Henry Kaczmar led the Buckeyes with four hits and his seventh home run of the season in Friday’s series opener with Purdue. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Purdue scored 9 times in the first four innings off Buckeye starter Gavin Kuzniewski…and a late comeback sparked by a pair of Dane Harvey home runs fell short as OSU drops mysterious opener in West Lafayette, 10-9.
West Lafayette, IN – When it rains, as they say…it pours!
How else can you characterize Ohio State’s 10-9 series-opening loss Friday afternoon in West Lafayette to Purdue (26-11, 13-6)…in a game that saw the Buckeyes’ starting pitching falter, digging a hole too deep to escape in the second inning?
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Tied 1-1 after the first, Purdue batted around in the second against Buckeye starter Gavin Kuzniewski to score six times, on five hits…including a pair of doubles and a pair of hit batsmen. And that one inning turned out to be the difference in the game.
And ironically, it turned out to be a game that saw the Buckeye bullpen pitch brilliantly from the fifth through the eighth – Jack Cecil, Andrew Edrington, and Luke Carrell – allowing one run on two hits while striking out five!
A game that saw the OSU offense give them every opportunity for a comeback with four runs in fifth inning, and four runs in the seventh, including home runs by Henry Kaczmar (his 7th) and Dane Harvey (his 9th in the fifth, and 10th in the seventh).
A game that saw both Kaczmar and catcher Mason Eckelman go 4 for 5 at the plate, and Noah Furcht and Harvey drive in 3 RBIs each…..
A game that saw OSU outscore Purdue 8-1 over the final four innings, limiting the Boilermakers to just 2 hits and three base runners…..
But it wasn’t enough to escape the second inning.
The question of sound baseball in all phases that Justin Haire has talked about during their recent streak of series wins was never more obvious, given that the starting pitching has been competitive during their record of 13-4 since March 18.
But it wasn’t on Friday, at Purdue, a place where the Buckeyes last dropped the opening game of a three-game series in 2022, 7-5, when weekend temperatures never got above 32 degrees…and the final two games were cancelled because of ice in the outfield!
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Final Facts:
Purdue won it Friday with 10 runs on 12 hits and committed one error.
The Buckeyes dropped to 19-17 (9-7 in conference) with 9 runs on 14 hits and two errors. They stranded 9 men on base.
The Buckeyes are still sixth in the Big Ten standings, while Purdue jumped ahead of Southern California into fourth place with Friday’s win.
Mason Eckleman’s four hits on Friday were a career high, while his cousin, Henry Kaczmar tied a career record Saturday with his four hits.
A fifth straight series win is still in the offing, and the Buckeyes figure to counter with junior Chris Domke on the mound Saturday. Domke (4-3, 6.39) pitched brilliantly last weekend (1 run on 7 hits over 5.2) in their series with Penn State.
While rain is in the forecast, there is no evidence of game-time temperatures at 30 degrees, which is what they played in 2022!
Saturday’s game at Alexander Stadium was listed online as a sellout!
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