OSU’s Mitch Okuley calls his own shot as his grand slam left the ballpark in the top of the ninth. The Buckeyes took the finale game of the series, 9-3, over Nebraska. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Up 5-3 in the top of the ninth, Mitchell Okuley’s grand slam provided the insurance for a finale win, and a much better trip home.
Lincoln, NE – The only thing colder than the icy wind in Lincoln this weekend was the prospect of being swept by the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Sheward-Fulks agency, in Jackson, Ohio, proudly supports the Buckeyes.
But Henry Kaczmar, Gavin Devooght, Blaine Wynk and Mitchell Okuley took it upon themselves to make sure that didn’t happen with 9-3 win over Nebraska in the series finale Sunday, improving the Buckeyes’ record to 13-14, overall, and 3-3 in the Big Ten, the latter the figure that loomed the largest.
Publisher/editor Sonny Fulks writes the Big Ten and Buckeyes baseball for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Ohio State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a leadoff triple by Isaac Cadena, and RBI groundout by Kaczmar, then a Matt Graveline strikeout on which he reach first on a wild pitch…and an RBI double by Mitchell Okuley.
They added three runs run in the top of the third on Henry Kaczmar’s second home run of the season, and a two-out, two-RBI single by Joe Mershon to go up 5-2.
The three runs helped freshman Gavin DeVooght settle in as the starter, and he pitched a scoreless first two innings, knowing that his time was limited. The Buckeyes would ultimately use four pitchers out of their bullpen.
“All we wanted from him was 40 to 50 pitches,” said Bill Mosiello. “He gave us that.”
Blaine Wynk came out of the bullpen in the fourth to give the Buckeyes his best sustained performance of the year.
DeVooght left in the third when Nebraska’s Case Sanderson blasted a two run homer to cut the lead to 3-2. Zach Brown came on to retire the final out as the Buckeyes entered the fourth inning leading 5-2.
Nebraska cut the deficit again in the fourth with a run off Brown, and with two outs in the fifth they were threatening him again. But with two on and two out, Blaine Wynk came on to retire the final out of the inning on a strikeout.
Wynk was on, dominating, at his 2024 best, and became a central figure in the game as he would pitch the next three innings of 3-hit, scoreless baseball, striking out three, his best fastball registering 97 on the scoreboard radar.
But as with the previous two days, a two-run lead is hardly safe in Nebraska’s Haymarket Park when the prevailing winds are blowing 20 miles per hour, gusting to 30, and against Nebraska’s relentless-hitting lineup.
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Wynk held serve at 5-3 into the top of the ninth. And in the ninth the Buckeyes opened with a bunt single by Kaczmar, and a pair of walks against the Huskers’ bullpen, being manipulated by coach Will Bolt for the sake of matchups, left on right, etc.
And with Kaczmar on third, Matt Graveline on second, and Tyler Pettorini on first, Mitchell Okuly came to the plate with the opportunity to at least put the ball in the outfield for an important insurance run.
Catch of the day…Josh Stevenson tracks this line drive down in the fifth.
Reliever Tucker Timmerson was brought on to face Pettorini, whom he walked to load the bases, and Okuley stepped to the plate. Still seeking his first home run of the season, he did it in grand fashion. Picking on a fastball in the middle of the plate, he crushed a drive to dead center that got the benefit of that wind and left the park for a home run….a grand slam home run!
“I don’t know, but I think that was the first grand slam I’ve had at Ohio State,” said Okuley later.
“I was looking for the fastball because they had been throwing me soft all series. I wanted to be sure I was still on the fastball.”
Okuley not only quieted the crowd, he sent the raucous Nebraska fans for the exits with his blast, the Buckeyes now leading 9-3.
Henry Kaczmar gets the glad hand from Bill Mosiello after his solo home run to open the third inning.
Justin Eckhardt came out to close it out in the ninth, striking out two of the three batters he faced.
The Buckeyes won it with 9 runs on 9 hits and committed no errors. Reliever Zach Brown was credited as the winning pitcher (2-0).
Nebraska (22-7, 5-1) lost it with 3 runs in 9 hits and had one error. Sunday marked the Huskers’ first loss in league play in 2024.
“There’s all kinds of ways to win baseball games,” said Bill Mosiello, post-game. “But it’s always easier when you pitch like we did today. And we got multiple hits with guys in scoring position. We haven’t been doing that.
“And Blaine Wink was awesome. But we knew we were set for the day with all the guys in the bullpen that we wanted to be available.”
Okuley’s blast in the ninth brought a big grin from ‘Mo’.
“Huge hit for him, huge hit in the game,” he smiled. “But it was a huge hit for our season. Hopefully we can use that to get this thing going.”
The Buckeyes return to Bill Davis for non-league league play with Bowling Green (Tuesday) and Morehead State (Wednesday) before hosting the Iowa Hawkeyes next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
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