Entering Thursday's game with No. 21 Indiana, Ohio State was one game behind in the Big Ten regular seasons standings. The Baseball Bucks picked up a huge 2-1 win to move into a tie for first-place in the league, with two games remaining at Nick Swisher Field in order to settle matters.
“We saw a very well-played, intense game tonight,” Ohio State head coach Greg Beals said. “Every at-bat and extra base had value. We went through our gauntlet against very quality competition over the last six games and we felt prepared for this weekend. Our whole team was ready and it was good to open the series with a win.”
Ohio State jumped out to a an early lead afer a Zach Ratcliff line drive brought in Pat Porter in the bottom of the fourth. Indiana tied things up in the sixth after pitcher Brad Goldberg got into a bit of trouble, loading the bases only to walk in a run.
Things remained knotted until the bottom of the seventh, when Porter tripled off the top of the wall in left to bring in Brad Hallberg for what would be the game-winning run.
With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 34-19, 15-7 in conference play, while the Hoosiers fall to 38-13, 15-7 in the Big Ten. The teams will face off at 6:35 p.m. today and 4:05 p.m. Saturday to conclude the regular season.
