""

The Ohio State baseball team huddles before the Ohio State-Wright State game March 21, 2023. Ohio State lost 3-0. Credit: Lantern File Photo

Head coach Bill Mosiello’s Buckeye ballclub is back. 

Ohio State begins its season Friday, looking to continue the steaming hot nine-game winning streak it left off on last year despite a 2-10 Big Ten road record, which resulted in a bottom three finish in the conference.

The biggest issue for the 2023 team was pitching. 

A bullpen and starting unit that owned a 5.63 team earned run average and gave up 285 walks in 481 innings, which is equal to roughly 0.6 of a walk per inning. This was something that Mosiello said he focused on with his recruiting in the offseason.

“I’m about 100% positive that we have the pitching depth in general that’s way, way, way better,” Mosiello said. “Last year, we had such a false hope at this time, I believe that we had a really good offense but it was because we pitched so poorly as a group that we just would have to score so many runs every single day.”

The starting three rotation spots are possessed by senior Texas A&M-Corpus Christi transfer Colin Purcell, sophomore closer-turned-starter Landon Beidelschies and junior standout Gavin Bruni.

In 2023, Bruni struck out an astounding 73 batters in 57.1 innings pitched with a 4.87 ERA and owned a .235 batting average against, which landed ninth in the Big Ten.

The only issue for Bruni was his command, an area that he worked on in the fall and offseason. Bruni finished with 42 walks in 57.1 innings which resulted in over 0.7 walks per inning.

“I had to learn to be able to command two, three pitches at a time rather than just leaning on one,” Bruni said. “I think that’s the biggest thing I worked on.”

Apart from pitching, Mosiello brought in over 20 new players to the Buckeye squad and kept only 13 from last year’s team. A team that hasn’t been together for a while can commonly cause issues, but not for this team, Mosiello said.

“If you have great people around each other, it’s not hard to have great chemistry,” Mosiello said.

Of the 13 returners, two are key leaders for the Buckeyes, sophomore shortstop Henry Kaczmar and graduate outfielder Mitchell Okuley. 

Kaczmar led the team with 61 hits and 46 RBIs while ending the season with a .293 batting average as a freshman. Kaczmar also reigned as “Mr. Reliable” as he played and started in 55 of the total 56 games. 

Unfortunately for other teams, he has just gotten better, Mosiello said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever trained or worked harder for an upcoming season in my life,” Kaczmar said. “I feel like right now is the best I’ve ever been in my life by a longshot, I feel like I’ve gained so much knowledge about myself and the game.”

It’s not just Kaczmar — the entire team has been working hard. There has been an instant connection between the players that eliminates any unfamiliarity in the clubhouse, Mosiello said.

“It’s hard to come in with 30 new guys but I feel like our team has gelled even more than last year’s team,” Kazcmar said. “You got everyone’s back and you know that they got theirs.” 

Captain Okuley has almost four more years of experience than Kaczmar as he’s set to return for his sixth year at Ohio State.

Okuley led the Buckeyes with nine home runs in 2023 and has been an outstanding defender throughout his tenure at Ohio State with a career .992 fielding percentage. 

In his time with the Buckeyes, Okuley has been hindered in the early parts of the season. He batted .193 last year until the final three weeks when he surged and finished with a .237 batting average. The slow start has been something he is trying to stay away from, Okuley said.

“I think for me, it’s consistency,” Okuley said. “Going in every day, sticking to the process and competing, one pitch at a time for every game.” 

It wasn’t just Okuley who started off slow as the Buckeyes began with a 2-5 record last year.

“I think last year we came out,” Okuley said. “Probably got a little high and then once we got kicked or punched in the mouth we kind of fell apart a little bit so for us it’s sticking to it.” 

As for the season, Mosiello doesn’t like to look at the future but simply wants the team to focus on each game and each at-bat.

“We don’t talk about how many wins we’re going to get, we just simply have to play better baseball,” Mosiello said.

The Buckeyes start off the season with a tournament in Arizona at the 2024 Desert Invitational Friday hosted by the MLB. Ohio State will face Boston College to start the eight-team tournament, which can be streamed on MLB Network.