March 5, 2010
Box Score
MINNEAPOLIS - Northwestern rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys got two in top of ninth to down the Wildcats 7-5 Friday afternoon in the Dairy Queen Classic at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The Wildcats fall to 2-6 with the loss.
Tyler Lyons, a left-hander who tied for the team lead with seven wins a year ago, handcuffed the Wildcats through the majority of the contest as he didn't allow a Northwestern player to reach second base until the seventh inning.
Oklahoma State (3-1) got a run off of NU starter Joe Muraski in the top of the first as Mark Ginther followed a two-out walk with an RBI triple.
Muraski shut down the high-powered Cowboy lineup over the next three frames, but OSU was able to cash in for three runs in the fifth to extend their lead. Tom Belza had a run-scoring triple before Ginther struck again, hitting a two-run homer to make it 4-0.
The advantage grew to five runs in the seventh as an error led to an unearned run off NU reliever Matt Gailey.
After stranding a pair of baserunners in the seventh, the Wildcats were finally able to chase Lyons from the game in the eighth. Jack Havey led off the inning with a walk and Arby Fields drew another free pass with two away, marking the end of Lyons' day.
Oklahoma State brought on reliever Don Lisi to face Chris Lashmet and the junior greeted him with a two-run double to get the Wildcats on the board.
The Cowboys then made another change, bringing on Chance Deason to face Paul Snieder who drew a walk to load the bases. OSU brought on its fourth pitcher of the inning, Matt Peck to face Zach Morton, but the NU sophomore came through with a two-run single to trim the deficit to one. When Quentin Williams followed with an RBI single of his own, the Wildcats remarkably found themselves back to even.
Northwestern had the lead run at third base, but Peck got a strikeout to keep the game tied.
Eric Jokisch came on in relief of David Jensen to being the top of the ninth and retired the first two batters of the inning, but two singles and a walk loaded the bases before Nico Rosthenhausler came through with the decisive two-run single.
Oklahoma State finished with an 11-6 edge in the hit column.
Northwestern returns to action at noon Saturday as it takes on Loyola Marymount.