Ohio State then-junior infielder Conner Pohl (39) runs toward third base after a home run during the game against Michigan on April 12. Ohio State won 10-5. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern File Photo
The Buckeyes have traveled to and from Greenville, South Carolina, Minneapolis and Piscataway, New Jersey, for a total distance of 3,500 miles in their first three weekends of 2021, but for the first time in 685 days, they won’t have to leave Columbus.
Bill Davis Stadium will play host to a three-team pod this weekend as Ohio State (6-5) matches up against Iowa (4-7) and Maryland (5-6) in a four-game series Friday through Monday, facing each team twice. Redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Seth Lonsway said he is excited to finally pitch in a home series.
“Not actually pitching a competitive game at Bill Davis Stadium since the 2019 season is kind of crazy to think about,” Lonsway said Sunday. “I’m going to be excited; my family will be there. To have them in town and see me throw, I’m very excited for us to have a homestand and be in our own locker room and just to have that environment that we’re used to is always helpful.”
Ohio State is coming off a weekend against Rutgers in which it dropped two of three to the Scarlet Knights. The Buckeyes won the series finale though.
The starting rotation shined as junior righties Garrett Burhenn and Jack Neely and Lonsway all allowed two earned runs or less in the three games.
Ohio State’s offense is what faltered.
The Buckeyes managed to score nine runs in 27 innings, mustering a collective .184 average on 19-of-103 at the plate in their three-game set. The team’s .228 season average ranks 238th out of 280 schools in Division I with their 4.5 runs scored per game slotting in at 219th.
The biggest offensive standouts in the 2021 campaign have been freshman outfielder Kade Kern and sophomore outfielder Mitchell Okuley.
Kern burst onto the scene, going 5-for-6 in his collegiate debut against Illinois March 5, and has been a mainstay in the middle of the Buckeyes’ order ever since. His .390 average, 16 hits, nine RBI, .479 on-base percentage and .610 slugging percentage are all team highs.
Okuley has unlocked his power-hitting abilities for Ohio State, launching three home runs in 36 at-bats which has tied him with redshirt senior Conner Pohl for the team lead. In 2020, Okuley hit zero home runs and only had two extra-base hits in 20 at-bats.
Friday and Saturday feature games against Iowa, who the Buckeyes faced twice in their three-team round robin series March 12-14 in Minneapolis. Ohio State split the two games it played against the Hawkeyes, losing 4-0 and winning 7-4.
In those two games Iowa’s most productive bat was that of redshirt senior outfielder Ben Norman, who was 2-for-6 with two RBIs, three runs scored and three walks.
Norman has raised his average from .174 when he last faced Ohio State to a clip of .308, good for second highest on the Hawkeyes. In the four games since he last faced the Buckeyes, Norman is on fire, going 9-for-18 with two home runs, eight RBI and four runs.
The Hawkeyes are coming off a series against Nebraska in which they dropped two of three, but their 3-0 win Friday resulted in redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Trenton Wallace being named the Big Ten’s Pitcher of the Week Tuesday.
The southpaw has faced Ohio State once this year and dealt six innings of shutout baseball, allowing only two hits while striking out 10. Wallace leads the Big Ten with a 1.00 ERA and is third with 23 strikeouts in 18 innings.
Maryland travels to Columbus with a little momentum, as it won two of its games against Penn State, including scoring 19 runs in Saturday’s win.
The Terrapins sport a power threat of their own, notching the third-highest home runs as a team in the Big Ten with 15.
The man leading the charge is junior infielder Benjamin Cowles who has mashed seven round-trippers — trailing Rutgers redshirt sophomore third baseman Chris Brito by one for the most in the conference. Cowles’ .371 average, 16 RBIs and 1.000 slugging percentage are all team highs.
The Buckeyes struggled to contain Brito’s home run abilities last weekend, allowing the Scarlet Knight to hit two homers in three games.
Maryland’s pitching staff is headlined by two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week recipient right-handed pitcher Jason Savacool. To earn the honors last week, Savacool earned his third win in as many starts on the season, tossing his second complete game of the season and allowing one unearned run on five hits.
Savacool was ranked the class of 2020’s second-best high school prospect in New York, earning a Perfect Game player rating grade of 10 — which according to Perfect Game’s website indicates a prospect who has the potential to be a “very high draft pick and/or Elite level college prospect” — at the 2018 Perfect Game Underclass All-American Games.
He sports a fastball in the mid-90 mph range, but has only struck out 11 opposing hitters in 23.2 innings pitched, relying heavily on his defense to make plays behind him. In his three starts, he has recorded 39 groundouts, five of which have resulted in double plays, and 15 flyouts.
Friday’s game will mark the first time the Buckeyes will play a home game since May 11, 2019. Last season was canceled due to COVID-19 one day before the team’s March 13, 2020, home opener against Liberty.
Ohio State head coach Greg Beals said despite the team’s record, they are excited to be back at the friendly confines of Bill Davis Stadium, which just received a new player’s locker room renovation.
“We got a really exciting week. I think something we talked about as a team today and just trying to get ourselves in the right frame of mind,” Beals said Monday. “Not that we’re excited about being 6-5, but we’re north of .500, we’re on the top half of the conference standings and we just went through an 11-game gauntlet on the road.”
Beals sits two wins away from passing Dick Finn for third all-time on the Ohio State wins list as a head coach.
Ohio State plays 20 of its final 33 games at home, beginning this weekend with Friday’s first pitch against Iowa set for 5:05 p.m. and 1:05 p.m. Saturday. Then, the Buckeyes will face Maryland at 4:05 p.m. Sunday and 3:05 p.m. Monday. All games will be streamed live on BTN+.
