John Logan transfer Nick Giamarusti has come on strong at the plate for the Buckeyes, hitting .300 currently, and coming off a 4 for 5 performance last Friday against Purdue. (Press Pros File Photos)
As stern a test as they could get at this point in the Big Ten schedule, the Buckeyes go on the road to Nebraska to take on the 20-6 Huskers.
Columbus, OH – If you’re a baseball purist, prone to being old school, there’s a lot to like with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, this weekend’s opponent in week 2 of the Big Ten schedule. The Buckeyes kick it off with a 6:05 start Friday at Haymarket Field in Lincoln.
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First, the Cornhuskers pitch. Boy do they pitch. Their cumulative earned run average is a conference-leading 3.78, and they’re led individually by senior starter Brett Sears who’s 5-0 and carries a 1.36 ERA. Not overpowering, but Sears throws hard enough have struck out 47 in 46 innings…and get this, he doesn’t walk anyone.
In large part, that pitching is responsible for their gaudy 20-6 record (3-0) in the Big Ten, that and the fact that no one plays more sound baseball behind that pitching than Will Bolt’s Huskers. In fact, I was shocked to see that they ranked just ninth in the conference in team defense, but give it time. By season’s end they’ll be in the top five.
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Second, they hit. Not a team of mashers (slug % of just .440), but they’re a team of gap hitters who put the ball in play and don’t strike out much…led by sophomore infielder Cayden Brumbaugh, who’s just a contact machine.
Third, the Nebraska bench, historically, is as deep as any team in the Big Ten. It’s amazing…whoever they call for usually delivers. They’re committed to execution – again, old school – and their ability to hit with two outs and men on base is uncanny. They always have a guy like Mojo Hagge, who could play anywhere and usually deliver a pair of hits. The last time they played, in 2022, Hagge tormented the Buckeyes, going 5 for 8 in the series…off the bench.
Fourth, going back to the Darin Erstad days, no one in the league does a better job of recruiting native talent – from Nebraska, Minnesota, the Dakotas, and recently as far away as Texas and Arizona.
So the culture of baseball under fifth-year coach Will Bolt, who’s home-grown, and captained the Nebraska team to the College World Series in 2001 and 2002, is long-standing and they have a huge fan base that usually turns out. The play good people out of conference and they got it going in conference last weekend with a three-game sweep of Northwestern.
So there you have it. The Buckeyes have their work cut out this weekend, in a series that at least forecasts better weather than we’ll have back home.
Soph catcher Matt Graveline (above) has been sterling behind the plate and leads the Buckeyes in hitting at .330.
They (the Buckeyes) enter the series with an overall record of 12-12 (2-1 in the Big Ten), having taken 2 of 3 last weekend from Purdue.
As a team they’re hitting .264, and as a team they’re pitching with a cumulative ERA of 5.99, led by Friday night starter Landon Beideschies (3-4, 3.45 ERA).
Average-wise, the Buckeyes are led by catcher Matt Graveline (.330), but the quartet of Henry Kaczmar (.319), Tyler Pettorini (.297), and Nick Giamarusti (.300) have all been robust at times over the course of 24 games. Giamarusti, in particular, has come on strong of late, recently going 4 for 5 in Friday’s opener against Purdue.
So despite the records, talent-wise the two teams match up.
Experience, however, is another matter. If Bill Mosiello likes clean baseball where teams compete and make you beat them, that’s what he’s about to see. Nebraska puts the ball in play, and they’re tough to beat at home (they’re 9-1 this season at Haymarket Field, one of the really pretty college ballparks in America).
Ohio State ranks ninth in team hitting in the league, seventh in pitching, and seventh in team defense, two spots ahead of Nebraska. The two teams last met in 2022 when the Huskers swept the three-game set at Bill Davis Stadium, 5-3, 10-5, and 17-5.
Friday’s presumptive starters with be Beidelschies for Ohio State vs. Nebraska’s Brett Sears. Gavin Bruni will get one of the remaining games for the Buckeyes, and a third starter is yet to be determined.
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