The Buckeyes have had their midweek struggles through the season, losing three of their last four prior to Wednesday night’s home game against the Ball State Cardinals.

But Ohio State (26-19, 9-9) was able to add enough late offense to defeat the visiting Cardinals (24-24, 15-6 in the Mid-American Conference) 8-4 on a chilly night at Bill Davis Stadium.

“We played with some intensity, but we played more relaxed,” said coach Bob Todd. “Overall, this is the way we should be playing.”

Shortstop Tyler Engle hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to give OSU a 5-2 lead, but two Ball State runs in the eighth inning from a throwing error and a based-loaded walk made it a one-run game at 5-4.

The Buckeyes added three more runs in the bottom of the eighth, one from a dropped ball in the outfield that allowed third baseman Brad Hallberg to score, and two from an RBI single from second baseman Cory Kovanda to push the lead to 8-4.

OSU scored in each of the first three innings, and made the score 4-1.in the fifth inning when Kovanda, who went 2-for-4 in the game, sacrificed in left fielder Zach Hurley.

Hurley said that the team has been more relaxed lately, ever since the incident where the baseball team reportedly sacrificed a chicken, following in the footsteps of the baseball movie “Major League.”

“If you don’t have fun, what’s the point of being out there?” Hurley said. “For me, if we were going to keep losing, I didn’t want to be miserable.”

One of the players who has been more relaxed lately for Ohio State has been catcher Dan Burkhart, who went 3-for-4 in the win.

“I’ve just been a little more relaxed after I was pressing earlier in the year,” Burkhart said.
Right-handed reliever Jared Strayer pitched five strong innings for the Buckeyes, giving up only one run on four hits.

“He really has a resilient arm,” Todd said. “He actually threw more innings than we wanted to tonight.”

Strayer had been working on altering his delivery, and the results showed in his performance on the mound for the Buckeyes.

“It was definitely a transition process,” Strayer said. “And I kept working at it because success isn’t easy.”

OSU will travel to Iowa for a three-game series with the Hawkeyes beginning Friday at 7:05 p.m., when they will look to reclaim first place in the Big Ten.

The Buckeyes are currently fifth in the conference, one game back of Michigan, Purdue, Minnesota, and Northwestern, who are tied for the lead.

One question is whether or not the chicken from Sunday’s win against Illinois will be making the trip.

“We might be bringing our chicken with us,” Burkhart said.