Buckeyes Eliminated by Gophers 9-6

Photo courtesy the-ozone.net

-Matt Brown
COLUMBUS- With their Big Ten Tournament hopes on the line, the Ohio State Buckeyes came up just short.



Eric Decker went 4-4 with 4 RBI and a home run, Derek McCallum continued his strong tourney performance with 2 RBI, and Scott Fern got stops when he needed them as the Minnesota Golden Gophers outlasted Ohio State 9-6.

The Gophers didn’t waste any time getting to Ohio State’s Eric Best, tagging him for 4 runs on 6 hits in the first inning. Nohelty lead off the game with a single, then advanced to second off an error from an aborted pickoff attempt from Eric Best.

McCallum doubled him home, and later scored from a 2 run double from Nick O’Shea.

Ohio State started the 1st inning with 5 consecutive singles to get back to within one, but left runners on second and third. The Buckeyes tied the game in the bottom of the second being an RBI single from outfielder Michael Stephens, but struggled mightily to string together hits the rest of the game. Minnesota’s Scott Fern was far from dominant, scattering 8 hits and 4 runs over 4 and a third, but he was able to retire enough batters to prevent Ohio State from gaining momentum.

The Gophers added a run in the 5th, two in the 6th and a final insurance run in the 7th inning, behind the strong hitting of Eric Decker. Big Ten Player of the Year Dan Burkhart added a home run in the 7th for the Buckeyes, but it wasn’t enough. Despite the partisan, pro-Buckeye crowd at Huntington Park, Ohio State was never able to seriously threaten Minnesota after the Gophers regained the lead in the 3rd inning.

Despite the loss, Ohio State expects to continue their season next week. Armed with a #23 ranking and a 40 win regular season, Ohio State’s resume looks to be strong enough to warrant an at-large selection for the post season. Ohio State will learn if they received a bid, and where they will play, on Monday.

Ohio State wasn’t resting on their laurels though. “We came in not relying on the Big Ten championship [to get the team into the NCAA tournament],” said Burkhart. “We came into this tournament playing to win.”

Stephens and Cory Kovanda led the Buckeyes with three hits apiece, and Ryan Dew added two more and an RBI. Matt Nohelty added three hits for the Golden Gophers, along with his 6th stolen base of the Big Ten Tournament, a record. The Buckeyes also committed three errors.