Freshman pitcher Zach Brown (37) on the mound during Ohio State’s 3-1 loss to Cal Poly Monday. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
Ohio State (7-7, 0-0 Big Ten) dropped three of four games against the Cal Poly Mustangs (6-8, 0-0 Big West) at the Baggett Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California in its fourth road trip of the season Friday through Monday.
The Buckeyes’ powerful offense seemed to vanish over the weekend as Ohio State put up a mere 10 runs in four games compared to 66 runs in 10 games before this series.
To start the trip to California, the Buckeyes were faced with a 12-hour flight delay to San Luis Obispo. After finally making their way to the Mustangs’ field, the Buckeyes suffered a 4-2 loss against Cal Poly.
Ohio State ace Landon Beidelschies got the start and began strong by fanning two of his three batters faced.
In the top of the second, graduate outfielder Mitchell Okuley hit an RBI groundout to bring junior outfielder Nick Giamarusti home, making the score 1-0 Buckeyes. The next inning Giamarusti hit his second triple of the season, scoring sophomore infielder Henry Kaczmar and giving Ohio State a 2-0 lead.
Beidelschies remained in control until the bottom of the fifth inning, where two RBI singles and a throwing error lifted the Mustangs to a 3-2 advantage.
Cal Poly added one more run in the home half of the seventh inning to take a two-run lead, 4-2.
The Buckeye offense remained quiet through the rest of the game, ending in a 4-2 Mustang victory.
Beidelschies earned the loss to even his record this year at 2-2. The Buckeyes’ six hits were from Kaczmar, Giamarusti and graduate infielder Joseph Mershon, gathering two each.
In the second game of the series, Cal Poly stunned Ohio State with a 19-2 win.
The Buckeyes started strong with an RBI from catcher Matthew Graveline in the top of the first inning, making the score 1-0.
Cal Poly tied the ballgame up after an Ohio State throwing error, in the bottom of the third inning the Mustangs took a 4-1 lead after an single RBI single and a double RBI single.
The Buckeyes battled back with a run in the top of the fifth from an RBI double down the line by freshman infielder Zach Fjelstad, making the score 4-2.
The Mustangs, however, gathered nine hits and scored a whopping 14 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Buckeyes down by 16, 18-2.
Cal Poly added one more in the top of the seventh inning, ending the game with a 19-2 final.
Transfer senior pitcher Colin Purcell took the loss after giving up four runs, the Buckeyes again only mustered six hits with Kaczmar gathering two.
In game three of the four-game series, Ohio State bounced back with a 5-3 win.
For the third-straight game of the series, Ohio State got out to an early lead with an RBI single from junior infielder Tyler Pettorini, a wild pitch score and a two-out double from Mershon. This put the Buckeyes up 3-0.
In the bottom of the first, the Mustangs decreased the Buckeye lead to two after an RBI single, making the score 3-1.
Tennessee transfer junior utility-man Ryan Miller got the second inning started with a double down the right field line before an RBI groundout from Kaczmar sent him home. A double off the wall from Graveline scored one more to give Ohio State a 5-1 lead over Cal Poly.
The Mustangs continued to cut back into the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth and a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh but the Buckeye bullpen let up no more as Ohio State finished with a 5-3 victory.
Junior pitcher Gavin Bruni grabbed his second win of the season and captain, graduate pitcher Justin Eckhardt earned his third save of the season. The Buckeyes finally got into the double digits in hits with 10.
In the series finale the Ohio State offense was shut-down in a 3-1 Mustang victory.
In the bottom of the first, the Mustangs got on board to take a 1-0 lead. Cal Poly added two more in the bottom of the second after a Buckeye error and fielder’s choice to give the Mustangs a three-run advantage.
Freshman catcher Mason Eckelman led off the top of the eighth with his first collegiate hit in a double to left field. Pinch runner and freshman infielder Nolan Farley scored off of a Kaczmar groundout to make the score 3-1.
This was all the Buckeyes could rally leaving the score 3-1, ending the four-game series with three losses.
Freshman pitcher Chase Harrell took his first loss on the hill. Freshmen pitchers Gavin DeVooght and Zach Brown delivered two strong relief performances, combining for zero runs and one hit in four innings pitched.
Kaczmar added on to his hit streak giving him 13 straight games with a hit.
The Buckeyes finish up their California road trip with a game against Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday at 9 p.m. before traveling to West Virginia for a three-game series against the Mountaineers.
