Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 40

I3SIDE: COLLEGE FOOTBALL C-4, HIGH SCHOOLS C-15, OUTDOORS C-18, SCOREBOARD C-20 CHASING Sept. 5 Total Mark McGwire 1 fin Sammy Sosa 1 58 Ken Griffey Jr. 1 48 Roger Maris 0 53 SECTION PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1998 Ohio State l3iows oas THE SCORE INSIDE RMC's giveaway Robert Morris commits a school-record eight turnovers in losing its opener, 30-20, at Buffalo State. Page C-8. 4-17 WW L.

No. 1 Buckeyes live up to their ranking "All WAKE UP THE ECHOES Notre Dame brings back the option in its 36-20 upset victory over defending national champion Michigan. Page C-4. Tennessee, in its first game of the post-Peyton Manning era, beats Syracuse, 34-33. Page C-4.

Michigan State, which began the season with high hopes, loses its second consecutive game, this time to Oregon. Page C-6. By Ray Fittipaldo Pest-Gazette Sports Writer M0RGANT0WN, W.Va. And you thought Hurricane Bonnie was powerful. Hurricane Buckeye blew through Morgantown last night and left No.

11 West Virginia in its wake. No. 1 Ohio State used a power running game and precision passing to topple West Virginia, 34-17, in front of 68,409 fans, at least 6,000 of which were clad in Buckeyes red and white. It was the largest opening day crowd and third-largest crowd ever at Mountaineer Field. Ohio State justified its No.

1 ranking with a solid performance on both sides of the ball. The revamped West Virginia defense was no match for the power running game of Michael Wiley and the passing of Joe Germaine. The West Virginia offense that returns nine starters from last year's unit that averaged more than 30 points per game could not solve a Buckeyes defense that contained Heisman Trophy candidate Amos Zereoue in the second half after he gained 80 yards in the first half. Ohio State scored the backbreak-er a little more than six minutes into the third quarter. After being pinned at its 4, Germaine led an eight-play, 96-yard drive that was capped by a 39-yard touchdown pass to David Boston, who beat Mountaineers corner Nate Terry badly on the play.

The score gave Ohio State a 27-10 lead with 8:46 remaining in the third quarter. Ohio State scored on four of its first five possessions to take a 20-10 halftime lead. Wiley had 92 yards on nine carries, and Germaine completed 11 of 17 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. Boston had four catches for 51 yards and Dee Miller four receptions for 80 yards. The Buckeyes responded with two touchdowns for a 34-10 lead.

West Virginia scored on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Bulger to Shawn Foreman with 13 seconds left in th game. Nedved update Holdout center Petr Nedved could switch agents as soon as tomorrow, which could spark a deal with the Penguins. Page C-16. Going to seed Defending champion Patrick Rafter, Andre Agassi and Venus Williams are among seeded winners at U.S. Open.

PageC-17. BASEBALL National League Cubs 8 PIRATES 4 Mets5 Braves 4 Cardinals 7 Reds 0 Astros 6 D'backs 5 Dodgers 6 Giants 3 Expos 7 Marlins 1 Padres 4 Rockies 2 Brewers 3 Phillies 2 American League Blue Jays 4 Red Sox 3 Mariners 6 Orioles 5 White Sox 9 Yankees 5 Indians 5 Tigers 4 Twins 7 Rangers 4 Athletics 3 Devil Rays 0 Royals at Angels, late FOOTBALL College PITT 48 Villanova 41 PENN ST. 34 S. Miss. 6 Ohio State 34 WVU 17 Nebraska 38 UAB 7 Tennessee 34..

Syracuse 33 Notre Dame 36. Michigan 20 Oregon 48.... Mich. State 14 Georgia 56 Kent State 3 Florida 49 Citadel 10 Miami, 0. 13.

N. Carolina 10 Kan. St. 66 Indiana St. 0 Arizona St.

vs. late Colo. St. vs. Colorado, late Wis.

at San Diego late TENNIS U.S. Open Pete Sampras (1) def. Mi-kael Tillstrom, Patrick Rafter (3) def. David Nainkin, Jan Siemerink def. Greg Rusedski (6), 4-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Andre Agassi (8) def. Da-vide Sanguinetti, 6-2, 6-3, 6-0. Lindsay Davenport (2) def. Virginia Ruano-Pascual, 6-2, 6-1. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (4) def.

Sarah Pitkowski, 6-2, 6-3. Venus Williams (5) def. Larisa Neiland, 5-0, retired. Canchita Martinez (7) def. Lisa Raymond, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Amanda Coetzer (13) def. Barbara Schett, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. Nathalie Tauziat (10) def. Henrieta Nagyova, 6-1 6-1 GOLF Greater Milwaukee JeffSluman 197-16 Chris Perry 197-16 Steve Strieker 198-15 Nolan Henke 199-14 Mark Calcavecchia 199 -14 Ma'y Pfess Mark McGwire waves to the crowd at Busch Stadium yesterday after hitting his 60th home run. McGwire's Ruthian shot ties Babe Pitt left gasping in 48-41 victory late surire alnnht upsets Panthers By Ben Walker The Associated Press ST.

LOUIS With a Ruthian shot, Mark McGwire met the McGwire was watching the whole way, taking a wide turn while his eyes followed the flight of the bail he launched yesterday. And when that high-arching drive landed in the left-field seats, home run No. 60 was his. McGwire became just the third player to hit so many, tying Ruth's mark and moving one homer short of Roger' Maris' record total. "To be compared with Babe Ruth is just awesome," McGwire said.

"Until recently, I never thought anything like that could happen." It didn't take McGwire long to do it in this game or this season. A night after appearing anxious at the plate, McGwire connected for a two-run shot in the first inning against Cincinnati rookie Dennis Reyes. Fireworks exploded over Busch Stadium and McGwire saluted the sellout crowd of 47,994 with a curtain call. The home run came in the Cardinals' 142nd game, including a tie. Ruth hit No.

60 on the final day of a 154-game season in 1927, and Maris hit No. 61 on the last day of a 162-game schedule in 1961. McGwire has 21 games left to beat Maris and hold off Sammy Sosa, who had 57 home runs going into the Chicago Cubs' game last night at Three Rivers Stadium. McGwire will try to make home run history today against Brett Tomko, who recently said he wouldn't mind being the will have to be answered quickly. The Wildcats are ranked No.

7 in I-AA. Pitt hosts No. 13 Penn State in two weeks. That's No. 13 in I-A.

"I don't think that's the way we're capable of playing," Pitt Coach Walt Harris said. "We're excited about winning, but we're not pleased. We have a lot of young players, and we proved it." Pitt which would have been a prohibitive favorite had there been a betting line on the game trailed by a touchdown late in the first half, 20-13, came back to take the lead but then seemed helpless as Villanova stayed on the Panthers' heels the rest of the way. The Panthers started off the way one might expect against a I-AA team. They took a 13-0 lead in the SEE Pin PAGE C-6 This Pitt win looked more like a loss.

Bob Smizik, Page C-6. By Shelly Anderson Post-Gazette Sports Writer If this is what a Division I-AA guy named Wrestbrook can do to Pitt, imagine the numbers Big East players or Penn State Nittany Lions might put up. Brian Westbrook, a 5-foot-8, 185-pound sophomore, and his Villanova teammates ran roughshod over the Panthers yesterday in Pitt Stadium. Pitt managed to win, 48-41 in front of 36,543 fans, but it wasn't pretty. Westbrook collected a whopping 428 all-purpose yards 114 rushing, 116 receiving and 198 in kick returns and scored touchdowns on a 48-yard fake punt, receptions of 15 and 5 yards from quarterback Chris Boden and on a kickoff return of 89 yards.

He set Villanova records for total and return yards in a game. It was the season opener for both teams and the Panthers' performance raised a lot of questions that ABOUT NO. 60 Mark McGwire is the third player in major-league history to hit 60 homers in a season. Of his 60 home runs, McGwire has hit 30 at Busch Stadium. McGwire's 60th came in the Cardinals' 142nd game.

Babe Ruth hit No. 60 on the final day of a 154-game season in 1927. Roger Maris hit No. 61 on the last day of a 162-game schedule in 1961. Reds pitcher Dennis Reyes, 21 will go down in history as the third pitcher to throw a 60th home-run ball, joining Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators (Ruth, 1927) and Jack Fisher of the Baltimore Orioles (Maris, 1961).

SEE McGWIRE, PAGE C-11 -13 -12 -12 -12 -12 John Maginnes 200 J.L Lewis 201 Kevin Wentworth 201 David Ogrin 201 Mark Carnevale 201 -11 -11 -11 Tommy Armour III 202 Doug Barron 202 Gabriel Hjertstedt 202 Penn State defense shuts down S. Miss Sosa swats 58th to help beat Pirates Losing skid readies 8 games Emerald Coast IsaoAoki 131 -9 Leonard Thompson 1 33 -7 Hale Irwin 134 -6 David Lundstrom 134 -6 Jim Colbert 135 -5 DanaQuigley 135 -5 Jim Dent 135 -5 Ed Dougherty 135 -5 Dan Wood 136 -4 Jerry McGee 136 -4 Bob Duval 136 -4 I I i- I Miv Nx Jr A Thompson stands out in his fust start at QB By Lori Shontz Post-Gazette Sports Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Remember that porous Penn State de-. fense of a season ago that gave up at least 100 yards rushing to just about every team on the schedule? It's gone but not forgotten. The No.

13 Nittany Lions held Southern Mississippi to 9 yards rushing yesterday, minus-18 in the first half. Their aggressive defense and ability to make the big plays at just the right time paid off with a 34-6 victory over the Golden Eagles, who are ranked No. 21 and Penn State's defensive players have stewed all-summer about the end of last season when they were giving up 200-yard rushing games, sometimes to two backs on the same team, and they used it as motivation throughout the preseason. Penn State didn't have to worry about making extensive defensive changes, not with the Nittany Lions' new attitude. "That was nine months of thinking and frustration about how last season ended," defensive end Brad Scioli said.

"The only way we could get out of that was to get out there and play today. We just did the same things we had been doing. We just did them better, we did them quicker, and we did them more aggressively." Penn State Coach Joe Paterno SEE PENN STAU, PAGE C-6 D. Ammaccapane 132 -12 Emilee Klein 135 -9 Julilnkster 138 -6 ErikaWicoff 138 -6 Tina Barrett 138 -6 C.Sorenstam 138 -6 Donna Andrews 139 -5 Sherri Turner 139 -5 European Masters 193 -20 SvenStruver 197 -16 Darren Clarke 198 -15 Costantino Rocca 200 -13 201 -12 Gordon Brand Jr 202 -1 1 Scott Henderson 202 -11 Christophe Bovet 202 -11 By Paul Meyer Post-Gazette Sports Writer Sammy Sosa hit another one and the Pirates lost another one last night. Sosa's sixth-inning home run off Sean Lawrence raised his total to 58, two behind Mark McGwire.

And the Pirates' 8-4 loss to Chicago stretched their losing streak to eight games in front of a Fireworks Night crowd of 37,711. Sosa, who trailed McGwire, 24-9, in home runs May 24, has come on strongly with nine home runs in his past 13 games. McGwire, however, has hit 13 in his past 18 1 SEE PAGE C-12 Matt FreedPost-Gazette Sammy Sosa watches his 58th home run last night in the sixtv inning against the Pirates. werent supposed to be the tradi tional season-opening patj.