Morgantown, W VA – Bill Mosiello has repeatedly defended the toughness of the early schedule by saying, “We want to see what we’re made of.”
Saturday, in a 7-4 win over West Virginia, he got another glimpse.
– Starting pitcher Colin Purcell gave them four innings good enough to get deeper in the game.
– The defense turned key double plays to stave off late Mountaineer threats.
– Fourteen hits by the offense kept the pressure on WVU pitching.
– 2.2 innings of scoreless, two-hit baseball by Zach Brown bought them time.
– A huge pinch-hit home run off the bench in the sixth inning by Hank Thomas proved to be a game winner.
– And like good baseball teams can do, a pair of insurance runs in the seventh built confidence for the Sunday rubber game.
A character win, ‘Mo’ called it post-game.
“Today was awesome. They competed and they overcame a couple of my bad [coaching] decisions. I’ve never seen four guys thrown out at the plate and still win a game.
“But give ’em credit. This was a good baseball game, we just kept competing, we beat their lefthander who had a shutout his last time out against Brigham Young, so we did a good job from the git-go of upsetting the confidence he had last week.”
They got after starter Derek Clarke in the top of the first on a Lipsey leadoff single, a one-out double by Matt Graveline, a single by Tyler Pettorini, a hit batsman (Joe Mershon), an error, and a Nick Giamarusti single. By the time all of that concluded the Buckeyes had a 3-0 lead for Colin Purcell.
And Purcell did his best to make it work on a day that clearly wasn’t his best. He pitched through the fourth inning, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, but the fourth proved to be his limit.
Like Ohio State in the first inning, WVU strung together a pair of leadoff hits to start the fourth, prior to a three-run, tying home run by third baseman Reed Chumley before Purcell could retire the final out.
The Mountaineers took the lead in the fifth against reliever Gavin DeVooght with a hit batsman, a wild pitch, and an RBI single by right fielder Ben Lumsden.
In the top of the sixth you could sense the air hissing out of the Buckeyes’ balloon, reminiscent of the night before when WVU offense overcame an early deficit and never looked back.
But Giamarusti led off with an eight-pitch walk, and after Josh Stevenson flew out for the first out, Hank Thomas came off the bench to pinch hit for first baseman Nolan Farley.
Hitting now against WVU reliever Robby Porco, Thomas worked the count to 3-1 before he unloaded a bomb to right center field and into the teeth of a 15-mile-per-hour wind. It carried, however, left the park, and Thomas joyfully circled the sacks to score Giamarusti and put the Bucks ahead, 5-4.
“He threw me a fastball 3-1 and I fouled it off,” said Thomas, afterwards. “He threw the same pitch again, I was ready to go, and I got it.”
It ignited the Buckeye bench, brought confidence back into the final three innings of the game, and without question gave a boost to the Buckeye bullpen.
And they would need it because DeVooght could not withstand the prosperity of a lead in the bottom of the sixth. He walked the leadoff hitter, who eventually stole both second and third base, struck out first baseman Kyle West on a hanging curveball, but then walked Reed Chumley to put runners on first and third. Sean Allen came to the mound and brought in another freshman, Zach Brown, to fight off the gathering storm.
Within four pitches to left fielder Mike Perraza he induced a 1-6-3 double play to get them out of the inning and back in the dugout.
In the top of the seventh the Buckeyes would add a pair of insurance runs on a bunt single by Joe Mershon, a fielder’s choice, an RBI double by Josh Stevenson, and Thomas again rose to the occasion with an RBI single to score pinch-runner Isaac Cadena…7-4, Buckeyes.
Brown came out for the seventh and had to battle, fought through a hit batsman and a balk that put a runner in scoring position before retiring the third out.
Again in the eighth he labored, giving up back-to-back singles before retiring the third out on a hard-hit ground ball to Henry Kaczmar at shortstop.
In the bottom of the ninth Allen turned again to closer Justin Eckhardt to collect the final three outs.
Leadoff hitter Spencer Barnett singled off the end of the bat into right field. Centerfielder Skylar King hit into a fielder’s choice. And then catcher Sam White hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play, the Buckeyes’ second of the game.
Final Line: OSU (9-8) won it with 7 runs on 14 hits and had no errors. Gavin DeVooght, on not his best day, took the win to go 2-1.
West Virginia (11-8) lost with 4 runs on 10 hits and committed two errors. Robby Porco took the loss (1-1).
Mosiello, talking about character, and seeking to find out what they were made of, got an eyeful, starting with Hank Thomas and Zach Brown.
“Hank’s home run was obviously huge, because he really hit it hard to that part of the field with the wind blowing like it was. But he also had a big RBI in the seventh with a single to left field for his third RBI of the game. Those were humongous at bats, and thank goodness he gave us what he gave us today.”
Zach Brown credited his 2.2 innings of scoreless, 2-hit baseball (2 strikeouts), as being a confidence builder.
“It was a confidence booster,” he said with a smile. “Every time I’ve gone out there I’ve gotten better, and that’s the name of this game. I still threw too many balls out of the strike zone today, but I’m happy with how it went.
“That’s a great ballclub over there (WVU), I respect them and watched them on TV last year. So to be able to be on their field and come into the game at a big point and turn a double play ball like we did…from there on I was cruisin’.”
They finish the series Sunday with a 1 pm start. The pitching assignment will go to Gavin Bruni and the Buckeyes will hope for a carryover of confidence and the character shown on Saturday. They have a chance to win a series against another premier Division I program, now numbering six in the first four weeks of the season. They wanted to see what they were made of?
So be it.
Some other numbers…..
Matt Graveline continues to hit and see his numbers escalate (.291). He, along with Joe Mershon, Josh Stevenson, and Thomas all had 2-hit games on Saturday.
The sum total of the final five innings of bullpen work from DeVooght, Brown and Eckhardt – 1 run on 4 hits, 3 strikeouts and 2 walks. The collective earned run average, compared to last year, continues to shrink.
The announced attendance was 2,789, but there were twice that many people in the ballpark. West Virginia baseball is a big thing in Morgantown and the surrounding area. “And if we could push the season back a month and play in good weather I’m confident that baseball here would pay for itself,” says WVU head coach Randy Mazey.
Gavin Bruni seeks his third win of the season on Sunday (3.71 ERA) in the 1 pm conclusion to this series. The Buckeyes fill finally return home for their home opener with Georgetown on Friday at 6 pm.