Ohio State then-freshman pitcher Garrett Burhenn (30) throws a pitch during the game against Michigan on April 12. Ohio State won 10-5. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern File Photo
Ohio State baseball got on the eight-hour bus ride home from Greenville, South Carolina, after having won three of four games against Illinois.
The offense scored 24 runs on the weekend, as the Buckeyes pulled out a victory in a grueling 13-inning ballgame Friday before sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader.
It is safe to assume that it was a very relaxing trip home — except for the starting pitchers.
In the four-game series, the Buckeyes got one-and-a-half solid starts on the weekend with junior right-handed pitcher Garrett Burhenn recording the best of the four in a six-inning outing. Ohio State head coach Greg Beals said he wants his starting pitchers to correct their mistakes in this week’s bullpen sessions.
“Just dialing things back in, so we can get some quality starts,” Beals said.
Burhenn led off the weekend on the bump for the Buckeyes and found himself in a pitcher’s duel with Illinois sophomore right-handed pitcher Andrew Hoffmann.
He gave Ohio State six strong innings, allowing two earned runs with three walks and three strikeouts. There was not much to say about Burhenn, as he led off the weekend with the first strong start for the Buckeyes.
Game 1 of the Saturday doubleheader saw redshirt junior lefty Seth Lonsway take the mound in an anticipated season debut start, as he collected a bundle of preseason accolades: USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award Watch List — given to the best player in college baseball — Dec. 22, College Baseball Newspaper’s Second-Team Preseason All-American Feb. 18 and the Big Ten’s Preseason Honors List March 1.
Lonsway’s first two innings were almost carbon copies of each other, allowing no Illini runs to cross, recording two strikeouts, a flyout to left field and allowing one runner to reach. Then, he ran in trouble in the third.
He exited after 2.2 innings, surrendering only two hits, but five earned runs and four walks with six strikeouts.
Lonsway’s punch-out abilities did not lose pace whatsoever, as 75 percent of his outs came via the strikeout for an astronomical 20.2 strikeouts per nine innings — only 0.8 less strikeouts per nine than his Division I leading rate in 2020.
However, Lonsway’s walks ran him into trouble, as three of his five runs he allowed reached on a walk or hit-by-pitch. He said in the season preview press conference that lowering the number of walks is something he wanted to work on for the season.
“Lowering the free passes, that’s kind of been something of mine that’s been kind of an issue,” Lonsway said March 2.
In the nightcap of the doubleheader, junior right-handed pitcher Jack Neely, who transferred from Iowa Western Community College, toed the rubber for the Buckeyes for a rollercoaster of a start.
Neely’s Ohio State debut was highly anticipated, as his dominating 6-foot-8 frame is coupled with a fastball velocity that sits in the upper 90-mph range and can touch triple digits.
He provided the Buckeyes with half of a quality start because he got behind early, allowing four runs in the first. However, his offense scored eight runs in the top of the second inning, allowing him to settle in nicely.
After the first, Neely threw three no-hit innings, allowing only three Illini hitters to reach base on a walk and two hit-by-pitches, earning the rotation’s only win on the weekend.
Sunday’s finale saw junior right-handed pitcher Will Pfennig take the mound for the Buckeyes, making his fifth career start in 29 appearances. Pfennig labored in the first inning, allowing three runs on three hits, and struck out the side in the second, before being pulled after recording the first two outs of the third inning and allowing two more runs to cross.
The starters got off on the wrong foot to start the season, combining for a 9.39 ERA as a rotation. However, the Buckeyes’ bullpen kept them in the first three ballgames, logging 21.9 innings and allowing only four earned runs during that time.
Beals said he wants his pitchers to work from ahead in the count.
“We’ve got to be willing on the mound to not be so fine or try to be so fine,” Beals said. “We need to pound the strike zone, work from the middle and then work out, instead of working out and being behind in the count.”
It was a tall ask of Ohio State’s starters to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders after a 359-day hiatus, but they look to get back on track this weekend in their four-game series against Iowa and Nebraska in Minneapolis.
