Yard bomb…Tyler Pettorini watches his third inning home run leave the ballpark, part of a 26-run, 17-hit explosion in the Sunday finale at Morgantown. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
At the end of a month-long road trip, the Ohio State Buckeyes atoned for the frustrations in Arizona and California with an offense outburst that saw them win a valuable RPI series against West Virginia, two games to one.
Morgantown, W VA – All’s well that end’s well, they say.
And that was the tone of OSU coach Bill Mosiello Sunday after a 26-11 drubbing of West Virginia to take the three-game series and finally come home after an 18-game road trip that covered Arizona, Nevada, California, and back cross-country to conclude where earned run averages go to die, in Morgantown, West Virginia.
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The Buckeyes pounded out 26 runs on 17 hits and played the entire series without making an error – a series that included some BIG offensive moves, statistically.
Catcher Matt Graveline went 4 for 5, moving his batting average to the .333 neighborhood.
Trey Lipsey would go 2 for 3, and score 3 times.
Tyler Pettorini, who can have a multi-hit game in straight jacket, went 2 for 6, cracked a three-run homer, and finished with 5 RBIs.
Hank Thomas entered the game in the fourth inning and proceeded to have another multi-hit day, 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs.
Joe Mershon followed Pettorini’s homer in the third with one of his own.
Joe Mershon only went 1 for 3, but his one hit was a back-to-backer home run following Pettorini’s in the third inning.
It was hardly a day for pitchers, but that said…freshman Chase Herrell would pick up his first collegiate win, relieving Gavin Bruni with one out in the fifth inning when the game was still in doubt…working long enough to qualify for the victory.
And another freshman…the pride of Grove City…Zak Sigman would work a scoreless, perfect eighth inning in his first collegiate appearance. He was awarded the official dugout lineup wall card to commemorate the moment.
“It was just a good day for a lot of our guys, and a good day for this ballclub,” said Mosiello. “I’m so proud of them because of the tough road trip, 18 games, and tough games against some really good clubs. And all the travel at the end of this thing…you wonder if it’s going to wear ’em down, is it going to catch up with us, and they played right through it.
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“They’re an incredible, resilient bunch of kids and they’re so responsible. No one’s ever late, no one misses anything, and you’re proud of them because they make it easier. I have enough stress trying to get somebody out, let alone worrying about someone not doing the right things.”
Shortstop Henry Kaczmar gives a thumbs up during the Buckeyes’ 8-run sixth.
On the offensive outburst, he couldn’t have been more pleased for doing things on time there, too – call it timely hitting. For the second day in a row they jumped ahead in the top of the first, scoring on a base hit by Lipsey, a walk to Kaczmar, a hit by Graveline and a pair of fielder’s choices that staked them to a 2-0 lead.
And after WVU tied the score with two runs in the bottom of the second, the Buckeyes erupted for five runs in the top of the third – a leadoff walk to Lipsey…Kaczmar hit by a pitch…Graveline’s RBI single…and Pettorini followed with an opposite field home run to left to drive in three more…Mershon followed with a solo homer to left…five runs on three hits and the first of four times during the game when the Bucks would bat around – all nine guys coming to the plate.
Leading 7-2, they saw WVU come back in the fourth to cut the led to 7-4, chasing Gavin Bruni with one out, in favor of Chase Herrell. Herrell worked through the rest of the inning and would work a total of two innings to pick up the win.
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But in the top of the sixth they blew they through the order again, scoring eight times on six hits, and by now blowing through the vaunted Mountaineer bullpen.
In the top of the seventh OSU would score four more times, batting around for the third time.
The Pride of the ‘Dawgs in Grove City…Zak Sigman worked a perfect eighth in his college debut.
WVU answered – sort of – in the bottom of the seventh, plating a pair of runs against freshman Andrew Edrington and Jacob Morin.
Leading now 19-6, the Bucks’ bench erupted in the top of the eighth, scoring seven more times to push the margin to 26-6.
Zak Sigman came in to pitch a one-two-three bottom of the inning, and it looked academic as Jake Michalak came on to close out the ninth.
But to give you an idea about the quality of this West Virginia team…they preyed upon Michalak’s inability to find home plate and ended up scoring 5 times, including a wind-blown grand slam off Logan Jones, before the final out could be recorded.
Ohio State moved to 10-8 on the season with 26 runs on 17 hits and no errors.
West Virginia dropped to 11-9 on the season with 11 runs on 8 hits and one error.
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To finally go home…that was the sentiment in the winning dugout as they gathered their gear and headed for the bus and the Pittsburgh airport for an evening flight back to Columbus.
“It was a great way to finish the trip,” said Matt Graveline, hardly concealing his smile over four hits in five at bats and his batting average finally eclipsing the .300 mark. “It allows for momentum going forward and our home opener this week with Georgetown. It was a good series win, and against a great team. And 4 for 5 feels pretty good, too.”
And some defense….Trey Lipsey made this running over-the-shoulder catch in the third inning.
“This feels great,” added Henry Kaczmar. “And I give credit to our bullpen guys coming in and doing their job. And obviously, our taking what they gave us offensively. We really competed at the plate today, had a lot of good at bats when the game was still competitive. It’s big for us to come home like this for our opener.”
“This was great after the first night didn’t go our way,” said Tyler Pettorini. “But we got ’em the next two days and this is a great win for us, going home. We’ll go home and keep working. But this one was a good one to win.”
Good for momentum, and good for the record, RPI-wise, come June when at-large considerations are made for the NCAA tournament.
“If you look at it now, all those teams that we played out West are on a huge run now,” added Mosiello. “Oklahoma is beating everybody, Cal is playing great baseball, Cal Poly has won six out of the last seven…and Oklahoma beat TCU the first two games of that series. So everything we’ve done against teams like that is going to look pretty good come the end of the year.”
But pausing to catch his breath…he re-prioritized.
“That being said, everything we’ve done is about getting ready for the Big Ten. Now it’s about how you play when it counts the most. The question is…are we battle-tested to play in the Big Ten? And obviously we are, given our first 18 games. That’s what this whole business has been about.
“I’m sure proud of these guys and it should be a good bus ride home.”
Tyler Pettorini gets the dugout’s welcome after his third inning home run ignited the Bucks’ rout of WVU.
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