Ohio State freshman pitcher Bayden Root (6) throws a pitch during the game against Michigan on April 12, 2019. Ohio State won 10-5. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern File Photo
Entering the 2021 season against Illinois, the Ohio State baseball team’s offense had a huge question mark, as to whether or not it would be able to hold its own.
If the first three games were any indication, there will be nothing to worry about as the Buckeyes (3-1) won the opening series over the Illini (1-3) behind the offense’s 24 runs, almost one-third of the total runs they scored in their 14-game 2020 season.
Game 1:
Prior to his at-bat in the top of the 13th inning, redshirt senior catcher Brent Todys was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. However, he came through with a roped double down the left field line, plating junior shortstop Zach Dezenzo who scored from first base.
That proved to be the spark as the Buckeyes defeated the Fighting Illini 6-3 Friday in the longest opening day game for Ohio State baseball this century, behind a strong collegiate debut from freshman outfielder Kade Kern who finished 5-for-6 with an RBI, falling a home run short of the cycle.
“I didn’t know it was going to be the first day, but I did envision a day like this at some point,” head coach Greg Beals said.
In the 12th inning, junior right-handed pitcher Bayden Root worked himself into a bases loaded jam after a walk, intentional walk and hit batsman. Root neutralized the threat, forcing Illinois sophomore infielder Cam McDonald to fly out to center field.
This was a recurring theme for the Illini as they left 13 men on base, mustering a meager 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position — 0-for-8 from the ninth inning on.
After Todys’ double in the 13th, the floodgates opened as the Buckeyes added two more runs on sophomore outfielder Nolan Clegg’s RBI infield single and Kern’s RBI double to left field.
Kern said he did not envision in “a million years” his collegiate debut going the way it did.
“Sometimes everything falls in your hands and goes right for you,” Kern said. “It was definitely a day to remember and I’ll never forget it.”
Game 2:
It was a tough go of things in the ninth inning for Illinois redshirt junior shortstop Branden Comia.
Ohio State redshirt senior Conner Pohl beat out an infield single after Comia’s throw skipped to first base, unable to be dug out by the first baseman. Then, he was five-holed on the next play by a grounder off the bat of senior catcher Archer Brookman, resulting in Dezenzo scoring from second base.
The Buckeyes took down Illinois 6-5 in extra innings for the second time in as many days in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, overcoming the poor start on the mound from left-handed pitcher Seth Lonsway.
Beals said Lonsway was never able to fully settle into the ballgame.
“He’s able to still get his strikeouts there in the first couple innings and get himself out,” Beals said. “But, he never really got himself comfortable in the game.”
Ohio State’s sticks came out red hot to begin the ballgame, jumping Illinois for three runs in the first behind a bases-clearing, three-RBI double from Kern.
Lonsway cruised through his first two innings of work, striking out four Illini hitters.
Then, the third inning came and Lonsway ran into trouble. He walked three, hit a batter and gave up three hits, allowing four runs before being pulled.
Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Joe Gahm gave up an RBI single — credited to Lonsway for his fifth run given up — then sat down Illinois freshman second baseman Xavier Watson on four pitches, but the Buckeyes were trailing for the first time in the series, 5-3.
Four of Illinois’ five runs in the third inning came with two outs, something that sputtered down the stretch for the Illini.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Nate Haberthier provided 2.2 shutout innings for the Buckeyes out of the bullpen, before junior lefty Mitch Milheim slammed the door on Illinois’ sixth inning threat in which they had two runners in scoring position.
Ohio State picked up a run in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at five and force extras.
Game 3:
Ohio State started from behind in the night cap of the doubleheader, but fought back strong with crooked numbers in the second and sixth innings, stomping the Illini 12-6 in another game in which they tapped into their offensive potential.
Beals said his team’s resiliency was crucial in the win.
“You come out in game 3 — second game of the doubleheader — and you get punched in the gut and they put up a four-spot on you in the first inning,” Beals said. “Guys didn’t quit; there’s none of that involved and they came right back and basically won the ballgame in the bottom of the second inning.”
Pohl led the offense this time around, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs — two of which coming on an absolute bomb that he managed to wrap around Fluor Field’s replica of Pesky’s Pole in the sixth inning.
Junior right-handed pitcher Jack Neely, who transferred from Iowa Western Community College, was roughed up in the first inning of his Ohio State debut, surrendering four Illini runs.
The bats came through once again for the Buckeyes, though, plating eight in the top of the second behind four RBI singles and a two-out, two-run blast from sophomore outfielder Mitchell Okuley — Ohio State’s first dinger of the 2021 campaign.
Neely responded by tossing three more innings in which he did not give up a hit. He said it was a lot easier to settle in, knowing his offense had his back.
“It makes everything so much easier to be able to go out there, pitch with confidence, pitch with a lead and get guys out,” Neely said.
In the eighth inning, Ohio State tacked on four more runs to give freshman left-hander Isaiah Coupet a little more room to work with in his three-inning collegiate debut.
Coupet cruised, allowing only four hits and giving up the bullpen’s first earned run in its 16.1 innings pitched in the young three-game season.
Game 4:
In the finale of the Buckeyes’ opening weekend, things did not go as smoothly as the first three games, getting behind early and unable to claw out of it.
Ohio State lost its first game of the season to the Illini 8-0 Sunday, as they got behind 3-0 in the first, and could not string together hits against Illinois freshman left-handed pitcher Cole Kirschsieper.
The Buckeyes’ starter, junior right-handed pitcher Will Pfennig, gave up three hits, two walks and three runs in the first.
After striking out the side in the second, Pfennig ran into more trouble in the third, giving another run before being pulled for Gahm.
Gahm allowed an RBI double from Illinois sophomore catcher Ryan Hampe, closing the book on Pfennig who ended the day with five earned runs allowed in 2.2 innings.
In Kirschsieper’s five innings of work, the Buckeyes collected only one hit against him and struck out six times.
The Illini’s struggles with hitting with men on base in the first three games of the series seemed to rub off on the Buckeyes Sunday, as Ohio State was 0-for-14 with runners on the basepaths.
The Buckeyes look to carry the momentum of the first three games into next weekend’s four-game series, as they will play two games a piece against Iowa and Nebraska at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
