Sophomore Lee Ellis (1) steps off home plate after a hit during Ohio State’s second game of the teams three-game series against Arizona State. The Sundevil’s defeated the Buckeyes 7-6 Saturday.
It was not the start to the season that Ohio State envisioned.
The Arizona State Sun Devils (3-0) swept the Buckeyes (0-3) during the season-opening series in Phoenix.
Infielder Tyler Pettorini led the Buckeyes on the weekend with six hits, adding a homer and three RBIs, while shortstop Marc Stephens contributed four hits and two RBIs.
Game One
In a game that featured five lead changes, the Buckeyes gave up the lead late and fell to the Sun Devils 9-8 on Friday.
Ohio State struck first in the opening frame as Stephens roped a double down the left-field line, followed by an RBI single by designated hitter Mason Eckelman to take a 2-0 lead.
Arizona State responded quickly in the bottom half of the inning, with a run coming on an error, followed by a two-run homer as it took a 3-2 lead.
The Buckeyes came right back in the next inning and tied the game at three, as a double to the warning track by left fielder Nick Giamarusti brought home first baseman Ryan Miller.
Ohio State faced its biggest deficit of the evening in the third, as a three-run homer by catcher Josiah Cromwick gave the Sun Devils a 6-3 lead.
The Buckeyes got one run back in the fourth, as Miller unleashed a no-doubt shot for Ohio State’s first homer of the year.
The teams remained scoreless until the seventh inning when the Buckeyes exploded for four runs to take an 8-6 lead. Center fielder Reggie Bussey started with a bloop single to left field to bring home Giamarusti. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Pettorini tied the game on a sacrifice fly. Eckelman finished the scoring with a two-run double to give Ohio State the lead.
But Arizona State took the deciding lead in the bottom half of the inning with three runs, giving the Sun Devils a 9-8 advantage they would never relinquish to take game one.
Game Two
Heartbreak.
Behind a walk-off two-run double by Sun Devil left fielder Brandon Compton, Arizona State took the second game of the series, 7-6 in another back-and-forth affair on Saturday.
The Buckeyes pulled in front in the first inning as a single by Stephens brought home Pettorini to give Ohio State a 1-0 advantage.
Like the first game, the Sun Devils retook the lead in the bottom half with a two-run home run to go in front 2-1.
Arizona State infielder Lee Ellis launched his first home run to pull the Buckeyes back even in the second. Miller was then hit-by-pitch and came around to score on a wild pitch, stolen base and throwing error to give Ohio State the lead.
Buckeyes pitcher Chase Herrell tossed three scoreless innings following the second as Ohio State added an insurance run in the fifth on a sac fly by right fielder Trey Lipsey to bring home Giamarusti.
Arizona State broke through in the sixth, tying the game on a sac fly and a single to pull even at 4.
The following inning, the Buckeyes got a run back as sloppy fielding and pitching from the Sun Devils allowed Pettorini to score on a wild pitch.
Arizona State responded in the bottom half, as a double and an RBI groundout tied the game at 5 apiece.
In the eighth inning, Ohio State retook the lead as another wild pitch allowed Giamarusti to score.
But the Sun Devils kept fighting, loading up the bases in the bottom of the ninth. Down to their last out, they walked it off with a two-run double from Compton, whose fly ball fell just out of reach of a sliding Bussey to win the game for Arizona State.
Game Three
For the third straight day, the Sun Devils left the first inning with a lead and never looked back, completing the sweep of the Buckeyes with a 17-10 win on Sunday.
Ohio State opened the scoring in the first with an RBI triple fromcatcher Matthew Graveline. The following at-bat, Pettorini doubled to bring home Graveline and gave Ohio State a 2-0 lead.
That would be the only time the Buckeyes led.
Arizona State put three runs on the board in the bottom half of the first and continued until they scored 10 unanswered runs, with the Sun Devils adding one run in the second, followed by three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to take a 10-2 lead.
The Buckeyes began to push back in the sixth inning, as a Giamarusti single and stolen base allowed Bussey to single him home to bring the Buckeyes within seven.
Ohio State followed that up with four more runs in the seventh inning to cut its deficit to 10-7. Ellis got the run started, singling home Stephens, followed by another RBI single from Miller. A groundout from Giamarusti scored Ellis before Miller crossed home on a wild pitch.
The Sun Devils responded quickly, adding three more runs in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two on a Buckeye error with another run coming on a wild pitch.
Ohio State pulled back within three in the eighth on a two-run homer from Graveline, followed by a home run from Pettorini. The Buckeyes brought the tying run to the plate but couldn’t capitalize as the Sun Devils escaped a two-out jam.
Arizona State added four more runs in the bottom half of the inning and cruised through the ninth to secure a 17-10 victory.
Ohio State will head to Jacksonville, Florida, next weekend for the Jax College Baseball Classic. The Buckeyes will face North Carolina State at 2 p.m. on Friday, Coastal Carolina at 12 p.m. on Saturday, and finish off with Alabama at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
