Well this week certainly had it's ups and downs, but the downs were so much lower than the ups were high. Another rainout postponed the Kent State game (again), but this time no makeup date has been announced yet.
The week started out fun with a midweek one-off game against Wright State on Tuesday. Wright State got off to a quick 4-0 lead in the T1, but Ohio State quickly turned the deficit into a lead with a 6-run B1 thanks to a 3-run homer by Tyler Pettorini to plate Matthew Graveline and Henry Kaczmar, a 2-RBI double by Nick Giamarusti to score Isaac Cadena and Mitchell Okuley, and and an RBI double by Ryan Miller to score Giamarusti. In the B2, Ohio State extended their lead to 11-4 off a bases loaded walk to score Pettorini, an RBI single by Ryan Miller to score Cadena and Okuley off a throwing error, and RBI singles by Trey Lipsey to score Giamarusti, and Kaczmar to score Miller. Wright State got 2 runs back in the T3, but the Buckeyes responded with 2 runs of their own in the B3 off a sac-groundout by Miller to score Joseph Mershon and an RBI single by Lipsey to score Cadena, extending the lead to 13-6.
But then, the Buckeye bats went silent, and Wright State slowly crept back in the game and would eventually tie it in the T8. However, in the B8, a sac-fly by Graveline to score Kaczmar gave the Buckeyes a 14-13 lead that they would hold on to for the win. Relief pitcher Jacob Morin earned the win, bringing him to 4-0 on the year, and closer Justin Eckhardt earned the save, his 6th of the season.
| 4/16/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Wright State | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 15 | 3 |
| Ohio State | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 14 | 16 | 2 |
After the rainout, the Buckeyes turned their sights up north for a weekend series that is hard to judge, because overall, Ohio State looked like the better team, but unfortunately, TTUN got the series win; which wins do matter more than looks.
Game 1 on Friday was just straight up lousy. The Buckeyes registered 7 hits, but left 8 men stranded as TTUN pulled away for a 4-0 win. Starting pitcher Landon Beidelschies recorded the loss, dropping him to 4-6 on the season.
| 4/19/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| TTUN | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | X | 4 | 7 | 1 |
Game 2 on Saturday was almost a complete flip of the script. TTUN got off to a 1-0 lead in the B1, but it was all Buckeyes from there. A 2-RBI homer by Miller to score Josh Stevenson and an RBI-triple by Pettorini to score Lipsey in the T3 gave the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead that they would not look back from.
In the T6, RBI singles by Stevenson to score Okuley, Lipsey to score Stevenson, and Kaczmar to score Miller stretched the lead to 6-1. In the T7, RBI doubles by Cadena to score Okuley Stevenson to score Cadena, along with a bases loaded walk to plate Stevenson brought the lead to 9-1. In the T8, a sac-fly by Mershon to score Pettorini, a 2-RBI double by Hunter Rosson to plate Stevenson and Okuley, and an RBI-single by Kaczmar further extended the lead to 13-1.
Yet despite the 10+ run margin, the game continued into the 9th where Ohio State took advantage of the extra at-bats, as Rosson hit an RBI-single to score Zach Freeman, and Zach Fjelstad hit a 2-RBI double to score Stevenson and Will Carpenter, to bring the final score to 16-1 in favor of the good guys. Hidden in the win is the unfortunate reoccurring stat that Ohio State left 14 men stranded. Starting pitcher Gavin Bruni earned the win, while recording 6 strikeouts, to bring him to 3-2.
| 4/20/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| TTUN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Game three on Sunday was a disappointing end to the series. This time, the Buckeyes struck first in the T1 as Okuley reached on a fielder's choice while Lipsey crossed home plate. TTUN would tie it in the B2, but a 2-RBI single by Rosson to score Stevenson and Mershon gave the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead in the T6. However, in the B6, back-to-back homers with two outs gave TTUN the lead that they would not relinquish. In the T7, a sac-fly by Mershon to score Pettorini cut the lead to 1, but a 2-run B7 gave TTUN a 7-4 lead. Pettorini hit a sac-fly to score Kaczmar in the T9, but by then it was too little too late as the Buckeyes fell 7-5. The Buckeyes left 9 men stranded and reliever Colin Purcell recorded the loss, dropping him to 1-4.
| 4/21/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| TTUN | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | X | 7 | 13 | 0 |
After the 2-2 weekend, Ohio State moved to 19-17 (6-6), Wright State dropped to 21-18, and TTUN improved to 20-21 (10-5)
Up Next: Ohio State makes a return trip to Wright State on Tuesday before returning home for a 3 game weekend series against 17-20 (5-7) Michigan State.
Postseason watch: Ohio State currently is sitting in 7th place in the conference standings, just above the 8 team cutoff line for the conference tournament.
