The Buckeyes close out the weekend and the February portion of their schedule with a 10-3 loss to Texas. Open at Bill Davis this week.
Houston, TX – You might be familiar with the Gatlin Brothers song, Houston, whose lyrics read…”Houston means that I’m one day closer to you.”
And that song has nothing to do with baseball, except…that Sunday’s finale at the Bruce Bolt College Baseball Classic did not go well for the 5-5 Buckeyes. And indeed, after losing to the University of Texas, 10-3, it meant that they were one day closer to this week’s Bill Davis opener against Xavier on Tuesday. Hopefully, some home cookin’ will do them some good.
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Junior transfer Pierce Herrenbruck was roughed up in the third inning for 6 runs on 4 hits by the Longhorns, who scored an additional run off freshman reliever Owen Graf, and eventually tagged the Buckeyes with their fourth loss in their last five games, 10-3.
The Longhorns would score 10 runs on 12 hits and left 10 on base.
The Buckeyes would come back to score single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings…highlighted by a home run by Noah Furcht…but the early damage was simply more than the offense could overcome. Buckeyes bats managed only 6 hits for the afternoon, including a double by CJ Reid, a triple by Lee Ellis, and Furcht’s home run, his first as a Buckeye.
Herrenbruck was lifted one out deep in the third, and was succeeded by four relievers – Graf, Ryan Zamora, Andrew Edrington, and Jake Michalak – who collectively gave up 4 runs on 8 hits while striking out 6 and walking 6 over 5.2 innings. In total, Buckeye pitching walked 8 for the game.
After retiring the first six Texas hitters to start the game, Herrenbruck walked the first two hitters in the top of the third, leading to the unthinkable. The Longhorns strung together two more walks, two singles, two doubles, and a home run before being retired.
And for the second day in a row the batting order was limited to just 6 hits for the game, so some home cookin’ may be just the thing to fix what’s suddenly gone sideways after a 5-2 start in those first two weekends against St. Louis and Memphis.
Xavier comes to Bill Davis for Tuesday’s opener at 3 pm with a 4-7 record, hitting .255 as a team, and pitching to an 8.20 earned run average.
Following Xavier, the Buckeyes open Big Ten play this coming weekend, hosting the UCLA Bruins in a three-game set. The Bruins are 9-2 after three weeks, hitting .311 as a team, and pitching at a 3.72 earned run average.
Game times for the weekend are 4:00 pm on Friday, 2:00 pm on Saturday, and 11:00 am on Sunday. The games will be broadcast on the Big Ten + network (subscription required).
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