Freshman outfielder CJ Richard (5) at the plate for Ohio State during a 4-2 loss to Georgetown Sunday. Credit: Aiden Ridgway | Lantern Photographer
The Big Ten baseball conference might be defined by its cold weather, but for the Buckeye baseball team, conference play means everything.
The Big Ten battle against Purdue on Friday marks a different kind of opening day for Ohio State, head coach Bill Mosiello said.
“Starting Friday is a new season,” Mosiello said. “Everything that has happened, either good or bad, means nothing.”
There have been 27 new additions to the 2024 roster — 27 players who have never played Big Ten baseball, which is exactly why Mosiello has been reinforcing the importance of conference play ever since fall ball, he said.
”Everything we’ve done up to date is to get ready for the Big Ten,” Mosiello said.
The mental side of baseball and high-competition games can have an even greater effect than the physical side. The team goes through mental skill training during the week to strengthen and ease their minds, Mosiello said.
Before these important matches, Mosiello doesn’t like to preach each game’s significance; instead, he said he reminds them it’s just like any other game.
“Bases are still 90 feet apart and the mounds still 60,” Mosiello said. “We just have to play good baseball to compete.”
For some transfers, like starting pitcher Colin Purcell, Big Ten baseball is the main reason he came to Ohio State.
”To be able to get Ohio State back on the map means a lot,” Purcell said. “To play for a regional and play for a Big Ten championship and just make a run, so I think that’s something that really sold me.”
The Buckeyes’ first feud in the Big Ten is against the Purdue Boilermakers (16-10, 1-2 Big Ten), who are coming off a long 13-game homestretch and a three-game losing streak, just like the Buckeyes.
The Boilermakers are led by their strong pitching unit that boasts an impressive 4.68 ERA. The Purdue starting rotation is represented by three powerful left-handed pitchers, graduate Jordan Morales, senior Luke Wagner and senior Jonathan Blackwell, which is nothing new for the Buckeyes.
The Ohio State offense has faced a left-handed starter in eight of its last 11 games, something that Mosiello has never seen before, he said.
“You can go a season without having eight left-handed pitchers pitch against you,” Mosiello said. “It’s like, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’”
Left-handed hitters can have a particularly hard time hitting against lefties, and the Buckeye lineup is unfortunately riddled with them. Batters like shortstop Henry Kaczmar, outfielder Trey Lipsey and third baseman Tyler Pettorini are all lefties.
The Buckeye offense currently owns around a .220 batting average against southpaws while it is just under a .300 batting average facing righties. To help combat this, Ohio State has a machine that feeds its batters baseballs that replicate a left-handed pitcher’s breaking ball, but this is still something Mosiello wants to see change, he said.
“We got to overcome that and there’s no better time than starting with the Big Ten,” Mosiello said.
On Friday, two southpaws will go at it with sophomore ace Landon Beidelschies for the Buckeyes battling against Morales for Purdue.
The two pitchers have pitched well in recent outings as Morales is coming off a seven-inning, one-run and nine-strikeout performance against a strong Iowa team. Beidelschies had a six-inning, two-run and five-strikeout start versus Georgetown. The two pitchers both possess a 3.51 ERA.
Purdue’s probable starter on Saturday is Wagner, a Georgia transfer. He currently has a 2.51 ERA, which is good for fifth lowest in the Big Ten.
Not only do the Boilermakers have a strong pitching staff, but their offense is strong, too.
Redshirt sophomore Camden Gasser and redshirt freshman Luke Gaffney are two hitters that the Buckeyes will look to avoid as the pair are both top five for batting average in the Big Ten. Gasser leads the Big Ten in walks and on-base percentage while Gaffney leads the Big Ten in RBI.
The Buckeyes will combat this with their own star power as players like sophomore catcher Matthew Graveline and graduate outfielder Mitchell Okuley have started the season hot.
A strong start has been hard to come by for Okuley, but his 2024 season couldn’t have started better. He currently owns a .312 batting average and is tied for the team lead in RBIs. With this being Okuley’s last year for the Buckeyes, all he wants to do is battle for a Big Ten tournament bid, he said.
”To be able to start off strong and be able to get a good base under me is definitely huge to kind of set me up for the rest of the season and give myself momentum going into Big Ten play,” Okuley said.
While Ohio State’s series with Georgetown featured freezing rain and screaming wind, this weekend’s weather looks to be sunny and in the 60s for all three games.
Friday’s contest will begin at 6 p.m., and will be streamed on Big Ten Network, followed by Saturday’s game at 2 p.m., and Sunday’s at 1 p.m.
“It’s gonna be fun, it’s gonna be challenging and it’s gonna be neat,” Mosiello said.
