He was competitive…Reliever Ryan Butler gives the baseball to pitching coach Tyler Robinson in the top of the eighth after 3.2 innings of 2 runs, 5-hit baseball. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
One big inning and the persisting issue of a mistake here, a free base there. Minnesota takes advantage to win the series opener at Bill Davis, 10-5.
Columbus, OH – Nothing changed in terms of the outcome. Minnesota came into Bill Davis Friday and added a brick to its own rebuild with one big inning and a 10-5 win over the Buckeyes on a day so cold as to remind Gophers fans of home.
“This is duck [blind] weather on [Lake] Minnetonka,” said one who made the trip from the land of 10,000 lakes. “What the hell…it was 70 at home today?”
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That being so, it’s the longest, coldest season in Buckeye fans’ memory as they dropped their 22nd game of the season to the Gophers (14-17), who themselves won just their third Big Ten Conference game of the year.
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And these things we know……
The Buckeyes trailed again, early. After pitching a perfect, and efficient first inning, starter Drew Erdmann gave up a leadoff single to start the second, then walked a pair of Gopher hitters before serving up a wind-blown home run to the designated hitter, and #9 hitter in the order, Charlie Sutherland…4-0, Minnesota.
Ohio State answered in the bottom of the second with a leadoff homer from first baseman Will Carpenter, his second of the year, but Minnesota came back to trump Carp’s dinger with a pair of walks and an RBI single in the fourth that signaled the end of Erdmann’s day, and a 6-1 Gopher lead.
This is a Minnesota team that’s rebuilding from one of its worst three-year stretches in the history of the program, a program that won 1,390 games under iconic coach John Anderson who retired at the end of the 2024 season. A team that got a steady start from pitcher Cole Selvig, some timely hitting, of course, 10 hits on the afternoon, and played error-free baseball for first-year coach Ty McDevitt.
The Buckeyes would score another run, a single run, in the bottom of the fourth on a pair of walks and a Carpenter single, but trailed 6-2 by the time reliever Ryan Butler settled in to work in the top of the fifth after replacing Erdmann.
Big Ten baseball…Smile and bear it…39 degrees with a north wind during Friday’s game with Minnesota.
Butler has known his own frustrating moments through their first 29 games, but none of that showed as he went about filling up the strike zone, working the next 3.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits while the Buckeyes crept back into contention with 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth. The big blow for the Buckeyes came off the bat of Carpenter, who lined a triple to right to drive in a pair of runners, then Carpenter scored moments later on a wild pitch. Suddenly it was 6-5…doable…winable…hopeful.
“It’s been a rough few weeks for me and it felt good to come back today, throw strikes and fill up the zone, and not have things get away from me like they have,” Butler said with something-less-than-a-satisfied smile, post-game. “Hopefully it’s something that I can build off of, maybe spark the guys, and something I can do again to keep us in future games, continuously.”
He was solid through the seventh, but started the eighth with a flaired single, then a single through shortstop with the defense shifted toward right field. Then he hit Gopher catcher Weber Neels and his day was done, pitching coach Tyler Robinson making the change for lefthander Hunter Shaw. Shaw would allow a pair of inherited runs on a groundout and an error by shortstop Lee Ellis on what would have been the third out. Both runs credited to Butler.
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Minnesota came back to score two in the top of the ninth off Shaw (2 runs on 2 hits)…10-5…to conclude the issue and hand the Buckeyes their 22nd loss of the season.
Minnesota won it with 10 runs on 10 hits and played error-free, while stranding 9 runners on base.
Ohio State lost with 5 runs on 10 hits, committed 3 errors, and like-wise stranded 9.
These are frustrating times, times unthinkable back in mid-February, and after so long a time it can approach a self-fulfilling prophecy of familiar factors and mistakes costing you another ballgame.
Justin Haire: “Well, again we just didn’t play well enough to turn an opportunity into a win, and that’s unfortunate.
“They scored 9 runs with two outs. Six of their guys got on via walk, hit by pitch, or error. We couldn’t get off the field and we put up zeroes the last four innings against their relievers who threw nothing but fastballs. Literally, in every facet of the game we just didn’t play well enough to win, and that’s frustrating.”
Frustrating…because there were glimpses of competitive efforts that you need to win. Butler’s 3.2 innings…Will Carpenter’s three hits (3 for 4)…Tyler Pettorini had another 2 for 5 day…a pair of hard-hit balls by Matt Graveline on a 1-4 day.
“We’ve got great kids in our program,” added Haire, and without reservation. “They care, they care about Ohio State, Buckeye baseball, each other…my frustration and their frustration is the same. It hurts them like it hurts us (coaches) and it’s part of going through hard things together. You’ve got to fight through the adversity because this game will chew you up and spit you out, if you let it. And that’s what those guys are feeling that now.”
To his point…compare the numbers of hits, errors, walks, and hit batsmen, and get an idea of the impact of those little things he keeps talking about.
Friday, it was the difference in a ballgame.
Will Carpenter celebrates his fifth inning triple that drove in a pair of runs.
Game Notes:
A shout out to the small contingent of Minnesota parents and fans who made a ten-hour drive for Friday’s game, no doubt fortified, who didn’t seem to mind the cold, especially when you win.
Pat Jewett, a Gopher fan from Hanover, Minnesota added: “You have to go see for yourself because there’s no coverage of Gopher baseball in the Twin Cities.”
Will Carpenter’s one of those Buckeyes off the bench who’s made the most his limited playing time this year. Hitting .378 in limited at bats, he went 3 for 4 Friday and drove in a pair of runs with a triple in the fifth inning.
Tyler Pettorini had another 2 for 5 day and saw his batting average hold at .359. Pettorini was snubbed by Big Ten coaches last year for all-conference honors.
Saturday’s game is a 3 pm start, with a starting pitcher unannounced for the Buckeyes.
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