On Friday night, Iowa rallied from a four-run ninth inning deficit, eventually upending the Buckeyes in extra innings and sending the Scarlet and Gray to the elimination round of the Big Ten tournament.
In order to get another chance at the Hawkeyes, the Buckeyes would need to beat Michigan once and Michigan State twice. They did.
To win the Big Ten tournament, Ohio State would need to exact some revenge on the Hawkeyes and win their fourth game in 24 hours.
They did, and to do so, they needed to wipe out a four-run deficit of their own.
Down 4-0 in the fourth, the Buckeyes needed a big rally and they got just that. Senior Nick Sergakis got the inning started with a lead-off single and Craig Nennig followed suit with one of his own. An out later, Ronnie Dawson doubled to right centerfield plating both.
A Troy Montgomery single scored Dawson and a Jalen Washington double scored Montgomery and Jacob Bosiokovic, who had single in-between them.
After a pitching change, Tre' Gantt ripped a single to left to score Washington and in the blink-of-an-eye, Ohio State led 5-4.
The Buckeyes added two more in the top of the seventh when Troy Kuhn singled home Gantt and Dawson, who each collected their second hit of the game in the seventh.
In the eighth, Iowa stormed back.
After back-to-back walks surrendered by senior left-hander Michael Horejsei, the Hawkeyes loaded the bases on a pinch-hit single by Devin Pickett. Horejsei struck out freshman Zach Daniels on three-pitches before giving way to sophomore righty Yianni Pavlopoulos, who immediately yielded a two-run double to Iowa senior Tyler Peyton, bringing the Hawkeyes within one at 7-6. Two batters later, Joel Booker – who had 13 hits in 20 tournament at bats, ripped a single to center tying the game at 7.
As they'd done all year, the Buckeyes – who will be in their first NCAA tournament since 2009 – came right back. Dawson singled to center, his 15th hit of the tourney (a new B1G record), and a batter later, Troy Kuhn delivered again, and again with two outs.
With three outs to a Big Ten title, Pavlopoulous retook the mound and quickly retired Jimmy Frankos and Robert Neustrom before inducing a game-ending chopper by Daniel Aaron Moriel, giving the Scarlet and Gray their first Big Ten title since 2009.
Ohio State outfielder Ronnie Dawson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after breaking the Big Ten Tournament records for hits (15) and doubles (6) in the tourney.
Catcher Jalen Washington, 2B Troy Kuhn, SS Craig Nennig and OF Troy Montgomery join Dawson on the All-Tournament Team.
The Buckeyes improved to 43–18–1 on the season and await news of where they'll land in the NCAA Tournament. The selection show airs Monday on ESPNU at noon.
