Freshman Chase Herrell pitched nearly perfect baseball for 3.2 innings when it was needed most to gain his third win of the season. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
What many thought couldn’t be done three weeks ago…the Buckeyes rebounded to accomplish Friday with a series-winning 11-5 score at Rutgers.
Columbus, OH – Two weeks ago in Illinois things couldn’t have looked bleaker.
And a week ago when a sweep was hoped for, but they came a game short of that, there was still serious question.
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But Friday, with their 11-5 win over Rutgers, and Michigan State and Maryland losing for the second day in a row, your Ohio State Buckeyes redeemed the season and punched their ticket for a berth in the Big Ten Tournament next week…and undoubtedly a place in Bill Mosiello’s heart.
For the second day in a row they got just enough of everything – pitching, offense, bullpen and upperclassman leadership – to create their own opportunity while MSU and Maryland were withering on the vine.
“You never know,” said Mosiello following the series loss at Illinois. “Losing tears your heart out, but you have to come back the next day and be ready to play. I’ve been at this a long time. I know how it feels and I know how to come back ready to play.”
And so he has.
In capsule, that’s exactly what the Buckeyes, themselves, (28-23, 12-11 In Big Ten) have done, winning four of six over the last two weeks and they play for a series sweep tomorrow in Piscataway.
They’ve pieced things together, to be sure. This is hardly a set lineup or formula. On a given day you have a given hero and Friday was no exception. Colin Purcell started and pitched into the fourth, but freshman Chase Herrell picked him up for 3.2 innings to eventually gain his third win of the season (3-1).
Tyler Pettorini’s 2-RBI single in the fifth sprung the offense to score 9 times over the final five innings. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
And the offense? Trailing 4-2 after four innings, the bats rebounded for 3 runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead for good, taking advantage of costly walks and a timely 2-RBI single by Tyler Pettorini to go up 5-4.
Herrell was as good as he’s been all year, and never with more on the line. The freshman from Milford gave up just one hit through the seventh inning, while the offense drove the nail in the coffin with 4 runs in the eighth and two in the ninth, highlighted by Josh Stevenson’s two run home run, his fourth of the season.
Just enough pitching, and just enough offense.
Purcell, Herrell, and Zach Brown combined to limit Rutgers to 5 runs, despite giving up 12 hits.
The offense, led by Pettorini (2 hits) and Henry Kaczmar (2 hits), combined for 9 well-spaced hits and 11 runs. Upper classman leadership accounting for 50% of the team’s hits.
Bill Mosiello preaches clean baseball, as well, and the Buckeyes had yet another day of err0r-free baseball, their fourth in the past two weeks.
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What remains now is the final regular season game of the 2024 season on Saturday, with Gavin DeVooght going to the mound and a rested bullpen behind him – all men on deck.
If you’re prone to compare the Ohio State team to Ohio State teams in the past, remember that the 2016 Buckeyes were the third seed (44-20)…but had to battle their way out of the losers bracket to eventually win that tournament. And I would challenge you to name any of the starting pitchers, or the two leading hitters on that team.
OK, we’ll jog your memory. Tanner Tully (above) led the 2016 Buckeyes with an 8-3 record and pitched them to the Big Ten Tournament championship.
And while there may not be such a thing as momentum in baseball, there is a psyche and in none of their previous 51 games have they come to the ballpark with more motivation to play and play well than they’ll have on Saturday.
Can they?
Will they?
Mosiello is fun to quote, and one of his best is that of baseball being the dumbest game to try to understand, and yet the most fulfilling.
If you can throw strikes, get a few timely hits, catch and throw…then you never say no. Losing does tear your heart out, but in baseball there’s always tomorrow.
Whenever, however it comes.
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