The Buckeyes lost for the second time in as many days in Houston, 8-0 to the University of Mississippi in the Bruce Bolt College Classic.
Houston, TX – The bad news is that the baseball Buckeyes lost for the second time in as many days in Houston, 8-0 to the University of Mississippi, in the Bruce Bolt Baseball Classic.
The worse news is…there wasn’t much in terms of positives to write, with the notable exception of first-timers like Noah Furcht going 3 for 4 at the plate; and starting pitcher Chris Domke getting his feet a bit wetter against the kind of hitting he’s likely to see for the entirety of the upcoming Big Ten schedule.
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Domke pitched the first five innings against the 10-1 Ole’ Miss Rebels, gave up 3 runs on 4 hits, while striking out 6 and walking 2. All three runs were earned.
And that’s notable for the fact that 3 runs against a batting order hitting a collective .309 will usually give you at least a chance to score, and even win.
But on this day the Buckeyes suffered a power outage at the plate, with the exception of Furcht, against Mississippi starter Cade Townsend, who surrendered just 3 hits over the first five innings while striking out 9.
From that point the Rebels bullpen (Taylor Rabe) slammed the door even harder over the final four innings, allowing no hits while striking out 7.
You read right. The Buckeyes hitters struck out a total of 16 times against Townsend and Rabe, and credit to Chris Domke…no amount of good pitching is going to help you when you strike 16 times and have 6 hits.
Out of all this, Ohio State coach Justin Haire is gaining a measure of his bullpen – who throws strikes, who throws clean innings, and who’s competitive on a daily basis when he gets the call.
Saturday Luke Carrell and Lincoln McVicker both gave good accounts of themselves, Carrell with a scoreless sixth, and McVicker with a scoreless seventh.
But in the eighth junior Sahil Patel and sophomore Nik Copenhaver ran into trouble, between them allowing 4 runs on a hit and three walks…ahead of a grand slam home run by Ole’ Miss right fielder Brett Mosely, that eliminated any chance for a comeback.
Following Copenhaver, Nick Sawyer (Upper Arlington) came on to pitch the final 1.2 innings, allowing an earned run on a hit.
Final lines: Mississippi won it with 8 runs on 7 hits.
Ohio State lost it (now 5-4) with no runs on 6 hits.
The weekend series concludes Sunday against the University of Texas (Austin), scheduled for 3 pm, eastern time. You can watch the game on Astro streaming.
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