeremy Kurella doubled to left field, bring home Kris Musselman from first base to make the score 4-1. Kurella also provided NU's second RBI in the fifth inning on a grounder to shortstop. Kurt Fullenkamp (3-0) earned the win for the Buckeyes while Rosengren (0-2) took the loss.

The two teams conclude the series with a single game at Rocky Miller Park beginning at 1 p.m.