Ohio State junior right-handed pitcher Garrett Burhenn (7) preparing to deliver a pitch in the Ohio State-Iowa game March 26. Ohio State won the game 8-2. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
The Buckeyes’ Achilles’ heel during their five-game losing streak was walking opposing hitters, but this time around their offense was the benefactor of the free passes.
Ohio State (14-12) snapped the skid Friday in the opening game of the series against Penn State (8-17) Behind an offensive outpouring in which every hitter in the lineup reached base at least twice, the Buckeyes topped the Nittany Lions 11-6.
“We did a good job today no doubt about it,” head coach Greg Beals said. “We need to repeat that and bring the same character, the same energy to the ballpark tomorrow.”
In the bottom of the sixth, Ohio State junior third baseman Nick Erwin hit his first career triple, after Penn State freshman center fielder Johnny Piacentino dove for a line drive that snuck under his outstretched glove.
Sophomore right fielder Mitchell Okuley followed that up with a five-pitch walk, stealing second base two batters later to put two runners in scoring position.
With first base open and two outs, Penn State elected to intentionally walk freshman outfielder Kade Kern in favor of the lefty-lefty matchup between Nittany Lions sophomore pitcher Tyler Shingledecker and redshirt senior first baseman Conner Pohl.
With the increased fan attendance allowed for Friday’s ballgame, the crowd helped rattle the pitcher by banging on the bleachers at Bill Davis Stadium, forcing Shingledecker to walk Pohl on six pitches to give Ohio State its first lead since the second inning.
Shingledecker then walked redshirt senior catcher Brent Todys as well to give the Buckeyes a 7-5 advantage.
Ohio State walked 10 times on the day — its highest number of walks as an offense in a game this season with all but one starter drawing a free pass.
The Nittany Lions responded a half inning later with a run on a sacrifice fly from freshman designated hitter Matt Wood — his second RBI of the day.
Junior right-handed pitcher Garrett Burhenn retired the next batter on a seven-pitch foul out to Pohl at first, ending his solid day in which he went seven innings, striking out seven and only walking one.
“We just try to do the little things right in practice,” Burhenn said. “Doing all the little things right kind of lead to the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is getting wins.”
The Buckeyes added four runs in the eighth inning to add breathing room for junior right-hander TJ Brock who nailed it down in the ninth.
The Buckeyes struck in each of the first two innings with solo home runs from junior shortstop Zach Dezenzo and senior designated hitter Sam Wilson to give a 2-0 cushion for Burhenn.
Dezenzo flashed some leather in the top of the second as well, ranging to his right and laying out to snare a line drive off the bat of Penn State junior first baseman Parker Hendershot, preventing the Nittany Lions’ first — and game-tying at the time — from scoring.
However, Penn State rebounded nicely, taking its first lead of the ballgame on a third-inning grand slam from Piacentino — his first since April 4 against Rutgers.
Ohio State came right back with a solo shot from Kern in the bottom of the fourth — his second of the year — and third of the game for the Buckeyes.
The first run of the ballgame that wasn’t via the home run was an RBI single from Erwin. The Grove City, Ohio, native snapped an 0-for-18 stretch he entered Friday with, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk.
Erwin said Friday’s game was big for the offense’s confidence.
“Tonight we didn’t try to do too much. We stayed to our approaches and kept it simple,” Erwin said. “I think 1 through 9 we got a lot of guys that can really hit and we just got to go hit, not try to do it all ourselves and keep passing to the next guy.”
Ohio State looks to carry over the success Saturday against Penn State at 12:05 p.m. — rescheduled from the original 3:05 p.m. first pitch due to impending inclement weather. Redshirt junior lefty Seth Lonsway will toe the rubber against Penn State junior right-handed pitcher Conor Larkin. The game will be streamed live on BTN+.
