Even though Ohio State is out of postseason contention, they did not stop fighting as in a massive week towards their final record, the Buckeyes went 5-0 to bring their win streak to 6 straight and got back above .500 on the year
The week started with Central Florida coming to town on Tuesday for what turned out to be a pitcher's duel. Ohio State got 2 runs across in the B1, and that would be the only scoring - but all that they needed - as they shut down UCF in a 2-0 win. Trey Lipsey, batted in by Marcus Ernst, and Kade Kern, batted in by Matthew Graveline were the two Buckeye runs for the day. Starting pitcher Will Phennig earned the win, his first decision of the year, and closer Landon Beildelschies recorded his seventh save, as all Buckeye pitchers combined to strike out 7 Knight batters.
5/9/23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
Central Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Ohio State | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Wednesday, another Central team came to town, this time from up North. In a more offensive leaning game, Ohio State beat down Central Michigan. The scoring started in the 2nd inning this time as Ohio State used back to back homers by Cole Andrews and Mitchell Okuley to take a 3-0 lead. CMU would score 2 runs in the T3, but that would be the closest they would get as Ohio State scored 3 more in the B3, highlighted by a triple by Henry Kaczmar. From there, Ohio State didn't look back as they used a 3 run home run by Caden Kaiser in the B5 and a 3-run B7 to win 13-5. Starting pitcher Jacob Gehring earned his first win of the year, as the Buckeye pitchers combined to strike out 11 Mustang batters.
5/10/23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
Central Michigan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Ohio State | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | X | 13 | 13 | 0 |
Ohio State would then welcome UNC Greensboro for a three game weekend series.
Saturday featured a double-header between the two teams, in which both games were almost carbon copies of each other.
Game 1 started off with a 2-run B2 that would prove to be all that Ohio State needed, though they did add to their lead. UNCG scored 1 in the T3, but a 3-run B8 gave Ohio State the insurance they needed to close out the game 6-1. Graveline and Kaczmar would pace the team with 2 runs each, and Kaczmar led the team with 3 RBIs, highlighted by his 2-run homer in the B8. Starting pitcher Gavin Bruni earned his fourth win of the year, and closer Jake Johnson earned his first save of the year. as the pitchers combined to strike out 10 Spartan batters
5/13/23 (1) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
UNC Greensboro | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
Ohio State | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 6 | 11 | 0 |
Game 2 of Saturday's double header was abbreviated as the teams agreed to play 7 innings. As mentioned earlier, this game was almost a carbon copy of Game 1. Ohio State scored 1 in the B2, and UNCG tied it up with a run of their own in the T3, but the Buckeyes used a 2-run B5 and 2-run B6 to pull away and win 5-1. Each Buckeye run was scored by a different player, but Hank Thomas led the team with 2 RBIs thanks to his 2-run home run in the B5. starting pitcher Jonah Jenkins earned his fifth win of the year, pitching six of the seven innings while striking out 4 Spartans.
5/13/23 (2) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
UNCG | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | X | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Sunday's Game 3 was the culmination of the week, and the Buckeyes put on a show. UNCG scored first this time, plating 1 in the T2, but Ohio State would quickly erase that deficit with a 3-run B3. UNCG scored one more run in the T8, but a 4-run B8 for Ohio State allowed the Buckeyes to pull away, winning 9-2, sweeping the series, and finishing the week undefeated - their first since a sweep of Dayton and Marshall on March 15, 17, and 19. Okuley and Nick Erwin led the team with 2 runs each, and Caden Kaiser led the team with 3 RBIs. Relief pitcher Justin Eckhardt earned the win, his fourth of the season while the pitchers combined to strike out 10 Spartans.
5/14/23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
UNCG | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | X | 9 | 13 | 1 |
After the 5-0 week, Ohio State improved to 28-25. UCF fell to 29-23; Central Michigan fell to 32-18, and UNCG fell to 21-30
Up next, Baseball Hate Week has arrived as Ohio State closes out the season with a 3 game weekend series against TTUN.