Well, what a short weekend that was. It was a tale of two days in the series as Ohio State welcomed in newcomer #10 Oregon for the conference home opening series for the BaseBucks.
Game 1 on Friday was much the same as the previous two weekends, and it looked like it could be another long weekend. Ohio State could not get anything going offensively as despite, actually, a solid day pitching (the three pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts to only 1 walk against the Duck batters), Oregon just won the war of attrition, keeping Ohio State at bay and pulling away for the 7-0 series opening win. Starting pitcher Drew Erdmann recorded the loss dropping him to 0-2 on the season.
| 3/28/25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| #10 Oregon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 2 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
Due to inclement weather forecasted for Sunday, Game 3 was moved up into a doubleheader along with Game 2 on Saturday, and what a turnaround from Friday it was.
Game 2 was a wild one, to say the least. Oregon quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the T1. However, a sac-flies by Tyler Pettorini, scoring Trey Lipsey in the B1, and Reggie Bussey, scoring Matthew Graveline, along with a 2-run dinger by Maddix Simpson, scoring Sal Mineo in the B2 tied the game at 4. A 3-run home run by Oregon gave them the lead back in the T3, but Ohio State did not quit. With the bases loaded in the B3, Mason Eckelman hit into a force-out double play, but Lee Ellis scored, cutting the deficit to 2. In the B4, Ellis hit an RBI single, plating Simpson, and cutting the lead to 1. Home runs by Oregon in the T5 and T7 stretched the Duck lead to 10-6, but Ohio State was not done. In the B7, Ryan Miller and Eckelman scored on wild pitches, and in the B8, the Oregon catcher got greedy, and allowed Lipsey to come home on a throwing error. Then, with two outs, Eckelman and Tyler Pettorini advanced to 2nd and 3rd, respectively, on a wild pitch, setting up Matthew Graveline to hit a 2-RBI single, giving the BaseBucks the 11-10 lead late. In the T8, pitcher Hunter Shaw came in to close, and through the final two innings, he was nearly perfect. Other than a walk against his first batter, he did not allow a baserunner, as he forced his third batter into a double play to close the T8, and then went 1-2-3 in the T9 to give Ohio State their first conference win of the season, and Shaw his second win of the season, bringing him to 2-3.
| 3/29/25 (1) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| #10 Oregon | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 3 |
| Ohio State | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | X | 11 | 12 | 0 |
BOTTOM 2 | THAT ONE IS OUTTA HERE @MaddixSimpson's first career home run sends two runs across and ties the score, 4-4!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/3BvbHkGxVm
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 29, 2025
MID 8 | The Buckeyes turn a double play and we're headed to the bottom of the eighth!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/tMx9HZJ6cV
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 29, 2025
BOTTOM 8 | @MGraveline09 gives the Buckeyes the 11-10 lead with a two-RBI single!!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/r6Vj4gmn7V
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 29, 2025
Game 3 played out very similarly to the earlier game. After a scoreless 1st inning, Oregon drew first blood in the T2, but an RBI-double by Mineo plated Graveline, and a 2-RBI double by Simpson plated Bussey and Mineo, giving Ohio State a 3-1 lead after 2. An RBI double by Graveline in the B3 plated Miller, and extended the Buckeye lead to 4-1, but a 3-run homer by the Ducks tied the game in the T4, Oregon reclaimed the lead in the T6, but after that, relief pitcher Blaine Wynk kept the Ducks in check while the Buckeye offense was in a slump. But then, with the game in the balance in the B8, the offense came back to life. With the bases loaded, Lee Ellis hit a sac-fly allowing Bussey to score and tie the game. Then, Tyler Pettorini came up to the plate and hit a clutch, 3-run bomb, bringing home Simpson and Lipsey, and giving Ohio State a late 8-5 lead. Oregon hit one more home run in the T9, but the score cushion allowed Wynk to remain cool and strike out the last Duck, sealing the 8-6 upset win for the Buckeyes to clinch the series. Wynk earned the win, his first on the season, after striking out 7 Ducks in 3.1 innings of work.
| 3/29/25 (2) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| #10 Oregon | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | X | 8 | 9 | 2 |
BOTTOM 2 | @MaddixSimpson gives the Buckeyes the lead, 3-1, on this two-RBI double!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/N1nqSA28dF
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 29, 2025
BOTTOM 3 | The Buckeyes lead the Ducks, 4-1, after an RBI double from @MGraveline09!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/lUsvMmrXYk
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 29, 2025
BOTTOM 8 | TYLER. FREAKING. PETTORINI @TPettorini goes yard to give the Buckeyes an 8-5 lead!!!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/GQ1FEEM2cQ
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 30, 2025
After the series win, Ohio State improved to 8-16 (2-7), while Oregon dropped to 20-7 (8-4).
FINAL | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Xcm30Pe90O
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 29, 2025
FINAL |
The Buckeyes sweep today's doubleheader to win their series against No. 10 Oregon#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/C5UDPuns28
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 30, 2025
Up Next, Ohio State has one more home game against 22-4 West Virginia before travelling out west to face 16-11 (6-6) USC.
