Left fielder Nick Giamarusti was the extra base hitting threat for the Buckeyes, collecting a double, a triple, and was on base four times. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
After a harrowing day of travel to the west coast, the Ohio State Buckeyes have a frustrating opening to their four-game series with Cal Poly, falling 4-2.
San Luis Obispo, CA – Don’t ever mention anything about the comforts of home to Ohio State coach Bill Mosiello.
A California native, Mosiello was anything but comfortable Friday after the Buckeyes suffered a twelve-hour delay in arriving at San Luis Obispo, California for their four-game weekend series with Cal Poly. And when they finally did get on the ground and unpacked, they suffered through one of those baseball frustrations not unlike the airline losing your luggage.
Only in this case, it was a case of losing their offense, as Cal Poly used two pitchers, starter Jakob Wright and reliever Jaccob Torres, to limit the Buckeyes to just 6 hits in a 4-2 series-opening loss.
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The Buckeyes scored single runs in both the second and third innings to stake starting pitcher Landon Beidelschies to an early 2-0 advantage. And Beidelschies, coming off his best collegiate performance last week in Las Vegas, would make that lead hold up until the bottom of the fifth.
But coming off his best collegiate performance last week in Las Vegas, Beidelschies ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning on four consecutive singles to start the inning, allowing Cal Poly to plate three runs and take a 3-2 lead. Beidelschies failed to record an out and was relieved by freshman Zach Brown.
Brown would go on into the sixth and seventh, giving up a single run in the bottom of the seventh on a hit batsman, an error on a pickoff attempt at first base, then a run scored on a groundout to first base.
Trailing 4-2 now in the top of the eighth, Ohio State would get a pair of runners on in the eighth via walks, but left them on when Mitchell Okuley struck out to end the inning.
And in the top of the ninth, they went quietly after a leadoff single to second baseman Joe Mershon.
Final line: Cal Poly won the game with 4 runs on 7 hits and committed 3 errors. Ohio State (5-4) lost the game with 2 runs on 6 hits and committed two errors. Beidelschies took the loss, falling to 2-2 on the season.
After a good night’s sleep, the Buckeyes seek to even the series with a single game on Saturday. Senior righthander Colin Purcell is the presumptive starting pitcher.
Game Notes:
The notable hitting stars among their six hits…were transfer Nick Giamarusti, who had a double, a triple, walked twice, on base four times and drove in a run…shortstop Henry Kaczmar collected a pair of base hits, going two for three with a walk in four plate appearances…and second baseman Joe Mershon also had a pair of hits, a second inning double and a single in the ninth.
The notable unlucky spot in the batting order was the eighth spot, where centerfielder Josh Stevenson struck out in his two plate appearances, and his replacement, Will Henson struck out twice after taking pinch-hitting for Stevenson in the seventh.
Landon Beidelschies allowed three runs on five hits in his four innings of work, striking out five Cal Poly hitters.
Relievers Zach Brown and Gavin DeVooght combined to pitch four innings of 1 run, 1 hit baseball in relief of Beidelschies.
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