Wildcats Qualify for Big Ten Tournament With 9-6 Win Over Indiana
Complete Release in PDF Format May 19, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's baseball team came back from an early 6-0 deficit to defeat the Indiana Hoosiers and earn a spot in the 2002 Big Ten Postseason Tournament. On senior day at Rocky Miller Park in Evanston, Ill., head coach Paul Stevens called on a pair of freshmen to shut down the potent Indiana offense. NU won the game 9-6. Needing a win to qualify for the postseason tournament, freshman James Happ (Peru, Ill./St. Bede Academy) started on the mound and threw six complete innings before giving way to classmate Jon Mikrut (Wauconda, Ill./Carmel). Mikrut threw three innings of one-hit baseball, striking out four and picking up his fourth save in as many tries. Happ improved his record to 3-1. Finishing 14-15 in the conference, NU qualifies for the postseason tournament for the second time in three years and just the fifth time since the tournament was introduced in 1981. This year's junior and senior classes are the first in school history to make more than one postseason tournament, as the 'Cats qualified in 2000. Sixth-seeded Northwestern is scheduled to meet the third-seed Michigan State on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Minnesota's Siebert Field in Minneapolis, Minn. The Gophers defeated Ohio State 8-5 to win the regular season championship and earned the right to host the 2002 tournament. In the Northwestern-Indiana game, Indiana jumped on top in the second inning, taking advantage of a Wildcat fielding error and scoring six unearned runs. In the inning, the Hoosiers had five hits, four singles and a double. They also left the bases loaded.
Northwestern responded in the bottom of the third, scoring six runs on eight hits highlighted by a pair of home runs. Second baseman Eric Roeder (Onsted, Mich./Onsted) started the rally, crushing his second home run of the season over the left field wall. Mikrut followed with a single and trotted around the base paths when third baseman Steve Haake (Belleville, Ill./Gibault) tattered his fifth home run over the right field fence, cutting the IU lead to 6-3. Right fielder Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) doubled down the left field line and advanced to third on first baseman Travis Tharp's (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) single to right center. Designated hitter Todd Morgan (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) lined a single up the middle, scoring Ackley.
After a one-out Indiana pitching change, catcher Ken Padgett (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) doubled down to left field, scoring Tharp. On Padgett's hit, Morgan tried to score from first but was cut down at the plate on a great relay throw from the IU shortstop. The Wildcats didn't quit there, as left fielder Dan Pohlman quickly singled to left, scoring the tying run as Padgett crossed the plate. Once NU tied the score, Happ settled down, giving up just two hits in his final four innings of work. Happ struck out six and lowered his ERA to 1.41 as none of the six Indiana runs were earned. The Wildcats took the lead in the bottom of the fourth as the leadoff hitter, Mikrut, tattooed a 3-1 Hoosier offering deep over the left field wall for his sixth round-tripper of the season. Mikrut is now tied with sophomore Jason Krynski (Niles, Ill./Niles West) for the team lead in homers. NU added two more runs in the inning as Padgett hit his second double of the game, knocking in the final two runs.
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