Needing to right themselves towards a positive start to the season, the Buckeyes seek to adjust some things with a midweek tuneup game against Cincinnati before heading to North Carolina for the Armed Forces Invitational.
Ohio State coach Greg Beals was clearly frustrated over the twisted three-game swoon in Texas last weekend, a series in which the Buckeyes lost three in a row to Texas State…and didn’t exactly perform to standard in any particular area.
Losing 9-1 in the series opener, they didn’t hit – just one hit amongst the table-setters, the top five in the order that had been so productive in Florida the week prior.
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Added to the power outage, starter Isaiah Coupet only pitched into the fifth inning, striking out 8, but walking 5 while giving up four hits and four earned runs. It took him 106 pitches to record 14 outs.
In the 8-5 loss in game two, the offense did produce 5 runs on 9 hits, but left 11 men on base; while the pitching collapsed. Starter Nate Haberthier lasted just five outs, walking 5 in 1.2 innings, giving up 5 hits, while walking 3.
In the series finale, more of the same…the Buckeyes collecting 7 hits, but left 11 men on base; and forced into a starting role, TJ Brock pitched 3.1 innings and walked 5 on his way to 68 pitches, and 2 earned runs. And then, a wild collection of relief inefficiency, thereafter. Wyatt Loncar walked 3 in an inning and a third, Ethan Hammerberg walked 2 in 2.1 innings, and so it went in a 6-4 loss.
Too many free bases, Beals is often to say, meaning that walks and errors are the #1 threat to winning baseball, all things being equal. You can’t give the other team opportunities they don’t earn.
And comparing the actual hit stats, TSU only outhit the Bucks buy a margin of 25-20. But those free bases? Ohio State surrendered 24 of them by walks, alone, not counting 5 total errors.
The Buckeyes will try to limit walks and lower a cumulative 5.85 earned run in games this week against Cincinnati, Campbell, Pitt, and Army.
The verdict? Pitching, and in particular, starting pitching.
“Our pitching simply didn’t give us a chance to win the ballgame today,” Beals lamented after the Sunday 6-4 loss.
“We walked 11…eleven guys,” he added. “We have to throw strikes and we’re not doing it. Throw more strikes. I mean, that’s it.”
But the pitching breakdown reveals more than just the inability to find home plate. Buckeye pitchers issued 5 wild pitches in the Sunday loss, alone, a pair of hit batsmen, and the most over-looked stat in baseball…6 stolen bases.
“We didn’t defend the running game, and that’s something we work on. We have our techniques, our mechanisms, but we can’t get out on the field (because of weather) and work on it the way you need to to get it right. At this point of the season it’s a lack of experience.”
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Some numbers through seven games:
They’re hitting, as a team, .258. And senior infielder Marcus Ernst has been steadiest through 24 at bats with a .375 mark.
They’re pitching at an elevated 5.85 earned run average, 39 earned runs in 60 innings, fueled by 38 walks.
Bauer’s bomb….infielder Colton Bauer hit well in Texas, highlighted by a home run in Sunday’s finale with Texas State.
Defensively, they’ve committed 16 errors in those 60 innings, which accounts for still more free bases and lost opportunities to snuff out opposing base runners.
“We need to play,” said Beals after the loss to Brigham Young in Florida. And to that point he doubled down in Texas, saying, “We’ve got a good ball club and we’re going to get better. But it’s going to take some time, and I can’t emphasize it enough. It takes competition.”
To that end they’ve added a midweek game tomorrow, Wednesday, against the University of Cincinnati on the UC campus, in Clifton.
UC stands 2-3, having split an opening four-game series with Florida Gulf Coast…before losing last Friday to North Alabama.
UC is hitting at a .284 clip as a team, but the thing that stands out is the number of runs they’ve given up…51 in five games, an average of 10 per outing!
The Bearcats’ cumulative earned run average is 9.43. And to prove that what goes around comes around, UC pitchers have given up a lot of free bases, themselves – 37 walks in just 42 innings.
You might expect to see Greg Beals use a number of pitchers for tuneup purposes in Wednesday’s titanic clash in Clifton, preparatory to this weekend’s Armed Forces Invitational in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Buckeyes play Campbell on Friday, Pittsburgh on Saturday, and Army on Sunday. Game times are 5 pm, 1 pm, and noon, respectively.
Bottom line…they need to pitch better. “I mean, that’s it,” Beals says.
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How to get the pitching up and running? Sophomore Nate Haberthier has struggled to find his groove in two starts against Indiana State and Texas State. (Press Pros File Photos)