April 20, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - In the bottom of the ninth, freshman shortstop Jon Mikrut (Wauconda, Ill./Carmel) stepped to the plate like he'd done three previous times in the game and roped a first pitch fastball right back up the middle for his only hit of the game. That hit is significant because the winning run was on second.
Losing by two (4-2) and a runner on first with two outs, sophomore David Gresky (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Ignatius) drilled a full count offspeed pitch off the wall in right, scoring pinch runner Matt Brimmer (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) from first. Brimmer was running for first baseman Travis Tharp (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) who received a free pass from the Penn State pitcher. Designated hitter/pitcher Dan Pohlman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) was up next and he didn't waste any time driving the first pitch down the left field line, tying the score at 4-4 and setting up Mikrut's heroics.
Earlier in the game, NU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Tharp lined a 3-2 fastball over the right field fence for his fourth home run of the season. Nittany Lion pitcher Clayton Hamilton took over from their, setting down nine Wildcats in a row at one point. NU only had one infield single from the first to the seventh inning.
Penn State answered in the top of the second, plating a single run. Catcher Matt Harter hit a two-out single and advanced to second on senior right-hander Zach Schara's first walk of the game. Harter, who finished the game 2-for-3, crossed the plate on Brett Showalter's single to right.
The Lions took the lead in the third inning, scoring two runs on two hits. Center fielder Wes Reohr singled to left and scored on Chris Wright's single to left. Wright went to third on a hit batsman and a base-on-balls and scored on Harter's sacrifice fly to center field.
Up 3-2, Penn State added what they thought was an insurance run in the sixth, stringing together a single and a double to score the run.
Right fielder Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) led off the seventh, flying out to right. Following Tharp's walk, Yesterday's hero, Jason Krynski (Niles, Ill./Niles West) flew out to center, setting up Gresky.