Members of the Ohio State baseball team trot off the field during the Ohio State-Indiana game on April 3. Ohio State won 6-0. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
The Buckeyes were riding a four-game sweep against Indiana, and they continued that success winning Friday’s opener on a late-game comeback.
However, the next two games were not as pleasant as the Buckeyes were outscored 23-7 in both losses.
Game 1:
In the seventh inning, redshirt senior catcher Brent Todys chopped a bouncing grounder to beat the shift, plating a pair to give Ohio State its first lead of the game.
The Buckeyes struggled in the early goings, but scored five of their seven runs in the final three innings en route to a 7-4 win against Michigan in Friday’s opener. Head coach Greg Beals said despite the offense’s 1-for-10 start, they hit the ball hard with quality at-bats to show for it.
“The quality at-bats today, we were .636 in quality at-bats and .552 in hard hits today,” Beals said. “The best, by far, offensive performance we’ve had this year.”
The Wolverines capitalized off Ohio State’s slow start at the plate, scoring runs courtesy of two singles from sophomore left fielder Tito Flores in the second and fourth innings.
The Buckeyes fought back in the top of the fifth with four hits in the inning, eventually tying the game on freshman outfielder Kade Kern’s chopper that found a hole and made its way into right field.
Kern had a team-high three hits with an RBI, a double and a pair of runs scored.
“That kid shows up and he puts his head down, he grinds,” Todys said. “He works so hard in every aspect of the game, he’s just elite, man. You know he’s just going to find a way to hit the ball hard every time.”
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ohio State junior right-handed pitcher Garrett Burhenn fielded a two-out weak tapper out in front of the mound and committed an error, extending the inning.
The next batter Flores smacked a two-run homer over the 26-foot-tall brick wall in left field for his third hit and fourth RBI of the ballgame.
That was a theme for the Buckeyes who committed five errors on the ballgame, but the squad’s resiliency prevailed.
They scored the game’s final five runs with a pair coming from line-drive singles from redshirt senior first baseman Conner Pohl in the seventh and ninth innings.
“We preach about playing in the moment,” Beals said. “Every moment, every opportunity, every at-bat. And it sounds cliche-ish or whatever, but that’s the culture that we’ve put together and have fed here, and our guys do it.”
The final three runs came from Todys on a two-RBI single to right field and a sacrifice bunt in the ninth.
“This was really big for Toad. He’s been on the snide for a little bit, for lack of a better term,” Beals said. “When Toad’s in straight compete mode and not trying to do too much with that bat, not trying to get himself out of a slump with one swing, you see what he’s capable of.”
Game 2:
Ohio State grounded into three double plays that cut down on the momentum they built offensively, leading to a 7-0 loss against Michigan Saturday.
“We had some quality at-bats today, ” Beals said. “Those double plays killed us. We have a hit and a walk and have a couple quality at-bats in an inning, and then a double play.”
Redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Seth Lonsway showed glimpses of his 17-strikeout performance against Indiana April 3 early in the ballgame Saturday, striking out seven Wolverines in the first three innings, utilizing his good fastball-curveball combination.
But in the bottom of the fourth with Michigan ahead by a run, Lonsway worked himself into trouble.
He walked the leadoff batter, threw away his second errant pickoff attempt, walked Flores who then stole second, putting runners on second and third with one out.
Michigan junior second baseman Riley Bertram took full advantage, smacking a double to the gap in left center to lengthen Michigan’s lead to 3-0. Bertram later came around to score the game’s fourth run on a wild pitch.
Despite hitting ninth in the Wolverines’ batting order, Bertram finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, a team-high three RBIs and two runs scored.
Lonsway exited after 4.2 innings, after allowing five hits, four earned runs and striking out 10. Two of the five hitters he ended up walking came around to score.
Despite his struggles, his catcher was still there to back him up.
“I didn’t think Seth threw the ball bad at all, but I thought he controlled the tempo of the game good,” senior catcher Archer Brookman said. “As a starter, you give us the chance to win the game, your job is done there. I definitely thought he gave us a chance to win.”
On the offensive end, Pohl led the charge mustering the only multi-hit effort from the team and contributing one-third of the team’s six total hits.
The Buckeyes were 2-for-13 with runners on base and 0-for-5 with men in scoring position. Two of their inning-ending double plays were with a runner on second.
“(Senior designated hitter) Sam Wilson hits the ball, the guy catches against the fence. (Junior shortstop Zach) Dezenzo hits a ball that was caught against the fence. Kern hit a ball that was smoked out into the gap, and they ran it down,” Beals said. “It wasn’t as bad offensively, I’ll say, as the zero on the board.”
Game 3:
The Michigan lineup brought its hitting shoes to Ray Fisher Stadium today, as 10 different Wolverines recorded a base hit and only sophomore infielder Ted Burton did not have an RBI or a run scored.
Ohio State was drubbed in the series finale 16-7 against Michigan, as the Buckeyes were unable to take the rubber game and sole possession of second place in the Big Ten.
Michigan was ahead 7-3 after the Buckeyes showed some offensive momentum, scoring in both the sixth and seventh innings.
The wheels came off in the eighth, though, as the first seven Wolverines reached base safely. The nine-run inning was capped off with a three-run moonshot from redshirt junior outfielder Danny Zimmerman.
Ohio State struck first thanks to graduate left fielder Scottie Seymour who picked up his first RBI of the season on a screaming line drive single to left. Seymour finished as the lone multi-hit effort going 3-for-4 at the plate.
Then, the rain came in the third.
Ohio State junior right-handed pitcher Jack Neely could not find a clean grip on the wet baseball, walking two and hitting a batter before being lifted for senior lefty Griffan Smith.
The southpaw from Cincinnati allowed two hits — one that skipped off junior third baseman Nick Erwin’s glove and another weakly tapped through the shift on the left side of the infield — allowing the Wolverines to take a 2-1 advantage.
Seymour almost had his second — and game-tying — RBI a half inning later, roping a double that rolled all the way to the wall in left center. However, a strong relay from redshirt sophomore outfielder Jordon Rogers to fifth-year senior shortstop Benjamin Sems to fifth-year senior catcher Griffin Mazur nabbed Todys trying to score from first base.
Michigan added runs in the fourth and fifth on Rogers’ RBI single and a solo home run from fifth-year senior third baseman Christian Molfetta, respectively.
Molfetta rocketed a single in the bottom of the first to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, finishing the day 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Ohio State’s offense only mustered seven hits on the afternoon to Michigan’s 17.
The Buckeyes were unable to come through with base hits when needed when the game was still in reach, only hitting 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position while the Wolverines were 9-for-18 in that department.
The Buckeyes look to bounce back in College Park, Maryland, for their second go-around against the Terrapins in a three-game weekend series.
