A rainy system moved through central Ohio overnight Saturday into Sunday morning, bringing higher winds and colder temperatures to Bill Davis Stadium, but Ohio State’s bats still got hot.
The Buckeyes (8-7) won three of four games against Iowa (7-8) and Maryland (6-9), as head coach Greg Beals picked up his 311th career win, passing Dick Finn for third all-time in career wins in Ohio State history.
Game 1:
After a pair of walks, a hit-by-pitch and an Iowa mound conference in the bottom of the third inning, freshman outfielder Kade Kern cleared the loaded bases on a line drive to the gap in right center field.
From then on, the Buckeyes cruised to an 8-2 victory Friday over Iowa in their 2021 home opener behind Kern’s 2-for-3 and four-RBI effort. Ohio State head coach Greg Beals said that Kern, so inexperienced to college baseball, should not be excelling at the level he is, but credits his talent and preparation to his success.
“Kade Kern is just playing baseball. He’s a talented young man,” Beals said. “He prepares himself very well and keeps coming up in big spots and keeps coming through in those spots.”
Kern’s three-RBI double chased Iowa starting left-handed pitcher Trenton Wallace, whose 1.00 ERA coming into the day led the Big Ten.
They chased Wallace after three innings, then tagged junior left-handed reliever Ben Beutel for five more.
The first came in the bottom of the fourth on senior designated hitter Sam Wilson’s RBI single, followed by a pair of runs in the sixth on sophomore outfielder Mitchell Okuley’s solo home run and a sacrifice flyout by junior third baseman Nick Erwin.
Ohio State had nine hits on the evening with seven going for extra bases.
“Hitting’s contagious and doubles were flying today, so I think just one after another kept getting the energy up,” Kern said. “Everybody was really focused and into it tonight and stuff was falling.”
The Buckeyes received seven innings of three-hit shutout baseball from junior right-handed pitcher Garrett Burhenn. Beals said his aggressiveness on the mound is what led to his success.
“He knew he was pitching against one of our conference’s best and a guy that beat us last time out. He knew he had to be good to give his ballclub a chance to win,” Beals said. “He had an attack tempo and was on top of their hitters all night long.”
Ohio State picked up a pair of runs in the seventh inning, with senior second baseman Colton Bauer scoring on a wild pitch and on Kern’s second double of the game.
Burhenn said he was happy to play in front of the home crowd once again.
“I think it’s just about all the family members and all the loved ones being able to watch us again. I think that really hits home for all of us actually,” Burhenn said. “Whatever number of fans there are in there, 10, 200, it doesn’t matter. Just loved ones being able to watch us play again, I know they’re happy.”
Game 2:
Following a day in which the Buckeyes collected seven extra-base hits, the bats went ice cold against Iowa redshirt junior lefty Cam Baumann.
Ohio State dropped its second game against the Hawkeyes 5-1 Saturday, splitting the two-game series. Baumann stymied the Buckeyes’ offense, allowing only three hits in seven innings with his lone run surrendered coming on Bauer’s solo homer in the bottom of the third.
“What [Baumann] does is he mixes his pitches, and he’s got the changeup and the curveball that he works down in the zone,” Beals said. “We chased him out of the zone a little bit. We didn’t do a good job of keeping him in the zone.”
The Buckeyes gave away the lead as quickly as they grabbed it, as redshirt freshman catcher Tyler Snep jumped the yard for a two-run round-tripper giving the Hawkeyes a 2-1 advantage in the top of the fourth.
Iowa cruised the rest of the way.
The Hawkeyes received a lot of help from redshirt freshman utility man Brayden Frazier, who finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, including one for an RBI in the top of the fifth.
The next thumper came from redshirt senior outfielder Ben Norman, who entered as one of the hottest hitters on Iowa’s club, after he hit a home run to the deepest part of the park in the top of the ninth. Norman finished 2-for-4 scoring two runs on the day.
Ohio State’s offense was 3-for-29 on the day, including a weak chopper by redshirt senior first baseman Conner Pohl that beat the shift to center field. Pohl could have easily held at first, but he legged out a double, something Beals said is a part of the way he runs the bases.
“He’s just playing baseball. Yesterday, he scored from first on a ball that didn’t get all the way to the fence,” Beals said. “Conner Pohl, the big fella, is a good base runner. He’s got good speed, but he’s a better base runner than his speed.”
The Buckeyes have struggled in the early going against lefties, hitting 3-for-24 Saturday, something Bauer said the team needs to work on.
“I think just practice hitting lefties,” Bauer said. “At the end of the day, we can all hit lefties, it’s just kind of a mindset thing, not guessing a pitch but really seeing it and hitting it.”
Game 3:
The overnight storms hit Columbus, leading to playing conditions that were comparable to sailing the high seas between the heavy wind that, at times, gusted up to 40 mph and intermittent hard drizzling rain.
Nevertheless, the Buckeyes persisted and came away with the 5-4 victory against Maryland Sunday, notching Beals’ 311th career win, trailing only Marty Karow and Bob Todd in all-time wins in Ohio State baseball history.
“I’m a day-to-day guy. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and making sure our guys are prepared for tomorrow,” Beals said. “I didn’t know anything about it, but I’m geared up on 312 tomorrow.”
In the bottom of the seventh, Kern came up with the bases loaded like he did against Rutgers a week ago and Friday. He came through yet again.
He grounded a ball to the hole between the first and second basemen, that Maryland freshman second baseman Kevin Keister fielded, then bobbled, frantically throwing and pulling junior first baseman Maxwell Costes off the bag. Erwin scored from third and Okuley managed to score from second as Kern and Costes were tangled up at first.
“I think the other part that Mitchell Okuley did today is he scored from second base on that ground ball,” Beals said. “He scored from second on that and, you look back, and that’s the difference in the ballgame.”
The Buckeyes received arguably the best start by an Ohio State starting pitcher this season from junior right-handed pitcher Jack Neely. He dealt five innings of one-hit baseball, striking out 11, with his only earned run coming on a leadoff home run to start the game.
“Jack went out and he competed. Had the fastball, curveball and slider all working,” junior right-handed pitcher TJ Brock said. “Didn’t try to do too much or do too little.”
When Neely exited after the fifth, junior right-handed reliever Bayden Root came on and allowed the Terrapins to tie the game.
After a two-base error, runners were on first and third for Maryland’s home-run leader, junior shortstop Benjamin Cowles. He dropped a surprising safety squeeze bunt, scoring freshman catcher Logan Schliger from third.
Cowles had an RBI single in the top of the eighth, but it went for naught as Brock recorded the final six outs to earn his fourth save of the year.
Junior shortstop Zach Dezenzo had his best day at the plate, going 3-for-3, hitting his first home run of the year and collecting two RBIs on the day. That was Dezenzo’s fourth multi-hit game of the year, after entering play hitting 2-for-16 in his previous five games.
“Zach’s been hitting the ball hard, he’s made some loud outs,” Beals said. “You guys have heard me talk before about hard-hit average, quality at-bat average, Zach’s numbers are good there.”
Game 4:
Maryland sophomore outfielder Bobby Zmarzlak hit a no-doubt, game-tying two-run home run, as part of the Terrapins’ four-run top of the fifth inning. From that point on, the wheels fell off for the Buckeyes.
Maryland cruised to a 9-3 win over Ohio State Monday, as the Buckeyes split the two-game series with the Terrapins.
Following the home run, junior right-handed pitcher Will Pfennig allowed a hit-by-pitch and a bloop double down the right field line before being lifted for senior right-handed reliever Joe Gahm.
Gahm looked to strand the two runners, but he allowed a two-RBI single to senior right fielder Randy Bednar, who stole four of the Terrapins’ nine total bases on the day, extending their lead to 5-3. That closed the book on Pfennig, who allowed five earned runs in 4.1 innings.
Senior second baseman Tommy Gardiner hit a solo home run in the third and followed that up with a two-RBI single in the sixth. Gardiner finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs — half of what his season total was entering play Monday.
Cowles had a two-RBI single to right field in the top of the seventh, finishing 2-for-3 — his sixth multi-hit game of the year — with two RBIs and two walks.
The No. 7, 8 and 9 hitters in Maryland’s lineup accounted for the other seven of its nine RBIs.
Ohio State busted it open early, putting up a crooked number in the first inning. Pohl drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, later coming around to score on a wild pitch.
Two innings later, Pohl mashed his fourth home run of the year, tying him for the team lead. After that, though, Ohio State only had three hits the remainder of the game.
Ohio State looks to build some offensive momentum next weekend as they take on Indiana Friday through Sunday in a four-game series at Bill Davis Stadium.
Story written by Casey Smith
Photos by Casey Smith, Mackenzie Shanklin and Christian Harsa
