Ohio State used a combination of its bullpen, key defensive plays and clutch situational hitting to pick up a 7-5 victory over Wright State Tuesday.
The Buckeyes (8-11) used six different pitchers in the game, highlighted by freshman right-hander Jake Johnson’s 2 2/3 scoreless innings. On the offensive side, four batters had multi-hit games, highlighted by sophomore outfielder Kade Kern who picked up two RBIs and two runs scored while going 3-for-4 at the plate.
“I’ve made some adjustments the last few games,” Kern said. “I think today was a breakout day and I’ve gotten a lot of confidence the past couple games, and tonight it showed.”
Kern started the scoring with a two-run double in the second inning to give Ohio State a lead it never gave up. The Buckeyes chased junior right-hander Sam Wirsing after just 3 2/3 innings, tagging him for four earned runs.
Junior right-hander Tyler Kean made his first-career start for Ohio State, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings but running into trouble in the third after a pair of singles. Johnson came in relief and initiated a double play to get the Buckeyes out of an early jam.
“I feel really confident,” Johnson said. “The biggest thing for me was I knew my slider was going to be a big factor. I thought if I could locate my slider middle-down, I could get him to roll over. After we got out of that inning, I felt like our momentum carried us through the game.”
Senior catcher Archer Brookman added to the lead in the fourth inning when he scored Kern on an RBI double. He came around to score later in the inning on an attempted double steal to extend the Ohio State lead to 4-0.
The Buckeyes seemed to be in cruise control in the sixth inning, when senior infielder Marcus Ernst scored Kern on an RBI double to continue his 13-game hitting streak.
“Marcus is a really good athlete, a really good competitor,” head coach Greg Beals said. “He’s hitting around .450 with an on-base percentage near .600. When you have that in your leadoff spot, with the talent we have, he’s more than just a table setter.”
After a fielder’s choice scored Brookman, senior infielder Zach Dezenzo scored Ernst on a single to extend the Ohio State lead to 7-0 after six innings of play.
However, the Raiders (7-12) battled back beginning in the seventh inning. After sophomore infielder Julian Greenwell scored on a wild pitch, redshirt senior designated hitter Zane Harris walked to load the bases. After an RBI by redshirt junior infielder Justin McConnell on a fielder’s choice, sophomore outfielder Jay Luikart hit a two-run double to cut the Ohio State lead to 7-4.
Redshirt junior left-hander Alex Theis shut down the Buckeye bats in 2 1/3 innings of relief, only allowing one hit and striking out five. Later in the eighth, the Raiders cut the deficit to two runs after sophomore catcher Sammy Sass hit an RBI single off junior right-hander Nate Karaffa to make it a 7-5 game.
“They were consistent the whole game,” Kern said. “We made some really good plays early that got us out of big situations where they had runners on. They hit the ball hard the whole game.”
In the ninth inning, Beals turned to junior right-hander Ethan Hammerberg to close out the game, retiring the Raiders in order and clinching the save.
In a game where Ohio State turned to its bullpen often, Beals said he wanted to get his relievers ready for upcoming Big Ten play.
“We need the guys to get work and to be sharp in order to get ready to go this weekend,” Beals said. “We wanted Johnson, Karaffa and all those guys to throw tonight. They did what we needed them to do.”
Ohio State begins conference play Friday at 4 p.m. to take on Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana.
