The Ohio State Baseball team huddles up before the Ohio State-Indiana game on April 3. Ohio State won 6-0. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
This opportunity was missed for Ohio State fans during the football season, but for baseball,“The Rivalry” will be renewed this weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at Ray Fisher Stadium.
The Buckeyes (12-7) will battle the No. 25 Wolverines (13-6) Friday through Sunday in a big matchup between two of the top-three teams in the Big Ten standings. Ohio State head coach Greg Beals summed it up perfectly following Sunday’s victory over Indiana.
“The beauty of it all is you just swept the top team in the conference and now it’s Michigan week,” Beals said.
Ohio State is coming off a four-game sweep of the then-top team in the conference in Indiana, scoring 18 runs in four games against a pitching staff who has posted the Big Ten’s lowest team ERA.
Junior shortstop Zach Dezenzo provided a big boost to the offense, going 8-for-15 with two home runs and four RBIs en route to winning the Big Ten Player of the Week.
As a team, the Buckeyes hit just .217 on the weekend, lowering the team average to a conference-worst .226, slotting in at 267th in Division I rankings.
But they are finding ways to win.
“We have had a consistent effort from everybody in the entire program on finding a way to win,” Beals said. “We’re playing for Ohio State and we’re playing for our team.”
Also, having a 17-strikeout performance from redshirt junior lefty Seth Lonsway helps when in need of a win. The Celina, Ohio, native’s magnificent performance Saturday led to him taking home D1Baseball’s National Player of the Week and Big Ten Pitcher of the Week.
Ohio State’s pitching staff is the glue to the puzzle right now, ranking 15th in the country with 11 strikeouts per nine innings and second in the Big Ten with a 3.69 ERA.
Michigan, however, is not enjoying the recent success the Buckeyes had.
It is on the heels of splitting its mini-series with both Northwestern and Maryland — two teams hovering around .500 — losing to the Terrapins 17-7 Sunday.
The Wolverines jumped out to a conference-best 9-2 start thanks to a six-game winning streak March 7-14. Since then, they are 4-4 and are allowing 5.5 runs per game.
Despite Ohio State’s pitchers holding opposing hitters to a .216 batting average in 2021, one guy that will be tough to slow down is Michigan fifth-year senior catcher Christian Molfetta.
The Stanford transfer is hitting everything in sight, riding a 10-game hitting streak that was jump-started by a 4-for-4 performance against Illinois March 20. He has also shown good plate discipline, drawing 13 walks — tied for third best in the Big Ten.
Another bopper in the Wolverines’ lineup is sophomore infielder Jimmy Obertop, who homered in back-to-back games against Maryland.
Obertop’s eight homers in 2021 has him trailing Maryland junior shortstop Benjamin Cowles and Rutgers redshirt sophomore third baseman Chris Brito by one long ball for the conference lead.
Ohio State has struggled against big home-run guys so far this year, allowing Cowles to go 4-for-8 with four RBI in two games and Brito to hit two home runs in a three-game series.
Michigan’s offense is tied for the second-most sacrifice bunts in the conference. The Buckeyes really struggled fielding bunts against Indiana Sunday, allowing a single on a coverage miscommunication and committing a throwing error that allowed the Hoosiers to score the tying run.
On the mound, the Wolverines are headlined by redshirt sophomore left-hander Steven Hajjar, who ranks top 10 in the three major pitching statistics: ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts.
The Andover, Massachusetts, native has pitched at least five innings and has allowed two earned runs or less in four of five. In his last two starts, Hajjar has struck out at least 10 hitters.
The Buckeyes look to get the best of Hajjar this weekend, and Dezenzo said the team is in a good place mentally and having a lot of fun, which is a step in the right direction.
“We’re in a really good place mentally here coming off a positive weekend going up north to another really, really good team,” Dezenzo said Saturday. “Coming off this four-game sweep — off the former No. 1-ranked team in the conference — is just so big going into next weekend.”
Ohio State takes the field Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and will be streamed live on BTN+. Sunday’s finale is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN 2.
