Members of the Ohio State baseball team run off the field after huddling up before the Ohio State-Indiana game on April 3, 2021. Ohio State won 6-0. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
The Ohio State baseball team was unable to come away with a series win in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but was finally able to get back in the win column to snap a seven-game losing streak.
The Buckeyes (4-7), who played three different teams in the Armed Forces Invitational, stopped their skid through key situational hits in their final game. However, those were not enough as they were unable to take a series win in the Armed Forces Invitational.
Campbell
The bats came alive early for Ohio State, but were unable to produce consistent runs against elite Campbell (5-6) pitching. Sophomore right-handed starter Thomas Harrington was brilliant for the Fighting Camels, pitching seven innings while only allowing one run with 11 strikeouts.
Sophomore lefty Isaiah Coupet did not last long in his third start of the season, pitching 3 2/3 innings while collecting eight strikeouts, but running into trouble in the fourth.
After what appeared to be another shutout inning, Coupet walked three consecutive batters with two outs, giving Campbell a run and a lead it would never relinquish. Junior right-hander Nate Karaffa came in and allowed a two-run single by redshirt sophomore catcher Tyler McPeak to push the Campbell lead to 4-1 after four innings.
Campbell added two more insurance runs in the eighth inning off of an error by senior infielder Zach Dezenzo and an RBI single from redshirt senior outfielder Connor Denning. The Buckeyes were out in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
Outside of a solo home run by junior outfielder Mitchell Okuley in the ninth, Ohio State was unable to mount a comeback as it fell to Campbell 7-2.
Pittsburgh
Despite its hot start to the season, Ohio State continued to slide in the second game of the Armed Forces Invitational, losing to Pittsburgh on a walk-off home run in the ninth inning by junior infielder Brock Franks.
In the first inning, senior infielder Marcus Ernst continued his hot start for the Buckeyes, leading off the game with a single. He came all the way home on a series of throwing errors by the Panthers to give Ohio State the lead.
Later in the same inning, senior infielder Drew Reckart scored freshman outfielder Trey Lipsey on a sacrifice fly to extend Ohio State’s lead to 2-0. The Buckeyes added onto the lead when freshman infielder Tyler Pettorini scored on a Lipsey sacrifice fly to extend their lead to 3-0.
Sophomore right-hander Nate Haberthier began the game with two scoreless innings. However, he ran into trouble in the third on a two-run home run by junior catcher Tatem Levins to cut the Buckeye lead to one.
The Buckeyes and Panthers exchanged leads in the middle innings, with Ohio State leading 5-4 going into the bottom of the seventh. Freshman infielder Tommy Tavarez drew a walk and advanced to third on another throwing error by the Buckeye defense. He scored on a sacrifice fly by junior infielder Sky Duff to tie the game at five apiece.
Senior right-hander TJ Brock entered the game to shut the door on the inning. Brock threw a scoreless eighth, while Pettorini had his third hit of the game in the ninth.
This was the second loss for Ohio State via walk-off home run in three games, as it fell 6-5.
Army
The Buckeyes were finally able to get back in the win column thanks to a monstrous seventh inning that put them ahead of Army.
The first two innings were uneventful, as neither team was able to produce any runs. However, that changed in the third when Army scored on a trio of RBI singles by senior outfielder Nick Manesis, senior catcher Cam Cerruto and sophomore hitter Braden Golinski to put Army up by three.
In the bottom half of the same inning, Dezenzo scored Ernst on a two-run blast to cut the deficit to one. Two batters later, Reckart scored Lipsey on a double to tie the game at three each. In the fourth inning, Dezenzo added to his RBI tally when he scored senior catcher Archer Brookman on a sacrifice fly.
The eighth inning was arguably the most eventful one of the series. Down two runs after three throwing errors and a double, the Buckeyes put together their most impressive inning of the season. As Brookman reached base on an error and walks by Ernst and Dezenzo, a wild pitch scored Brookman to cut the deficit to one.
One batter later, Lipsey broke the game open with a three-run home run to put the Buckeyes up. Following Lipsey, Reckart hit a solo shot for his second home run of the game. Insurance runs were added by Okuley and Pettorini to give senior right-hander Will Pfennig the chance to win with the lead.
Pfennig did not allow a run to score in the ninth, and Ohio State finally snapped its seven-game losing streak by defeating the Black Knights by a score of 12-7.
Ohio State travels to Morgantown, West Virginia, Friday to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in a three-game series.
