The Ohio State baseball team meets at the mound to change pitchers during the Ohio State-Xavier game Mar. 28, 2023. Ohio State lost 8-1. Credit: Lantern File Photo
Despite the addition of over 20 new recruits to head coach Bill Mosiello’s Buckeyes, the Ohio State baseball team showed clear offseason connections, earning a tough 2-1 start to the season against Boston College, BYU and USC in Phoenix at Sloan Park and Salt River Fields Friday through Sunday.
After exhibiting apparent nerves in their opening-day loss to the Eagles, the Buckeyes rallied together to defeat the BYU Cougars and USC Trojans.
A struggling nine-run outing by the Ohio State pitching unit against Boston College showed signs of the 2023 Buckeyes, but they quickly regrouped and surrendered just four runs and zero walks in the remaining two games.
The tournament was highlighted by key performances from returning sophomore standouts Henry Kaczmar and Tyler Pettorini, as well as wins by pitchers junior Gavin Bruni and senior transfer Colin Purcell.
Kaczmar and Pettorini went 9-for-25 together with eight RBIs out of the 14 Buckeye runs throughout the weekend. Purcell and Bruni combined for 10 innings pitched, 10 strikeouts and zero walks.
The speedy Buckeyes from last season are here to stay as they swiped nine bags over the course of the weekend. The tournament also featured many collegiate and Ohio State debuts as Mosiello continues to rebuild the Buckeye squad “his way.”
Game one
Boston College handed Ohio State a 9-2 opening-day loss Friday as Buckeye pitching showed similarities to last year’s struggles.
Ohio State started off hot as sophomore Landon Beidelschies began the game by striking out two of the three batters he faced. In the bottom half of the first inning, speedy outfielder Trey Lipsey tripled and scored on a wild pitch to give the Buckeyes a one-run lead.
After the first inning, Beidelschies never looked the same as Eagle catcher John Collins ripped a two-RBI double down the line in the top of the second inning, and third baseman Nick Wang cranked a 440-foot solo bomb to make the game 3-1 in the third, in favor of Boston College.
The Buckeyes battled back with a score of their own on an RBI single by College of Charleston transfer Joseph Mershon to make the game 3-2. Unfortunately, Ohio State never saw another hit as it went scoreless for the last six innings.
The Eagles proceeded to dominate the remainder of the game, capitalized by home runs from graduate Vince Cimini and catcher Parker Landwehr. The Buckeyes’ bullpen gave up seven walks and the defense committed four errors, two of which resulted in Eagle runs, as Boston College’s lead grew to seven.
The Buckeyes’ Beidelschies fell after giving up three runs on three hits, while Eagles’ Tyler Mudd took the win on the day, breezing through five hitless innings to close out the Buckeyes.
Ohio State showed some promising signs with three stolen bases and Beidelschies achieving a career-high six strikeouts, but the Eagles’ collaborative effort shut it down.
Game two
Ohio State shook off the opening-day blunders and secured its first win of the season with the help of new offseason acquisitions, defeating BYU 7-2 Saturday.
Pitchers Purcell and 2023 JUCO Division II Pitcher of the Year sophomore Hunter Shaw shone in their Buckeye debuts, combining for two earned runs, six hits, 10 strikeouts and zero walks, a stark contrast to Ohio State’s game against Boston College.
In his first at-bat for the Buckeyes, another JUCO transfer, Nick Giamarusti sent a fastball over the fence to give Ohio State a 1-0 lead. BYU tied the game after a throwing error by Kaczmar.
The game remained even until the top of the fifth inning when Pettorini’s first hit of the game singled home catcher Matthew Graveline, making the score 2-1. The Buckeyes tacked on another run after a Kaczmar hit-by-pitch brought Mershon home.
Shaw took over for Purcell in the bottom of the sixth and fanned three straight Cougars to retire the side before BYU freshman Kuhio Aloy knocked a solo home run, bringing the score to 3-2 Ohio State in the seventh.
The Buckeyes responded in the eighth and ninth as RBIs by Kaczmar and Pettorini propelled the Buckeyes to a 7-2 victory.
Purcell took home the win and Shaw received a rare four-inning save as the Buckeyes handed BYU and pitcher Cutter Clawson their first losses of the season. The Buckeyes produced five stolen bases, three by Mershon, combined with 11 hits to silence the Cougars.
Game three
In the final game of the weekend on Sunday, Ohio State rallied against 12-time national champion USC to win 5-2 behind strong efforts from the Buckeye bullpen and returning players.
The contest started as a pitching duel between the Big Ten’s No. 6 MLB Draft prospect Bruni and Trojans’ redshirt sophomore Eric Hammond until the Trojans took a commanding 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth after an RBI double and throwing error by Kaczmar.
From then on, it was all Buckeyes as they chipped away at the lead in the bottom half of the fourth inning with 2023 National Champion LSU transfer Josh Stevenson’s single up the middle to drive in a run, making the score 2-1 Ohio State.
The Buckeyes rallied two more runs in the fifth, with Kaczmar hitting a game-tying RBI double and catcher Mason Eckelman, in his first collegiate start, drawing a walk to bring home a run, giving the Buckeyes a 3-2 lead.
The Buckeye bullpen shut down any potential Trojan triumph with an impressive performance by freshman Gavin DeVooght as he pitched two shutout innings in his Ohio State debut.
The Buckeyes added two more runs to their lead behind a two-RBI performance by Pettorini to end the MLB Desert Invitational for Ohio State.
It was a masterclass showing by Bruni, who went five innings, striking out six and giving up one earned run to give him his first win of the 2024 season. Hammond suffered the loss for USC, while graduate Justin Eckhardt earned the save. Ohio State pitchers again combined for zero walks, making up for the 10 walks on Friday.
The Buckeyes stay in Arizona for one game at Grand Canyon University and a four-game series against Arizona State University as they look to continue their two-game win streak.
