OSU men sweep Illinois for Big Ten tennis title

Mikael Torpegaard and John McNally won singles matches and teamed up for a doubles victory, and Ohio State defeated Illinois 4-0 on Sunday to win the Big Ten men’s tennis championships in Iowa City, Iowa.

Ohio State (29-2) won the conference title for the third consecutive season and for the 13th time overall.

The No. 3-ranked Buckeyes will find out their first-round opponent and destination for the NCAA Tournament at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

After eighth-ranked Illinois (21-7) won the first doubles match, Torpegaard and McNally beat Aleks Kovacevic and Zeke Clark 6-3.

JJ Wolf and Martin Joyce defeated Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi 6-4 to give Ohio State the doubles point.

The Buckeyes wrapped up the match by winning six straight sets in singles: Torpegaard beat Aleks Vukic 6-3, 6-1; Wolf defeated Aron Hiltzik 6-2, 6-3; and McNally beat Alex Brown 6-2, 6-3.

Will Grimmer shot a final-round 72 to finish in fourth place, leading Ohio State to a runnerup finish in the Big Ten championships in Baltimore. Ohio State finished at 11-overpar 851 over 54 holes, 15 strokes behind champion Illinois at Baltimore Country Club. Grimmer’s 1-over 211 total was seven strokes behind first-place Nick Hardy of Illinois. Jeg Coughlin III of OSU closed with a 77 to finish in a five-way tie for 10th at 4-over 214. NCAA Tournament bids will be announced Wednesday.

Ohio State (28-13, 9-6 Big Ten) rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat No. 21 Minnesota 6-5 at Bill Davis Stadium. With the bases loaded, Dillon Dingler hit a high chopper to the left side of the mound and collided with Minnesota first baseman Cole McDevitt, who dropped the game-ending putout, allowing two runs to score.

Emily Clark and Becca Gavin each drove in two runs and Shelby McCombs got her 15th victory in Ohio State’s 5-2 victory over Maryland (18-33, 7-13 Big Ten) on Senior Day at Buckeye Field.

Gavin doubled in two runs in the fourth inning to give Ohio State (32-11, 13-6) a 2-0 lead, and Clark’s two-run double in the fifth made it 5-2.