Ohio State baseball is coming off one of their most memorable series wins in recent memory, taking three games from Nebraska last week, marking their first series win over the Cornhuskers since 2018.
The sweep of 16th-ranked Nebraska was the fifth sweep of the season for the Buckeyes, and the third of a Big Ten foe. The three victories pushed Ohio State’s record to 24-21 on the season.
In the series opener on Friday night, Ohio State registered a 2-1 win. Grant Mangrum kicked gave the Buckeyes the lead
in the botton of the second when his sacrifice fly scored Dane Harvey. Lee Ellis added a run in the botton of the sixth when his sacrifice fly plated Maddix Simpson.
Nebraska’s lone run came in the ninth inning on an RBI groundout. Gavin Kuzniewksi pitched a career-high eight innings before Ryan Zamora closed out the game in the ninth, earning his third save of the season.
Ohio State didn’t take long to grab the lead on Saturday, as Mason Eckelman smacked a three-run triple in the bottom of the first inning. After Nebraska got on the scoreboard in the third, the Buckeyes responded in the bottom of the inning with a Dane Harvey home run to make the score 4-1.
Eckelman padded Ohio State’s lead in the eight with a two-run home run, giving him five RBIs in the game, and placing him a single shy of hitting for the cycle. Starting pitcher Chris Domke followed up Kuzniewski’s gem on Friday night by allowing just four hits over seven innings, earning his fifth win of the season.
Sunday’s series finale saw Noah Furcht give Ohio State the lead in the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run. The deep fly would be the first of many for the Buckeyes in the game.
Maddix Simpson gave Ohio State some cushion with a three-run blast in the bottom of the fourth, which was followed later in the inning by a solo smash from Mason Eckelman. Furcht hit his second homer of the game in the fifth, and Eckelman cleared the fence for the second time in the game in the sixth inning.
Nebraska’s lone run in the game came in the seventh inning, but any hopes of a comeback for the Cornhuskers were thwarted in the bottom of the inning when Henry Kaczmar got in on the fun with a solo home run, followed by a two-run shot from Dane Harvey.
Pierce Herrenbruck became the third Buckeye starter of the weekend to record a quality start, tossing seven innings of five-hit baseball. The seven home runs by Ohio State were the most since March 2019 when they mashed seven taters against UConn.
With home runs on Saturday and Sunday, Dane Harvey pushed his season total to 15 homers, which are the most on the team. Harvey also leads the Buckeyes with 50 RBIs, and his 99 total bases are only bested by the 108 total bases from Henry Kaczmar, whose .324 batting average is the best mark on the team.
Mason Eckelman is the third Ohio State batter with at least 90 total bases on the season, registering 94 bases heading into this weekend’s games. Eckelman is tied with Lee Ellis for the team lead with four triples, while Ellis has stolen a team-high 15 bases.
Starters Piece Herrenbruck and Chris Domke are tied with reliever Jake Michalak for the team lead with five wins each. Herrenbruck’s 4.33 ERA and 1.35 WHIP are the best marks among the three Ohio State pitchers with at least 10 starts this season.
Gavin Kuzniewski has struck out 56 batters in his 12 starts over 63.1 innings and is 4-2. Ryan Zamora has half of Ohio State’s saves this season, with his save in Friday night’s win being his third of the year.
After Tuesday’s scheduled game against Miami (OH) was scrapped because of rain in Columbus, now the Buckeyes will turn their attention to Michigan State, who enter this weekend with a 16-28 record.
Despite their losing record, the Spartans are a dangerous team. Just ask top-ranked UCLA, who had to fight for three wins in East Lansing last weekend.
UCLA entered the series with Michigan State perfect in Big Ten play. The Bruins won 4-1 on Friday, followed by a 4-3 win on Saturday.
The Spartans had the Bruins on the ropes in the series finale, leading 10-2 before UCLA scored six runs in the seventh inning, four runs in the eighth, and two runs in the ninth to earn the series sweep. Prior to the UCLA series, Michigan State had won two of three games against Maryland.
The main power source for the Spartans is Randy Seymour, who has 14 home runs and 44 RBIs so far this season. Khamaree Thomas and Isaac Sturgess have proven to be tough outs, with both Michigan State batters posting a batting average over .300.
The 72 total bases from Sturgess are second on the team, behind the 102 bases Seymour has recorded.
The ace of Michigan State’s pitching staff has been Aidan Donovan, who is 4-3 with a 3.88 ERA and 47 strikeouts over 69.2 innings. The other consistent starter from the Spartans has been Carter Monke, who is 4-4 and has been on the bump for 58.2 innings over 12 starts.
Six other Michigan State pitchers have started at least one game this year, as it looks like the Spartans have adopted more of an “opener” strategy in games not started by Donovan or Monke.
Friday’s game will be special for Ohio State since they’ll be heading downtown to host the Spartans at Huntington Park, home of the Columbus Clippers. The Buckeyes will return to Bill Davis Stadium for games on Saturday and Sunday.
Ohio State will close out their home schedule on Tuesday when they take on Wright State before heading to Ann Arbor next weekend for their final three games of the regular season.
