Well, this week certainly had some ups and downs, but overall, it went much better than the previous week, and even somewhat better than I was expecting, and the Bucks got back above .500.
On Tuesday, Ohio State welcomed in Ohio's own Big 12 team, Cincinnati for a one-off midweek game. Ohio State got off to a quick 2-0 lead in the B1 off an RBI single by Hunter Rosson to score Trey Lipsey and a bases loaded HBP, plating Henry Kaczmar. Cincinnati took the lead with a 5-run T2, but Ohio State chipped into that with a 2-run B2 thanks to an RBI single by Kaczmar to score Nick Giamarusti, and a sac-fly by Rosson to score Lipsey. The Buckeyes retook the lead in the B3 thanks to an RBI triple by Joseph Mershon, scoring Mitchell Okuley, who then got batted in himself on a single by Mason Eckelman, who was then batted in on a triple by Giamarusti. Rosson proceeded to launch a 3-run homer to right, scoring Giamarusti and Lipsey, giving the Bucks a 10-5 lead. Ohio State scored 2 more in the B8, by way of a sac-fly by Mershon to score Tyler Pettorini and an RBI single by Eckelman to score Matthew Graveline, as the Buckeyes finished off the 12-6 win. Relief pitcher Chase Herell earned the win, bringing him to 2-1 on the season.
| 4/30/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X | 12 | 14 | 2 |
On Wednesday, the Bucks welcomed in Akron, and this game was all kinds of weird. Akron took the lead immediately with a 2-run T1, but Ohio State responded with a 7-run B1. Kaczmar got the scoring started with a solo home run, then Pettorini hit a 2-run homer, scoring Rosson and giving the Bucks the lead. Isaac Cadena and Josh Stevenson both hit RBI singles, scoring Okuley and Mershon, respectively, and were then both batted in themselves by way of a double by Ryan Miller. Akron then cut the lead to 7-6 with a 4-run T2, but Ohio State got one back in the B2 off a Pettorini solo shot. In the B4, Lipsey hit a 2-RBI double to plate Cadena and Okuley. In the B6, Mershon came in on a sac-fly by Miller to give the Buckeyes an 11-7 lead.
Then the scoring really took off. Akron cut it to one again with a 3-run T7, but Ohio State got some insurance runs in a 4-run B7, thanks to an RBI double by Okuley to score Rosson, a wild pitch bringing Pettorini home, a sac-fly by Cadena to score Okuley, and another wild pitch to bring Mershon home. The Zips again got 3 more in the T8, but Ohio State responded with 3 of their own in the B8 off a 2-RBI double by Okuley to score Rosson and Kaczmar, and a bases loaded walk to plate Okuley as Ohio State held on for the 18-13 win. Reliever Colin Purcell earned the win as he fanned 14 of his first 15 batters faced, bringing him to 2-4 on the year.
| 5/1/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Akron | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 16 | 3 |
| Ohio State | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | X | 18 | 16 | 1 |
Going back to conference play, Ohio State went out to Urbana-Champaign for a weekend series with Big Ten leader Illinois.
In Game 1 on Friday, as one of the announcers put it, other than a "frenetic fifth inning," the two teams played each other in binary. Illinois took the lead in the B3, but a sac-fly by Merson, scoring Kaczmar, tied the game in the T4. Ohio State would take the lead in the T5 thanks to a 2-RBI double by Miller to score Stevenson and Graveline, and a sac-fly by Giamarusti to score Miller. Illinois tied it up in the B5, but a sac-fly by Graveline to score Mershon in the T6 gave the Bucks the lead back, and this time, they would not relinquish the lead. In the T7, Kaczmar hit an RBI single to bring in Miller, and Mershon capped off the upset with a solo shot in the T8 as the Buckeyes held on for the 7-5 win.
| 5/3/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| Illinois | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
In Game 2 on Saturday, Ohio State got next to nothing going offensively until it was too little too late. Illinois got off to a 5-0 lead by the B4. A solo homer in the T5 and 3-RBI homer (Rosson and Kaczmar) in the T6, both by Pettorini, cut the deficit to 5-4, but 2-RBI and 3-RBI homers by Illinois sealed the 10-5 series-evening win for the Illini. Starting pitcher Gavin Bruni recorded the loss, dropping him to 3-3 on the year.
| 5/4/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Illinois | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | X | 10 | 11 | 0 |
On Sunday, first of all, congrats to Tim Baird, Mitchell Okuley, Justin Eckhardt, and Hunter Rosson as they completed their degrees and graduated on Sunday.
As for the game, this was honestly what I was expecting the full weekend to be. Illinois, again, took the first lead with a 3-run B2, and didn't look back from there. Cadena launched a solo home run in the T3 and brought Stevenson home with an RBI double in the T4, but that was all the Buckeyes could muster as Illinois slowly anaconda'd their way to a 12-2 win in 8 innings to win the series. Starting pitcher Gavin DeVooght recorded the loss, dropping him to 2-2 on the year.
| 5/5/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Illinois | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 0 |
After the 3-2 week, Ohio State improved to 23-22 (8-10), Cincinnati moved to 27-21, Akron, who swept Central Michigan, improved to 14-33, and Illinois improved to 28-16 (13-5)
Up Next, Ohio State has a 5 game home stand, playing 13-32 Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, 11-35 Youngstown State on Wednesday, and 13-30 (2-16) Northwestern over the weekend.
Postseason watch: Ohio State dropped to 9th in the Big Ten standings, just below the conference tournament line. Gonna need a huge couple of weeks to sneak into the tournament, and unless we somehow get hot and win that tournament, the chances of making the NCAA tournament are slim to none, and slim probably just went out the window.
