Freshman Chase Herrell struggled in his Sunday start against Arizona State, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits in an inning-plus of work. (Press Pros File Photos)
They scored enough runs to win, but inconsistent pitching again cost the Buckeyes a winning outcome in the series finale with Arizona State, and a split of the first road trip of the season.
Tempe, AZ – This is what we wrote in our Some Predictions And Five Points About The Buckeyes post back on February 14.
Paraphrasing from that column…this team will score five to six runs a game on a regular basis. The pitching just needs to allow less than 5 runs on a regular basis.
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In capsule, that’s exactly what happened Sunday in the series finale 10-8 loss to Arizona State, and one that cost them what would have been an impressive 5-3 trip against the likes of four of the best teams they’ll see all season.
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The Buckeyes scored 8 runs on 12 hits and left 10 men on base. But the pitching allowed 10 runs on 15 hits and ASU squandered 13 on base. Food for thought considering where this team goes from here.
“The inconsistency is hard to live with as a coach,” Bill Mosiello shared Saturday after the Buckeyes’ 13-4 win over ASU. And hoping for a carryover of momentum to win the series on Sunday, that inconsistency must have felt five stories high, and flashing neon.
It began in the bottom of the first inning when freshman starter, Chase Herrell, making his second start, simply left too many pitches in the middle of the strike zone. “That’s a scary club, [offensively],” said Mosiello of Arizona State on Saturday, and the Sun Devils found Herrell for three runs on four hits before he could retire three outs.
It was costly, because the Buckeyes came back in the top of the second to score four times on ASU pitching, on three hits, two walks, an error, and a hit batsman, staking Herrell to a 4-3 lead when he came out for the bottom of the second.
Staked to a lead, Hunter Shaw was the tough luck reliever Sunday, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits in a third of an inning.
But again, Herrell ran aground, giving up a pair of leadoff hits before being relieved by fellow freshman, Gavin DeVooght. DeVooght would allow two inherited runners to score, but go on to pitch three scoreless on his own, allowing 3 hits while striking out 4.
The Buckeyes put DeVooght in line for a win in the top of the fifth, when following a walk and a single by Pettorini and Mershon, Ryan Miller crashed his first home run as a Buckeye to stake OSU to a 7-5 lead.
But just as quick, ASU answered with a single run in the bottom of the inning off Blaine Wynk to cut the Ohio State lead to 7-6.
The Buckeyes got that run back in the top of the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Matt Graveline and Pettorini, followed by an Okuley single, and led 8-6.
But in the bottom of the inning the roof fell in on the Buckeye bullpen as Hunter Shaw entered, pitched to five hitters, and retired one while allowing 4 runs on 2 hits, including grand slam by ASU’s Brandon Compton, staking the Sun Devils to 10-8 lead. That marked the end of Shaw’s appearance, who was replaced by Tim Baird, and Baird recorded an out while allowing a hit…before surrendering the mound to Justin Eckhardt who worked the final inning and a third, allowing no runs on 2 hits.
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Ohio State would pick up three hits over their final six outs, but did not score, and the game ended in a 10-8 loss.
The Buckeyes (4-4) finished with 8 runs on 12 hits; Arizona State (5-3) had 10 runs on 15 hits. Hunter Shaw took the loss, his second on the road trip.
Some more thoughts on 4-4…..
How do things stand after Boston College, Brigham Young, Southern Cal, Grand Canyon, and Arizona State?
Mitchell Okuley is off to a blistering start…had two more hits Sunday and is hitting .406 after eight games.
Back to those predictions and five points…this team is going to score runs, and it’s capable of scoring them in bunches. And it’s gratifying to see Mitchell Okuley, a historically slow starter, finish the first eight games with two more hits on Sunday and a .406 average.
Kaczmar is right on pace with last year (actually ahead), hitting .303. Pettorini walked three times on Sunday, had a double, and sits at .345. And freshman Zach Fjelstad (Fell-stad) keeps pushing for a spot in the lineup with 2 more hits Sunday, and in limited duty sits at an even .400. After a slow start, centerfielder Josh Stevenson is climbing (.250 and 2 home runs), Trey Lipsey has moved up to .250, and Matt Graveline used the ASU series to boost his average to a hard .231, with a pair of home runs and a pair of doubles.
Simple math tells us that the Buckeyes averaged scoring 9 runs per game against ASU, but the pitching game up an average of 8. To be fair, ASU (hitting .368 entering the weekend) may be as potent a lineup as any they face this season.
For the entire trip, the Bucks averaged scoring 6.625 runs per game, while the pitching allowed an average of 6.875.
The arms are young and need time, yes, but there’s talent. And with 50 games left experience and repetition will serve them well. Location hurt them, particularly against Grand Canyon and in the two losses to ASU, because mistakes in the strike zone don’t survive much against lineups like Grand Canyon and Arizona State.
They come home for a three days before heading west again for next week’s three game series with Cal Berkeley (6-1, swept UConn over the weekend), University of Pittsburgh (5-1, won 2 out of 3 over the weekend), and Oklahoma (5-3, lost 2 of 3 to Wright State over the weekend), three more severe tests of pitching and experience on the mound.
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