Baseball: Ohio State takes two out of three in weekend series against Northwestern to boost Big Ten Baseball Tournament chances

Mark Metz
Tue, 14 May 2024 04:28:16 +0000
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Ohio State junior utility man Ryan Miller trots the bases after a home run in a 14-6 win against Northwestern Saturday at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeyes would go on to beat the Wildcats 2-1 in the weekend series. Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics

In their final series of the 2024 baseball season, the Buckeyes ousted the bottom-dwelling Wildcats with a 2-1 series win at Bill Davis Stadium.

Ohio State (26-23, 10-11 Big Ten) clinched wins in the first two games Friday and Saturday, but Northwestern (16-32, 3-18 Big Ten) snuck out of Columbus with a win Sunday.

On Friday, sophomore pitcher Landon Beidelschies earned his fifth win of the season while pitching a career-high seven innings.?

The game remained 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh inning, during which Ohio State’s offense came to life. Sophomore catcher Matthew Graveline smashed a two-RBI triple to right field to give the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead.?

With two outs, junior outfielder Josh Stevenson singled to bring Graveline home, which was followed by a double from freshman outfielder Isaac Cadena that plated Stevenson, extending the Buckeyes’ lead to 5-1.?

Ohio State sophomore reliever Blaine Wynk entered the game in the eighth inning and pitched two innings that saw four strikeouts while giving up one run on two hits.?

The Buckeyes tacked on two more runs with junior outfielder Trey Lipsey’s two-RBI double, giving Ohio State a 7-2 victory in the series’ opening game.

Saturday, Ohio State clinched the series win behind an early scoring blitz and four total home runs by the Buckeye offense.

Ohio State scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning behind two-RBI singles, a Wildcat throwing error and a home run from sophomore shortstop Henry Kaczmar.

In the bottom of the second, Cadena smashed a three-run bomb over the right-field wall to give Ohio State a 7-0 advantage.

A stream of home runs ensue d as junior utility man Ryan Miller smashed a solo homer in the third inning and went yard again in the fourth to plate three runs, giving the Buckeyes an 11-0 lead.

Wildcat senior third baseman Vince Bianchina sent a three-run home run out of the park in the top of the fifth inning. Northwestern pushed two more runs across in the sixth after an RBI double from freshman right fielder Jackson Freeman and a solo home run from sophomore second baseman Owen McElfatrick, which cut the Ohio State lead to six at 11-5.?

Northwestern mustered up one more run in the ninth, but inevitably fell short as the game ended with a 14-6 victory for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State senior pitcher Colin Purcell earned the win, giving up five runs on five hits in six innings pitched. Freshman reliever Zach Brown fanned two batters and kept the Wildcats hitless in two innings pitched.

In the final game of the series, Ohio State lost a 3-1 pitching duel against Northwestern.

Buckeyes freshman starting pitcher Gavin DeVooght struck out six Wildcat batters and allowed three runs on six hits in five innings pitched while Wildcats senior starting pitcher Matt McClure gave up one run on four hits in four innings pitched.

Ohio State captured its only run in the bottom of the second inning from a Stevenson RBI single.?

In the top of the third inning, Northwestern gained the lead after an RBI single from McElfatrick and a sacrifice fly from junior catcher Bennett Markinson.

The Wildcats notched one more run in the fourth after sophomore first baseman Trent Liolios sent a no-doubt home run over the right-field fence, extending Northwestern’s lead to 3-1.?

The Wildcat and Buckeye bullpens then combined to pitch nine scoreless innings while striking out nine batters and giving up four hits.

The Buckeye offense gathered seven hits, but only could muster up one run as they left 12 men on base in the contest.

On Sunday, Ohio State also honored the class of 2024, which featured graduates Joseph Mershon, Mitchell Okuley, Justin Eckhardt and Jacob Morin along with seniors Hank Thomas, Hunter Rosson, Tim Baird and Logan Jones.

The Big Ten Baseball Tournament features the top eight teams nationwide, and the Buckeyes currently sit tied with both Michigan State and Maryland at seventh place, with Maryland holding the tiebreaker between the three.

The Buckeyes will end the 2024 regular season with a three-game series against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (27-23, 5-16 Big Ten) Friday through Sunday.?