Ohio State baseball head coach Bill Mosiello takes Henry Kaczmar’s gloves after the sophomore connected for a double against Bowling Green. The Buckeyes overcame a late 4-3 deficit to beat the Falcons 6-4 Thursday at Bill Davis Stadium. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
The Ohio State bats heated up Tuesday and Wednesday to propel the Buckeyes to two wins and 19 runs.
Ohio State’s (15-14, 3-3 Big Ten) victory on Tuesday showed a lot of fight from the Buckeye squad, coming from behind to defeat Bowling Green (16-11, 12-0 MAC) before routing Morehead State with 13 runs on Wednesday. Tuesday’s victory, in particular, is something head coach Bill Mosiello was glad to see, he said.
“That’s part of the winning culture that we are trying to create,” Mosiello said. “It doesn’t matter if I believe we can do it but you’re gonna have to do it and show it to yourself and show it to everybody.
On Tuesday, the game stayed scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when the Buckeyes struck first. Junior center fielder Josh Stevenson walked to start the rally and was sent home after junior Trey Lipsey ripped a double to deep-right field.
Lipsey got thrown out at third, but sophomore Henry Kaczmar continued the inning with a two-out double. A walk by sophomore catcher Matthew Graveline and a screaming double by junior third baseman Tyler Pettorini sent home both runners to give the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead.
Ohio State started rallying in the fourth but left the bases loaded to keep the score at 3-0. In the top of the sixth, the Falcons rocketed a grand slam to give Bowling Green a one-run lead, 4-3.
The Falcons threatened again in the top of the eighth inning when they landed two runners on second and third with no outs against freshman reliever Zach Brown.
When Ohio State pitching coach Sean Allen walked out to the mound, Brown stood tall and didn’t want to give the ball up, he said.
“I was like, ‘Absolutely not, I’m keeping the ball and I’m gonna find a way to get out of this,’” Brown said.
And get out of it Brown did. The next three batters were retired in order behind two impressive plays to get out of the jam and blank the Falcons in the eighth. When Brown was in the situation, he said all he could think about was his preparation.
“I was just sitting up there telling myself just trust what you did already, just trust the work you put in and just go back to what you’ve always done,” Brown said.
Captain and senior Mitchell Okuley struck a double down the left field line to start the bottom of the eighth inning and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Stevenson slapped a fielder’s choice to first base, sending Okuley home to knot the score. With two outs and Stevenson on, Lipsey came up to bat and delivered. When the Falcon pitcher threw a fastball to Lipsey, he sent the ball screaming over the left field fence, giving the Buckeyes a crucial 6-4 lead heading into the ninth.
Recently, Lipsey was going through a rough patch at the plate, which led Mosiello to have a talk with him, Mosiello said.
“I met with him and let him know how important he is to this club,” Mosiello said. “He’s been working hard and he deserves to do well; so awesome for him to come through like that.”
When the Buckeyes have their back against the wall, they think back to all the comeback victories they’ve earned earlier in the season, Lipsey said.
”We never lose belief,” Lipsey said. “We always think in the back of our minds that we can pull it out and we’ve been there before.”
Graduate closer Justin Eckhardt came out in the top of the ninth to shut the door and even the Ohio State record with a 6-4 victory.
Brown earned his third win of the season and Eckhardt grabbed his fifth save. Lipsey, Kaczmar, Pettorini and Stevenson each had two-hit games.
When the Morehead State Eagles (17-15, 4-5 Ohio Valley) came to Bill Davis Stadium Wednesday, the Buckeyes blasted 13 runs off of 12 hits to win 13-7.
To start the game, Eagles senior first baseman Roman Kuntz slapped his 16th home run of the season, scoring two and putting Morehead State ahead, 2-0.
The Buckeyes battled right back in the bottom of the first after an Eagle error scored Lipsey, and a three-run, opposite-way dinger from Okuley gave Ohio State a 4-2 lead, adding one more in the second when a sacrifice fly from Graveline plated Lipsey, making the score 5-2.
An RBI groundout from the Eagles in the top of the third added one more for Morehead State. The Buckeyes stormed right back for two more runs in the home half of the inning off of a sacrifice bunt from freshman Zach Fjelstad and an RBI single from Lipsey, giving the Buckeyes a four-run lead, 7-3.
The Eagles crept back within one in the fifth when an Ohio State error and a two-RBI single put the score at 7-6.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Buckeyes started to put the game away after Pettorini hit a three-run home run down the left field line that was inches from being foul. This gave Ohio State a 10-6 lead.
The Buckeyes weren’t done yet as the eighth inning saw two more runs come across. A sacrifice fly from Pettorini sent Kaczmar home and a line-drive home run for Okuley plated two and gave him his second long ball of the game.
Morehead State grabbed one more off a solo home run in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.
The Buckeyes gathered six extra-base hits out of their 12 total, and Okuley tied his career-high for runs batted in with five.
Sophomore reliever Hunter Shaw earned his first win as a Buckeye and graduate pitcher Jacob Morin lowered his season ERA to 2.51 after pitching 1.1 innings of no-run baseball.
The Buckeyes carry a three-game win streak into a series against Iowa Friday through Sunday, but Mosiello doesn’t bank on momentum, he said.
“I don’t believe in momentum, I believe that playing good baseball wins games,” Mosiello said.
The first game begins Friday at 6 p.m., at Nick Swisher Field in Bill Davis Stadium.
