First of all, Happy Easter to all. I'd like to say more, but I'll stay within the rules.
It felt like this week could be a small step in the right direction for the baseball team, but they have to learn to be consistent. Even though they went 2-2 on the week against two good teams, it was an up and down week.
The week started out with a one off home game against Kent State at home. Ohio State started the scoring with a 2-run homer by Mitchell Okuley in the B4, and from then on played back and forth with the Golden Flashes until the 7th inning in which Kent State scored 1 run, but the Buckeyes scored 2 off a Henry Kaczmar home run to take the lead and win the game 7-6. Okuley and Matthew Graveline led the team in personal scoring with 2 runs each, and Okuley led the team in team scoring with 3 RBIs. The pitchers combined to strike out 12 Kent State batters as Justin Eckhardt was given the win, bringing him to 2-3 on the year, and closer Landon Beildelschies recorded the save.
| 4/4/23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Kent State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | X | 7 | 8 | 1 |
Then the Buckeyes traveled to East Lansing to take on Michigan State at Jackson Field, home of the Lansing Lugnuts.
Friday's game wasn't spectacular by any means as Michigan State scored the first 5 runs to win decisively 7-1. The lone Buckeye score was by Caden Kaiser on an RBI double by Graveline in the T6. Pitching was not great, but struck out 9 Spartan batters as starter Isaiah Coupet was given the loss after he allowed the game's first 2 runs, bringing him to 3-3 on the season.
| 4/7/23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Michigan State | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X | 7 | 5 | 0 |
Saturday held a double header that showcased the nature of baseball as the teams split the day, run ruling each other.
Game 1 of the double header saw an offensive outburst from Ohio State as Ohio State scored the first 3 runs, and capped off the game with a 6-run T7. Lipsey started off the scoring in the T1 as he was batted in on a double by Kade Kern who was subsequently batted in himself by Graveline. The 6-run T7 was highlighted by a double from Nick Erwin, scoring Graveline, and a triple by Okuley, which brought in Erwin and Kaczmar. The win was given to starter Gavin Bruni as he struck out 5 Spartans in 5 innings, bringing him to 2-0.
| 4/8/23 (1) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| Michigan State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
Game 2 of the double header started off weird and just got worse. There was no tv broadcast, but from what I could tell from listening on the radio, starting pitcher Josh Timmerman went out with an apparent injury, although I don't know the details. The Spartans would go on the have a 6 run B1 and wouldn't look back, run-ruling the game 16-3. Each Buckeye run was scored by, and batted in by, different players, so no high scorers. To add insult to injury, Timmerman was given the loss - his first decision of the year - as he was responsible for giving up 5 earned runs.
| 4/8/23 (2) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Michigan State | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | X | 16 | 16 | 0 |
After splitting the week, Ohio State moved to 15-15; Kent State, after sweeping Bowling Green, improved to 21-10, and Michigan State improved to 18-10.
Up next, Ohio State has a 5 game home stand against Akron on Tuesday, Bowling Green on Wednesday, and a 3 game series against Maryland over the weekend.
