Well this was a turnaround of a weekend after last weekend's dud. After getting swept by Georgetown, Ohio State had scheduled a game against Kent State in the midweek that was postponed due to rain before opening conference action against skidding Purdon't
Game 1 on Friday was relatively light work for the BaseBucks. Purdue did get off to a 2-0 lead in the T1, but Ohio State got one back in the B1 thanks to an RBI single by Tyler Pettorini to score Trey Lipsey. Then the Buckeyes tied it in the B2 off an RBI double by Josh Stevenson to score Nick Giamarusti. Ohio State would take the lead by way of a 3-run B4 off a Stevenson-Giamarusti RBI single, a sac-fly by Lipsey to bring in Hank Thomas, and a Matthew Graveline RBI single to score Stevenson. Then in the B5, Giamarusti would blast the Bucks' first home run since the Arizona State series to bring in Mitchell Okuley. A sac-foul-out by Lipsey in the B7 would score Giamarusti as the Buckeyes would cruise to an 8-2 win to open the weekend. Starting pitcher Landon Beidelschies would earn the win, improving to 3-4 on the year.
| 3/29/30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Purdue | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 8 | 15 | 0 |
Game 2 on Saturday was a whopper of a game with so many twists and turns. This time, Ohio State got off to a 2-0 lead in the B1 off a wild pitch, scoring Henry Kaczmar, and an RBI double by Joseph Mershon to score Pettorini. Purdue would get one back in the T2, but Ohio State would extend the lead back to two off a Lipsey RBI triple to score Thomas. Then, disaster happened. With 2 outs in the T3, Purdue recorded 6 straight hits, a walk, then 2 more hits to score 6 runs and take a 7-3 lead, but Purdue would leave the bases loaded (later proving decisive in the result).
But Ohio State didn't lay over and die. True to the Buckeye mantra, they just kept chipping away and fought to the very end. On the second pitch of the B3, Graveline would blast a home run to cut the deficit to 7-4. Then in the B4, with two outs of their own, an RBI double by Graveline to score Kaczmar, an RBI triple by Pettorini to score Graveline, and an RBI triple by Mershon to score Pettorini cut the Purdue lead to 8-7. The Boilermakers would get some insurance runs in the T6 and T8 to grab a 10-7 lead going into the last 9 outs of the game. With 2 outs, Pettorini hit a 2-run homer to score Graveline and cut the lead to 10-9 going into the final inning.
Needing some late game magic, closing pitcher Jacob Morin made quick work of the Boilermaker batters, going 3 up 3 down in the T9 to give the Buckeyes a chance to win. In the B9, Ohio State got Hank Thomas on 1st and Mitchell Okuley on 3rd with 1 out. Two batters later, Trey Lipsey played hero as he launched the second pitch against him to left field in a walk-off 3-run home run to give the Buckeyes the 12-10 series clinching comeback win. Morin would earn the win to improve him to 2-0 on the season.
| 3/30/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Purdue | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 0 |
Game 3 on Sunday was a lull offensively for the Buckeyes, hopefully just a little bit of hangover from Saturday's adrenaline. Purdue used a 5-run T3 to take the lead that they would hold on to. An RBI double by Graveline to score Kaczmar would avoid the shutout for the Bucks, but that was all they managed offensively as Purdue would go on for the 7-1 win. Relief pitcher Hunter Shaw recorded the loss, dropping him to 0-2 on the season.
| 3/31/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Purdue | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
After the 2-1 weekend, Ohio State improved to 12-12 (2-1) while Purdue dropped to 17-12 (2-4)
Up Next, Ohio State visits Kent State on Tuesday, before the Golden Flashes make the return trip to Columbus on Wednesday (makeup from the rainout). Then Ohio State goes to the cornfields of Nebraska to play the 20-5 (3-0) Cornhuskers over the weekend.
