Baseball
Buckeyes Wipe Away Season of Frustration with 4-2 Win over Minnesota for Big Ten Tournament Championship
By John Porentas

A season of frustration ended in a weekend of elation for the 2007 baseball Buckeyes.

The Big Ten season was marked by devastating key injuries and an uncharacteristic sixth-place finish in the Big Ten standings for the Buckeyes but ended with a championship as Ohio State swept undefeated through the Big Ten tournament. The Buckeyes defeated three-seed Penn State and one-seed Michigan once and two-seed Minnesota twice to claim the Big Ten Tournament Championship and with it the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The final games of the tournament were completed on Sunday, one day later than originally scheduled, as rain caused the suspension of the elimination game between Penn State and Minnesota Saturday night in the seventh inning. That game was completed Sunday morning with the Gophers taking a come-from-behind win to qualify for the championship game with the Buckeyes.

The OSU Minnesota game was scheduled to begin at 12:05 PM but the start of the game was delayed until 12:57 PM as rain blew into the Ann Arbor area shortly after the Minnesota vs. Penn State game concluded.

Jake Howell
Photo by Jim Davidson

Minnesota starter Gary Parinar struggled in the first inning and presented OSU with a gift run when he hit leadoff hitter Jake Howell, then uncorked three wild pitches in the inning that allowed Howell to advance a base each time, the last time resulting in OSU's first run. The Buckeyes also put together a walk and two singles in the inning after Howell scored, the second hit by Justin Miller to drive in OSU's second run of the inning.

After the shaky first inning Parinar settled down and the game developed into a pitching duel between Parinar and OSU left-hander Corey Luebke. Luebke and Parinar dueled into the eighth inning when Luebke, who pitched seven complete innings on Friday, began to tire. With two out and a runner at second, shortstop Dan Lyons doubled down the left field line to drive in Minnesota's first run of the game. Designated hitter Mike Mee then singled through the middle of the infield to drive in Lyons and tie the score at two each. That was the end of Luebke's day.

"Probably not," said Luebke when asked if he had all of his stuff in his start against the Gophers.

Corey Luebke delivers against Minnesota
Photo by Jim Davidson

"I didn't feel like I had much on my fastball so I just tried to get a few of my off-speed pitches going early," Luebke said.

"I was running out of gas a little bit. That was just a bad pitch to Mee. I had a base open and probably should have put it outside a little bit more, but he did a good job going up the middle with it," said Luebke. "I think that was probably the right time to get me out."

OSU Head Coach Bob Todd called on Jake Hale to end the inning. Hale did just that when he got third baseman Nate Hansen to pop out to third base.

With the score tied OSU catcher Eric Fryer worked Parinar for a walk to open the bottom of the eighth inning. The inning-opening free pass marked the end of Parinar's day. Left-hander Kyle Carr came on to face left-handed hitting J.B. Shuck. Shuck got down a sacrifice bunt to move Fryer to second with one out. That's when the strategy wheels really started turning.

Miller flied out for the second out of the inning. The Gopher then elected to issue an intentional walk to right-handed designated hitter and team-leader in homeruns Jason Zoeller to bring up left-handed hitting freshman outfielder Ryan Dew against the left-handed throwing Carr. OSU Head Coach Bob Todd countered when he called on right-handed hitting outfielder Mike Arp as a pinch hitter. It would be Arp's first appearance in the tournament. It would also be a memorable one.

Mike Arp's two-run double set off OSU's led to OSU's victory celebration in Ann Arbor
Photo by Jim Davidson

Arp ripped a sharp, low line-drive just out of the reach of diving Minnesota third baseman Nate Hansen and just inside the third-base bag for a stand-up double that drove in two runs and also drove a stake through the heart of whatever tournament victory hopes the Gopher may still have had. Arp's clutch hit in a pressure-packed situation validated Todd's confidence in him.

"This game is a funny game of fate," said Todd.

"We've kind of talked to Mike throughout the course of the year that maybe he was going to spot-play defensively, but more importantly that his role was going to be as a right-handed pinch hitter against left-handed pitching. You never know what you're going to get. Mike really hasn't been in a ball game in ten days or so. He's been sitting here all week. It's awful tough, I will tell you. What he did is just a great, great feat, because you sit there for nine innings and to get up and do what he did is a tremendous feat for him."

"He gave me a chance to come in in a big situation. That's what I've been doing most of the year, coming in late in the game and it felt good," said Arp.

"When there's a lefty coming in I'm always told to get loose," said Arp.

"It was kind of a shocker of a situation I was in but that's exactly what I need when I get up there is that opportunity and Coach Todd trusted me and put me in there."

Arp knew the instant he connected that his effort had a chance to be successful.

"I knew I hit it solid," he said.

"I saw it just edge past his glove. As soon as I hit it I knew it was going to be a hard-hit ball whether it was going to be caught or not."

"Big," said Luebke when asked to describe the impact of Arp's at bat.

"He's the type of guy who is an aggressive hitter and the pitcher gave him something to hit and he did his job," Luebke said.

Jake Hale closed out the championship game against Minnesota
Photo by Jim Davidson

"Mike came through big-time," said OSU team captain Jake Howell. "He's a big-time player when it counts, and he came through in the clutch for us," Howell said.

Arp did his job and was confident that Hale would then do his job and shut down the Gophers to seal the OSU win.

"I knew Jake was going to come in and close it down for us," said Arp.

Minnesota managed a base hit off Hale after one was out in the top of the ninth, but the big OSU right hander retired the the next two hitters to close out the game and let the Buckeyes celebration at Ray Fisher field in Ann Arbor begin.

"I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it today but I found a way to do it," admitted Hale.

"I wasn't sure this morning, but when I went down there (to the bullpen), it was for the team. I'm coming in to get this final win, whether it's a save or win situation, whatever it took I was going to do for the team and I was going to make sure that I had everything I could ready to go," said Hale.

The championship after the so-so season was particularly satisfying for the Buckeyes.

"That shows how much heart we have as a team," said Hale.

"We've had a lot of downfalls this year and a lot of slumps. Yesterday coming over we were so pumped up and so motivated you could hear a pin drop on the bus because we were just focused. We didn't play so we had to refocus today. That could have hurt us but we dialed up and focused right back in on what we had to achieve."

"It's very satisfying," added Todd.

The Buckeyes Celebrate their tournament championship.
Photo by Jim Davidson

"I really felt like this team not only showed a great deal of character but they competed. That's all anybody can ever ask out of a team is to compete and give your all. That's exactly what they did all week."

The Buckeyes secured an NCAA tournament bid with the win, but Todd said after the game that in his opinion, both Michigan and Minnesota had also earned berths as well with their excellent seasons.

"I don't think there's any doubt that this is the year that three Big Ten teams should make it. To me it's a no-brainer," said Todd.

"There is no doubt that the Big Ten deserves three teams this year in the NCAA tournament."

Whether the NCAA selection committed sees it that way may be a different story. The NCAA regional participants will be announced on Monday at 12:30 PM.

OSU finished the Big Ten season with an overall record of 37-22. Minnesota finished at 40-16.

Notes:

* The Buckeyes collected 52 hits in their four games in the Big Ten tournament. Of those, 48 were singles, the other four were doubles.

* The win was OSU Head Coach Bob Todd's 800th in his Buckeye career.

* The tournament championship is OSU's eighth Big Ten tournament title. OSU is 48-29 in Big Ten tournament play all-time, the best tournament winning percentage in the Big Ten.

* OSU's appearance in the NCAA tournament will be the school's 18th overall and 12th under current Head Coach Bob Todd.

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