The Ohio State baseball team fell to Cincinnati Wednesday evening in Cincinnati, 5-3.
The Buckeyes showed Tuesday’s rainout against Akron didn’t slow them down, though, as they got on the board quickly with a two-out error on a ground ball hit by freshman third baseman Jacob Bosiokovic, which scored redshirt senior second baseman Ryan Cypret to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Freshman right-hander Jake Post started the game and pitched three scoreless innings with four strikeouts and two hits.
Post’s four strikeouts tied his career-high, something he’s achieved in each of his last four starts.
OSU coach Greg Beals said before the game that Post would get the nod since his start was pushed forward due to the game being called.
“Post will get the start because of the rainout,” Beals said. “The biggest expectation tonight is to play good baseball and get some momentum for the weekend.”
Unfortunately for Beals and the rest of the team, things started to go downhill for OSU in the bottom of the fourth. The Bearcats tied the game with a two-out RBI triple by freshman infielder Devin Wenzel.
The next inning, the Bearcats added onto their lead with a solo shot by freshman catcher Russell Clark. Then redshirt sophomore outfielder Ethan McAlpine scored on an error, making it 3-1, Cincinnati.
On McAlpine’s next at bat, he made the Cincinnati lead 4-1 with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the sixth.
OSU chipped away at UC’s lead in the top half of the seventh, when Cypret drove in a run with an RBI single. Senior shortstop Kirby Pellant followed with an RBI double, cutting the Bearcat lead to one, 4-3.
Redshirt senior righty David Fathalikhani took the hill in the seventh for the Buckeyes and gave up a two-out homerun by junior outfielder Matt Williams, bringing the score to 5-3. Williams snapped Fathalikhani’s scoreless streak, which lasted 13 appearances.
The bomb by Williams was the final run scored in the game as the Buckeyes lost, 5-3, to the Bearcats.
OSU is 23-12 overall, 7-5 Big Ten, while Cincinnati improved to 14-21 on the year.
Illinois is scheduled to come to Columbus for this weekend’s Big Ten series. Redshirt senior first baseman Brad Hallberg thinks the team will perform well if it sticks to its tried and true tactics.
“Pitching and defense has been our game all year and we did that at Nebraska,” Hallberg said. “We’re going to keep trying to do that and if we can do it in these games coming up we’ll be good to go.”
Ohio State is set to play Illinois Friday at Bill Davis Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.