May 12, 2007

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Big Ten Tournament host Ohio State scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday afternoon at Buckeye Field, winning the conference tourney title over Northwestern, 2-1.

The loss snapped the Wildcats' 12-game winning streak, and dropped them to 45-11 overall on the season. The win improved Ohio State's record to 38-16 this year.

Both teams went down in order in the first inning, but that did not prevent Northwestern from providing an early highlight. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Ohio State catcher Sam Marder smoked a grounder through the right side of the infield for an apparent base hit, but Northwestern right fielder Jessica Miller (Elberfeld, Ind./Techumseh) charged it and gunned a throw to senior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) at first for the unconventional 9-3 groundout.

In the top of the third, senior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) manufactured the first run of the game all by herself. With two outs in the frame, Logan lined a single into center where it rolled right through the wickets of the centerfielder. Logan aggressively ran to third on the play, then scored when the Ohio State throw to the bag bounded into the Buckeyes' dugout to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

Wildcats' starter Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) did not surrender a hit through the first three innings, allowing only one base runner on a two-out walk in the third. Ohio State got a leadoff single in the fourth for its first base knock of the game, and was able to turn it into a run. With two outs and a full count on the batter, Canney was called for a 10-second violation resulting in a walk to put runners at first and second. A single up the middle past a diving Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) at second scored the runner at second to knot the game, 1-1.

During that fourth inning, Canney fanned a batter for the second out of the frame to reach 300 strikeouts on the season. Coupled with her 383 K performance in 2006, Canney now is the lone Wildcat pitcher ever to fan 300 batters in two different years. The only other NU hurler to reach 300 was three-time All-American Lisa Ishikawa, who set the then-NCAA record with 469 in 1984.

In the top half of the fifth, Miller drew a leadoff walk, then was replaced by pinch runner Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) at first. Ohio State elected to relieve starting pitcher Kim Reeder with Jamee Juarez in the circle after the base on balls, and Juarez was able to end the inning with no damage done.

The game settled into a pitcher's duel, with Canney and Juarez (20-8) matching zeroes until the seventh.

Ohio State put two runners on in the seventh after two singles, then with runners at the corners and two outs, a Wildcat error allowed the winning run to come home.

Canney was saddled with the loss to move to 27-9 on the season. She allowed two unearned runs on four hits and three walks with eight Ks.

Northwestern now awaits the NCAA Tournament selection show to find out its Regional fate. The show will air live between 2 and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 13, on ESPNEWS.

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