The early returns for junior catcher Mason Eckelman (.256, 2 HRs) are a glimpse of better things yet to come. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
At 5-6 the Buckeyes host #1-ranked UCLA in the Big Ten opener this weekend at Bill Davis…and that 5-6 poses as many questions (or more) than answers at they start conference play against the nation’s best.
If you haven’t noticed the Buckeyes open Big Ten baseball play this weekend at Bill Davis Stadium – Friday (4 pm, ET), Saturday (2 pm, ET), and Sunday (11 am, ET) against UCLA.
Early, you ask?
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Indeed, about two weeks earlier than normal, thanks to the infusion of the four West Coast conference members – Southern Cal, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. And Justin Haire and the Buckeyes will provide a much-better-than-it-could-be setting for the first-time-ever appearance of UCLA baseball in Columbus with a March forecast of 75 degrees, and drippy. And the drippy part really doesn’t matter when you’re playing on plastic.
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What does matter are the metrics of the matter – the stats. Or, in competitive terms, the reality of the moment.
The Buckeyes enter with a record of 5-6, all non-conference, and with a two-week record of having lost five of their last six, the latest being a 13-4 pasting in the official home opener against Xavier at Bill Davis on Wednesday, a game that brought memories of recent days and recent nightmares from the pitching staff. More about that.
UCLA enters with a 9-2 mark and the #1 ranking this week by D1 Baseball in their list of NCAA Top 25 teams, nationally.
The metrics of the matter?
UCLA enters with a team batting average of about .290, give or take; and a team ERA at last look of 3.87. Their two losses have been as impressive as their nine wins, in terms of name-dropping. UC-San Diego got ’em in the first week of the season, and they lost 4-3 to San Diego State last week. Their wins include Tennessee, Texas A&M, TCU, Cal-State Fullerton, and Mississippi State.
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The Buckeyes will enter with a mark of 5-6, hitting .235 as a team, and pitching to a 5.47 earned run average…about half of what it was at this time last year after twelve games. Five wins and six losses mark noted improvement with a sweep of St. Louis on opening weekend, and a pair of wins in Week 2 against Memphis. Some more metrics, if you care…St. Louis is currently 4-9 on the year, and Memphis is 3-9.
But Wednesday’s loss in the rain, to Xavier out of the Big East, where they play pretty good baseball, had some tangible reminders from the recent past.
Sophomore starter Gavin Kuzniewski (0-0 in 14 innings) has pitched well enough to win, but hasn’t.
The pitching staff, without a doubt, is still under construction – new faces, new arms, new development, and a lot of the same challenges that made 2025 a year to learn from, but not to repeat.
After eleven games there’s still no confident weekend starting rotation…a fluid matter that includes sophomore Gavin Kuzniewski (0-0), freshman Jude Fisher (1-2), and Pierce Herrenbruck (1-2), just to name three. And frankly, Kuzniewski has pitched well enough over 14 innings to win, but that’s baseball.
Behind the starters is the ever-looming question that has plagued this program since the Mosiello years in 2023-’24. The bullpen has been the epitome of a work in progress, and Wednesday’s tuneup with Xavier served as a reminder that this group serves up too many walks and free bases. Through 97 innings thus far, the staff has struck out 114 and walked 64, a percentage just slightly ahead of last year’s pace. Call it progress, I guess.
But there is so much more to do as the quarter pole of the season approaches, and against teams much tougher than St. Louis and Memphis. Against Xavier, the sampling of starter Jude Fisher and six relievers gave up 11 hits, struck out 8, walked 8…and hit a batter.
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And there is some impatience about the offense, but the sample size is small. And Haire and company insist, and I concur, that this team will hit and score runs.
Currently, the bright spots of that metric are Noah Furcht (.385, 3 HRs, and .718% slug), Lee Ellis (.286, 10 RBIs, and .514% slug), Miles Vandenheuvel (.286), Mason Eckelman (.256, 2 HRs and 11 RBIs), and Henry Kaczmar (.256, 4 doubles, and .349% slug). Those numbers are bound to change with the weather and playing time.
But playing time, presently, comes against the #1 team in the country this weekend, and then Washington next week (in Seattle, 3-9 as of this weekend), followed by a weekend series with Butler University (3-8 as of this weekend) on March 20, 21, and 22 at Bill Davis.
“We’re making some strides in the right direction,” Justin Haire said last week. That said, he’d like to be striding at a brisk pace as the reality of conference play looms, and with some of those unanswered pitching questions after eleven games.
I won’t bore, or alarm. you with the specific numbers in the UCLA batting order, except to say that junior outfielder Will Gasparino is hitting .386 with 10 home runs and 22 RBIs after transferring from Texas last year – a pretty good first three weeks.
That’s uncomfortable to consider, but you’ll remember that the Buckeyes took two of three from Oregon last year in a similar early conference scenario, and outscored the Ducks 19-16 in those two games. That’s all we can say.
All we’re going to say…for now.
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