Ohio State sophomore outfielder Kade Kern (7) celebrates a home run in the first inning during the Buckeyes’ game against Toledo at Bill Davis Stadium March 30. Ohio State lost 7-6. Credit: Casey Smith | Assistant Lantern TV Sports Producer
Ohio State looked to use its third matchup of the season against Marshall to stop a four-game losing streak. After going down early, the Buckeyes capitalized on a series of miscues by the Thundering Herd to come back and win 7-6 Tuesday.
The Buckeyes (12-21, 2-8 Big Ten) were quieted early by a quality start from sophomore right-hander Chad Heiner as Marshall (16-21-1, 5-10 Conference USA) capitalized on a four-run first inning to take a lead. But a series of errors in the eighth inning saw Ohio State snap a four-game losing streak dating back to April 12.
“The story for me is we score seven runs — we win,” head coach Greg Beals said. “We’re now 11-1 when we score seven or more runs. We had to score four in the eighth there to do it, but we got a big win when it mattered.”
After senior infielder Zach Dezenzo was hit by a pitch to lead off the eighth, freshman outfielder Trey Lipsey drove a ball into right-center field and Dezenzo scored on an error to cut the lead to two.
Sophomore outfielder Kade Kern hit a single to continue the inning for Ohio State. Freshman infielder Tyler Pettorini cut the lead to one with a sacrifice fly off of junior right-hander Carter Lyles and an error by junior infielder Travis Sankovich put senior catcher Archer Brookman on, tying the game at six apiece.
“The mentality never really changed,” Kern said. “I felt like every at-bat I personally had the same mentality trying to hit the fastball. We got a little momentum later in the game and hitting is contagious. It just kept flowing towards the end.”
The fielding woes continued for Marshall, as a throwing error by junior infielder Christian Lucio scored Brookman and gave Ohio State its first lead of the game 7-6.
Junior right-hander Ethan Hammerberg was called upon for the save. After giving up a single, Hammerberg buckled down by recording two strikeouts and ending the game with Brookman throwing the runner out at second.
Freshman left-hander Gavin Bruni did not last long in his start for Ohio State, recording only one out in the first inning as Marshall was patient due to Bruni struggling with his location. After back-to-back walks to lead off the game, junior outfielder Luke Edwards hit an RBI single to put Marshall ahead 1-0.
An error by senior infielder Marcus Ernst scored another run for the Thundering Herd. Two more runs were added on a sacrifice fly by junior catcher Kyle Schaefer and an RBI single by sophomore designated hitter Drew Steelhammer ended Bruni’s day quickly.
Freshman right-hander Jake Johnson came in relief to get the next two outs, and Marshall led 4-0 after the top half of the first inning.
The Buckeyes responded in the bottom half of the opening frame. After Dezenzo hit a double, he came home following an error and an RBI groundout by Lipsey to make the game 4-1.
Graduate right-hander Aaron Funk took over in the third inning and got the most work out of any Ohio State pitcher. He pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up one earned run and struck out four in his relief appearance.
“In that situation, we’re down and I was just trying to be a team guy and put up zeroes,” Funk said. “Just trying to keep us in the game because knowing our offense, we can score like it’s nothing. Just continue to pass it along inning by inning and let our offense get rolling.”
In the fourth frame, Ohio State attempted to cut the deficit after Dezenzo hit his second double of the game. He was driven home on an RBI triple by Kern to trim the lead in half 4-2.
With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Steelhammer lined a solo home run over the left field wall to extend the Marshall lead to 5-2.
Despite the long ball Beals said the team needed an efficient outing from Funk. While having players out due to injury, he said Funk gave the team a great opportunity to come back and spark a rally.
In the seventh inning, Marshall seemingly put the game out of reach for Ohio State after Sankovich scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead. Junior right-handed pitcher Nate Karaffa came in for Funk and got out of the inning, but not before Marshall took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Heiner ended his day with six innings pitched, one earned run given up and three strikeouts. Senior right-hander Louis Davenport came in and surrendered a walk to Pettorini, who stole second base and subsequently scored on a wild pitch to make the game 6-3.
Ohio State travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to take on the Wolverines in a three-game series starting Friday at 4 p.m.
