Ohio State second baseman Colton Bauer (8) throws out Iowa redshirt freshman first baseman Peyton Williams (45) in the first inning during the Ohio State-Iowa game on March 27, 2022. Ohio State lost 5-1. Credit: Casey Smith | Lantern TV Sports Producer
There are a lot of new faces that make up this year’s Ohio State baseball team. The Buckeyes have a new head coach in Bill Mosiello, a nearly entirely new staff aside from Director of Player Development and Analytics Matt Carpenter, and 17 new players.
Despite the fresh faces, Ohio State’s outfield brings the most experience of any position group on the roster, returning its entire starting outfield from last year. All seven outfielders have college baseball experience, playing a combined 348 games.
The unit is led by two-time All-Big Ten junior center fielder and 91-game veteran Kade Kern.
Kern quickly proved his talent as a freshman in 2021, batting .325 and leading the team in hits with 52 to earn a spot on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. Kern began his sophomore year with just seven hits in 57 at-bats before he made an adjustment heading into conference play.
“I just made a little swing change,” Kern said. “It immediately started working, so that just brought me some confidence.”
Kern did not look back, finishing fifth in the Big Ten with a .400 batting average in conference games and Third Team All-Big Ten honors.
Kern now comes into 2023 as a Preseason All-Big Ten selection by Perfect Game and one of the models of consistency in the outfield, a five-tool player with power, speed and defense. The Archbold, Ohio, native’s career includes 11 home runs, 20 stolen bases and three errors on 122 total chances in the outfield.
Graduate infielder Marcus Ernst said he’s seen Kern put in the work to have success on the field.
“He is one of, if not the, hardest working on the team by far,” Ernst said. “The way he works is something that everyone tries to emulate.”
Sophomore left fielder Trey Lipsey is another Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten selection and is coming off a successful freshman year. In 2022, he batted .293 with 26 RBIs, 37 runs scored and a team high of 14 stolen bases in 50 games played.
Lipsey’s freshman year included a grand slam on opening day against Marshall in his college debut, a home run robbery in center field against UNC Wilmington and a five-hit game in the series opener against Michigan State April 10, 2022.
Finishing eighth in the Big Ten with a .461 on-base percentage last year, Lipsey keeps the same approach each at-bat.
“I’m just trying to be as confident as possible every time I walk in there. I want it to be my box, and I want the pitcher to know that,” Lipsey said. “I’m just trying to put the balls in the gaps and look for the right pitch to hit.”
While Kern and Lipsey made immediate impacts in their three combined years at Ohio State, the longest-tenured outfielder on the roster is senior right fielder Mitchell Okuley.
The elder statesman of the group, Okuley has played in 99-career games, with this year’s season opener likely to be his 100th.
In 2022, Okuley was scorching hot at the plate for the second half of the season, hitting safely in 20 of the last 28 games. In the last five games of the season, Okuley set the tone for the upcoming year with three home runs and three multihit games against Cincinnati and USC Upstate.
“Towards the end of the year, I really carried it through a longer period of time, and I felt like everything clicked,” Okuley said. “I was really relaxed and comfortable in the box, so hopefully I can carry that into this year and keep going the whole year.”
The lone transfer in the outfield is sophomore Zach Freeman, who spent the 2022 season at San Francisco.
In 37 games and 19 starts for the Dons, Freeman notched 20 hits, drove in eight runs and hit a walk-off home run for the first round-tripper of his college career.
Freeman can also flash the leather in the outfield, committing just one error on 45 total chances last season.
Junior Hank Thomas and redshirt junior Caden Kaiser will both split time between the outfield and first base.
In his first year at Ohio State after one year at Georgia Tech, Thomas hit one home run, one triple, three doubles and drove in eight runs over 22 games. Kaiser has played in 30-career games over his first two seasons and racked up four hits and two doubles primarily as a pinch hitter in 2022.
Redshirt junior Joey Aden enters this season after playing nine games as a pinch hitter and on defense in 2022. Driving in one run in five at-bats last season, Aden also makes an impact off the field as one of the leaders and fun personalities in the clubhouse.
Whether it is laser tag, road trips or any activity off the field, Ernst said Aden is a guy the players love to be around.
“You always get good mojo, good vibes going into the locker room,” Ernst said. “Great guy to be around.”
