Get the brooms out, Buckeye Nation.
With a 7-2 win over Michigan on Saturday afternoon, the Ohio State baseball team finished the year on the highest of notes.
FINAL | Buckeyes the WoLLLverines to end the season on a nine-game win streak#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/X2ot4gx7A2
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) May 20, 2023
The victory extended Ohio State’s season-ending win streak to nine games, the longest win streak the Buckeyes have had at any point in any campaign since 2009.
A Senior Day ceremony took place before the contest, as 12 Buckeyes were recognized in front of an impressive crowd at Bill Davis Stadium. Joey Aden, Cole Andrews, Jameson Campbell, Nolan Clegg, Justin Eckhardt, Marcus Ernst, Nick Erwin, Jonah Jenkins, Caden Kaiser, Wyatt Loncar, Will Pfennig, and Blayne Robinson were honored before playing their final game in Scarlet and Gray.
Today's for you, seniors
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) May 20, 2023
We'll go for the of TTUN today at 2:00, but make sure you get out to the park by 1:30 so you don't miss our Senior Day ceremony
($): https://t.co/UCyRqteWcW
: https://t.co/1fqLFWFbxP
: https://t.co/Md6Tt6nLYa#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/BCPq4h2xuV
As for the game itself, starting pitcher Gavin Bruni delivered six strong frames for Ohio State, and a red-hot offense took care of the rest. Tyler Pettorini's sacrifice fly got the Buckeyes on the board in the second before Andrews and Henry Kaczmar hit back-to-back opposite-field home runs the following inning.
The Wolverines responded with a two-run blast, but Ohio State wasn't done scoring. Matthew Graveline waited on an off-speed pitch and extended his team's lead to 5-2 with an RBI single. The Buckeyes then pushed two more runs across in the seventh on a base hit from Kaiser.
The trio of Pfennig, Josh Timmerman, and Loncar slammed the door with sharp relief appearances, capping off a feel-good victory.
Ohio State outscored the Wolverines 23-10 in the series and clearly played its best baseball in the home stretch of the season. All nine batters reached base in Saturday's finale, and the seniors were sent off in the right way.
It was an up-and-down year overall for the Buckeyes, but they finished with a winning record of 31-25 thanks to their strong close. With a 9-15 record in Big Ten play, Ohio State did not qualify for the conference tournament and will be at home as the NCAA bracket unfolds. Nevertheless, the Buckeyes improved in Bill Mosiello’s first season as head coach after going just 20-30 in 2022. They’ll now enter the offseason with valuable momentum as they look to make it back to the postseason in 2023.
