Reliever Blaine Wynk delivered his most clutch outing of the season…3 innings of no-run, 1-hit baseball to close out the 7-5 win over Illinois. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
A strong start by Landon Beidelschies, some timely hitting by Joseph Mershon, and a lock-tight finish by Blaine Wynk earned the Buckeyes a 7-5 win in the titanic opening to the weekend series.
Champaign, IL – What we learned Friday night in Champaign, Illinois was that you never doubt the outcome in a baseball game as long as you get a quality start, some timely hitting, and a dependable performance from your closer. That combination will win you some baseball games.
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And that’s exactly how the Ohio State Buckeyes won the opening game of a must-have, three-game weekend series with Illinois Friday night – what Marty Brennaman would have called a “titanic struggle”.
Editor and publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sport and Buckeyes baseball for Press Pros Magazine.
It’s what Bill Mosiello really means when he says, “You can’t win them all if you don’t win the first one.” And that’s what the Buckeyes need to do as much as possible over the next 11 games. Win as many as they can!
‘Really good win for the ballclub,” said Mosiello, during the Illinois post-game fireworks party that Ohio State robbed of its lustre .
“There’s a lot of baseball yet to play, and I thought [Landon] Beidelschies set the tone. I don’t know how in the fifth inning he had no walks and he suddenly walks three…because this game shows us that when we do that we’re gonna’ pay. But at least we stayed in the game.
“For four innings that was the real Beidelschies. And maybe he got a little fatigued in the fifth, but he gave us a chance and I was proud of him for the way he competed those first four innings.”
“Landon Beidelschies gave us a chance,” said Bill Mosiello. “I was proud of him for the way he competed.”
Beidelschies was as competitive as he’d been all season (4.2 innings, 4 runs on 4 hits, 5 strikeouts and 3 walks), allowing a run in the third inning on a leadoff single and an RBI triple by the Illini’s Cal Hejza.
The Buckeyes answered in the top of the fourth with a leadoff double by Henry Kaczmar off Illinois starter Jack Crowder, and an eventual sac fly by Joseph Mershon to tie the score at 1-1.
In the bottom of the fourth Illini took back the lead when a first baseman named Vytas Valinicius homered to right just over the outstretched reach of Mitchell Okuley.
But the Buckeyes answered in the top of the fifth on a walk, a hit batsman, and a 2-run double by DH Ryan Miller. And when Miller eventually scored on a sac fly by Nick Giamarusti Ohio State took a 4-2 lead.
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What should have buoyed Beidelschies as he came for the fifth…didn’t. He suddenly lost his compass, could not throw a strike, and eventually walked three in the inning…along with an RBI single and a one-out sac fly off reliever Zach Brown, who was summoned to take over with two out. Illinois had tied the game, again, at 4-4.
Illini’s Vytas Valincius fourth inning home run barely escaped the reach of Ohio State right fielder Mitchell Okuley.
Ohio State proved its resilience in the top of the sixth, retaking the lead on a pair of singles by Mershon and Okuley, and a sac fly from Matt Graveline…5-4, OSU.
Only, the yo-yo continued in the bottom of the sixth when Brown surrendered a one-out double and a two-out RBI base hit to tie it at 5-5.
Crowder was done after six innings, and reliever Ben Plumley promptly gave up the lead again in the top of the seventh on singles by Ryan Miller, Kaczmar, and Tyler Pettorini…6-5, Buckeyes.
Enter Ohio State reliever Blaine Wynk to pitch the seventh, who escaped a two-out triple by Valinicius with a ground ball out to shortstop on which Henry Kaczmar made a dazzling, spinning catch and throw to first.
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In the eighth the Buckeyes again turned to timely hitting when Joseph Mershon poled his third home run, a no doubter, to right field off Plumley to pad their lead to 7-5.
“We’ve been doing this for a while [with the timely hits],” said Mo. “We’re resilient, I like the connectivity of our guys, they’re super competitive, and they’re showing that.”
Joseph Mershon dives for the plate during the Buckeyes’ three-run fifth inning.
Needing a hammer to now quell another Illinois comeback, Wynk delivered, retiring the side in order on just 11 pitches. And when the Buckeyes failed to score in the top of the ninth, Bill Mosiello sent Wynk out again to record the final three outs – playing the hot hand, if you will.
“We’ve sent Wynk out there before in a situation like this [playing the hot hand],” said Mosiello. “Hopefully, his pitch count would stay low enough so he could come back and pitch Sunday. But there was never a thought of him not pitching the ninth.”
And what a ninth by the sophomore from Miamisburg, as he retired the side in order, and kept his pitch count to just 36 for his three innings of work – no runs on 1 hit with a pair of strikeouts…and no walks!
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It was a big win, when nothing else would do but to have a BIG win. But the thought of it never occurred to Wynk.
“I was just trying to hold them the whole time, really.” he smiled. “I kinda’ surprised myself.”
He attacked the strike zone, kept the ball down, and threw not only hard, but quality pitches with the fastball that touched 95 on the radar.
“I’m starting to realize that a first pitch strike is bigger than I thought,” he added. “A lot of times when you get hit hard you look back and realize that the first pitch [you threw] wasn’t a strike.
The Buckeyes (23-20, 8-8 in Big Ten) won it with 7 runs on 9 hits and had no errors. Zach Brown earned the decision, improving his record to 4-0.
Illinois (26-17, 11-5 in Big Ten), lost it with 5 runs on 7 hits and had no errors.
Yes, it was a big win…as the difference in emotions would indicate.
One game, as Mosiello says, does not make a weekend or a season. But the reality is…that while full of fight, and resilience, they’re running out of games and taking game one was a big, BIG deal. Depending on the outcome of other Friday games, they’re going to be no worse than eighth in the standings when they meet for game two on Saturday at 2 pm. They’re currently tied with Michigan State, who beat Michigan Friday night, 3-2.
“It was a good start to this big weekend,” said Mosiello. “We continue to fight. One game doesn’t make a weekend, but you can’t win them all if you don’t win the first and our guys have shown that they’re willing to play their tails off.”.
Game Notes….
The hitting stars were Joseph Mershon (2 for 3 with home run, 2 RBIs, now hitting .326), Henry Kaczmar (2 for 5 with an RBI, now hitting 339), and Ryan Miller (2 for 3, 2 RBIs, raising his average to 278).
If, like Blaine Wynk says, strikes matter, consider that starter Landon Beidelschies threw a total of 82 pitches Friday, but just 47 strikes (57%). Zach Brown threw a total of 16 pitches, with 9 strikes (56%). Wynk threw 36 pitches, with 25 strikes (69.5%).
Gavin Bruni will get the start on Saturday, seeking his fourth win of the season.
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