May 5, 2001
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The Northwestern baseball team used a six-run sixth inning to win Saturday's Game 2, 10-3, against Penn State at Beaver Field. Junior Gabe Ribas (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick) threw his fourth complete game of the year, improving to 3-7 on the year. He gave up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and struck out six. Ribas has struck out 65 hitters in his 70.1 innings of work.
In the top of the first, NU took a 1-0 lead when left fielder David Gresky (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Ignatius) and designated hitter Todd Morgan (Shorewood, Minn./ Minnetonka) earned free passes from Lion pitcher David Tressler. First baseman Jason Krynski (Niles, Ill./Niles West) followed with a single to center to score Gresky.
Penn State answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the first when Ribas walked the leadoff hitter then allowed him to advance to third with a pickoff attempt that skipped past Krynski at first. The Lion runner came in to score on a groundout to second.
The Nittany Lions weren't done, as they came back in the bottom of the second to score two runs on one hit. Ribas hit the leadoff hitter and followed with a base on balls. The first run scored on a single to center, and then NU conceded the second run on a slow groundout to third.
Down 3-1 in the top of the sixth, NU came to the plate and rocked PSU pitching for six hits, including three doubles. Second baseman Eric Roeder (Onsted, Mich./ Onsted) plated the first run on a double to left and came around to score on a two-RBI, pinch-hit double by Matt Thompson. With two outs and the bases loaded, right fielder Dan Pohlman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) crushed another two-RBI double to the right centerfield gap making the score 7-3.
NU wasn't done, scoring three more runs in the top of the seventh. Third baseman Ken Padgett (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) was hit by a pitch to start the inning and came around to score on catcher Joe Hietpas' (Appleton, Wis./North) second double of the day. Shortstop Frank Favia (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) advanced Hietpas to third on a sacrifice bunt and he scored on a Pohlman single to center. Pohlman ended the game 2-for-4 with three RBI. With two outs, center fielder Steve Haake (Belleville, Ill./ Gibault) reached on an error by the Lion first baseman, advancing Pohlman to third. Roeder stepped to the plate and cracked his second double of the game scoring Pohlman from third.
NU improves to 22-28 overall, 10-13 in the Big Ten. The 'Cats conclude the four-game series tomorrow. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Junior lefthander Ryan Bos (Barrington, Ill./Lake Zurich) is set to take the hill for NU, while Penn State's probable starter is junior right hander Justin Nash.