Ohio State then-freshman second baseman Conner Pohl bats in the bottom of the seventh inning against North Carolina Greensboro. Credit: Edward Sutelan | Lantern File Photo
A weekend ago, Ohio State utilized a strong combination of its offense and bullpen against Illinois, leading to victories in three-of-four games and tied atop the Big Ten standings.
The Buckeyes (3-1) look to continue rolling, as they play Iowa (1-3) and Nebraska (3-1) two times each this weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Ohio State is coming off a weekend in which it scored almost one-third of its total runs from last year’s 14-game season, even while being shutout by the Illini in the series finale.
Freshman outfielder Kade Kern burst onto the scene, hitting .471— eighth best in the Big Ten — on the weekend, while recording team highs with five RBIs and 12 total bases.
Not far behind is redshirt senior first baseman Conner Pohl, who lived up to his team captain status in the middle of the Buckeyes’ order. In 17 at-bats, Pohl collected 10 total bases, including a 3-for-5, three RBI performance in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, clobbering a two-run home run that wrapped around Fluor Field’s replica of Pesky’s Pole at Fenway Park.
While the offense raked in runs, Ohio State’s starting pitchers struggled — combining for a 9.39 ERA in 15.1 innings.
The bullpen picked up the slack, though, leading the charge with a 1.66 ERA between the 11 relievers who made an appearance. Three of the four earned runs surrendered by the bullpen on the weekend came at the hands of sophomore right-handed pitcher Ethan Hammerberg.
The Cornhuskers opened the season strong against Purdue, with three wins in four games.
Despite dropping Game 1 of their series on a walk-off sacrifice fly, the Cornhuskers took that frustration out on the baseball as they outscored the Boilermakers 21-2 in the final three games.
The Huskers sit second in team batting average in the Big Ten at .302 and the conference’s highest on-base percentage at a whopping .422, scoring 26 runs in 32 innings.
The two biggest thumpers in Nebraska’s lineup are freshman third baseman Max Anderson and senior outfielder Joe Acker, both tearing the cover off the ball in their first weekend of play.
Anderson is tied for second in the conference in batting average, hitting at a .533 clip with a home run, a double, five RBIs and three walks, which is good for a team-high 1.411 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Not too far behind is Acker, a 2021 team captain, hitting .429 on 6-for-14 at the dish, with a double and round-tripper of his own, collecting four RBIs.
The Cornhuskers had their way against Purdue on the mound as well, exiting the weekend with the Big Ten’s second-lowest ERA at 1.99.
Their staff is headed by junior righty Shay Schanaman, who threw six shutout innings while allowing only one hit Saturday. Schanaman will start Sunday against the Buckeyes.
The Hawkeyes had a polar opposite weekend compared to Nebraska, leaving Round Rock, Texas, as losers of three of four to Michigan. Iowa recorded the lowest team batting average in the Big Ten at .197 and the second-worst team ERA at 6.09.
Redshirt senior third baseman Matthew Sosa was one of two bright spots in Iowa’s lineup, finishing the weekend batting .500 on 6-for-12 at the plate with three doubles and five RBIs.
Also helping the cause was redshirt senior catcher Austin Martin who hit .357 while collecting seven total bases on the weekend which is second on the team to Sosa’s nine. Martin was named to the Buster Posey Award Watch List Tuesday — which is awarded to the best catcher in college baseball.
The Hawkeyes have allowed six sacrifice hits, which is tied for the most in the Big Ten, and Ohio State — who has a knack of dropping down a bunt to move a runner over when need be — has the second-most sacrifice hits in the conference with four.
If Ohio State sweeps the weekend it will be its first 7-1 start since the 2010 season. It will also tie manager Greg Beals with former manager Dick Finn for third most wins all-time as an Ohio State manager at 310.
Ohio State begins with a Friday doubleheader against Iowa at noon and Nebraska at 4 p.m. The Buckeyes will face Iowa at 2 p.m. Saturday and round out the weekend with an 11 a.m. start against Nebraska Sunday. All games will be streamed live on BTN+.
