Buckeyes catcher Matt Graveline dives to tag out ASU runner Kien Vu as he attempted to steal home in the seventh inning. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Opportunities abound, as do hard lessons. The Buckeyes snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with a 7-6 loss to Arizona State in game 2 of the opening weekend series.
Phoenix, AZ – Buckeyes baseball boss Justin Haire said it as succinctly as possible following Saturday’s ninth inning collapse, allowing Arizona State to score two in the ninth for a 7-6 win.
It all happened with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Nik Copenhaver, the third reliever in as many innings following six sturdy innings from sophomore starter, Chase Herrell.
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Said Haire: “Why we love baseball and why we hate baseball is all the same. It’s a very hard game, it’s a very challenging game, and there’s a factors outside our control.
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“And it hurts. It hurts when you don’t finish off games that you have a chance to win. And our guys are hurtin’.”
Hurtin’, yes. But there are no purple hearts in baseball.
It’s unjust to simply say that this is one they should have won, because you learn to win games like this, which Haire’s Buckeyes are quickly learning…if they didn’t already know. One step forward, and maddeningly, two steps backward over the first two games of this series and the 2025 season. .
However, for the second day in a row you can list the steps forward.
The Buckeyes scored first again in the initial inning on a Tyler Pettorini double and a Marc Stephens RBI single to take a 1-0 lead.
Chase Herrell pitched six innings, giving up four runs on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
Herrell, making his first start after a promising freshman year, immediately gave up the lead with a one-out walk and a two run homer in the bottom of the first.
Ohio State came back in the top of the second to score two runs off ASU starter Jack Martinez on Lee Ellis’s first home run as a Buckeye, and then Ryan Miller scoring after being hit by a pitch on a wild pitch.
Then, impressively, Herrell learned something about keeping the ball down in the strike zone, pitching ahead, and turned the tables on the Sun Devils hitters for the next four innings, pitching shutout ball through the fifth on just three hits.
Ohio State scored an insurance run in the top of the fifth on a Giamarusti double, and a sac fly by Trey Lipsey. They led 4-2.
Perhaps pushing himself too far, Herrell came out for the sixth and quickly gave up back-to-back hits. which ended up scoring to tie the game at 4-4 going into the seventh.
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But the Buckeyes took a 5-4 lead in the seventh when they put four men on base, then scored just onc… a step backward, as it left the door open for ASU in the bottom of the inning when the Sun Devils scored on a double off reliever Doug Bauer to knot things at 5-5.
Lee Ellis hammered his first home run of the season to tie the game in the top of the second.
Again the Buckeyes came back to take the lead in the top of the eighth when Giamarusti walked, stole second and third, and scored on a wild pitch. 6-5, Buckeyes.
Transfer Nik Copenhaver had come on to finish the bottom of the eighth and stood to be the winning pitcher with just three outs in the bottom of the ninth.
He retired the leadoff hitter on a fly ball to Lipsey in right.
He gave up a base hit that was quickly erased on a fielder’s choice at second base. Two outs now, with a man on first.
With two outs he walked the leadoff hitter in the ASU lineup, putting men on first and second with two outs.
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Then, a high hop ground ball to shortstop Marc Stephens who misjudged the speed of batter-runner Kien Vu and Vu beat Stephens’ throw to first.
Still needing just an out to win, left fielder Brandon Compton hit a line drive right at centerfielder Reggie Bussey. The ball was directly in the sun and had a lot of over-spin, forcing Bussey to go to his knees in an effort to make the catch. He had already made three sparkling plays in the game, but Bussey couldn’t make this one. The ball handcuffed him, two runners scored, and just that quickly ASU took the lead, the game, and the series with a 7-6 win.
Diamond gem…Reggie Bussey runs down this drive to the gap in right during Saturday’s loss to Arizona State.
Arizona State (2-0) won the game with 7 runs on 10 hits and had one error. They left 9 men on base.
Ohio State (0-2) lost it with 6 runs on 8 hits and had one error. The Buckeyes left 12 men on base.
Among questions about pitching and the bullpen, the fact remains that Ohio State had multiple chances to push across a second or third insurance run in the person of all those men left on base.
“Losing hurts,” Haire continued. “And that’s OK. And that’s the message. It’s OK to hurt, feel some pain, and be disappointed by the challenge of baseball. The key is what we do with that pain, and whether we allow it to drive our energy level for tomorrow in a positive way?
It’s tough to see the positives after almost identical disappointing losses back-to-back.
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But Herrell’s performance is most certainly at the top of Saturday’s list.
Tyler Pettorini’s three hits are next in line.
Marc Stephens continued to hit with his second consecutive 2-for-5 game.
Lee Ellis exhibited his potential with the towering home run to left in the second inning.
But at some point over the next two weekends they need someone to come into games after the starter and put a choke hold on opposing batting orders, and the game. Someone to say…I want this job.
“I thought Chase did a great job of settling in,” said Haire. “He’s an ultra-competitor and a little bit of a throwback with his pitchability. And that’s awesome. It’s fun to see and I was really proud of his effort.
“It’s awesome that we’ve had two one-run games here at the start of the year because you learn about your club. You learn what to expect out of guys when they get thrown in the fire…how they respond. From a 30,000 foot view, we’re learning a lot about our players and a lot about our bullpen – who’s going to be able to step into those opportunities and succeed. There’s be more guys who get an opportunities tomorrow that we have to count on and we’ll see how they respond.”
Freshman Nik Copenhaver deals with the challenge of pitching the bottom of the ninth.
Just two games in, there were more than one who agonized in the dugout following Saturday’s loss – Copenhaver, Reggie Bussey, Marc Stephens, and Lee Ellis. All of them new faces, competitive, and learning to win games like this through the disappointment of Friday and Saturday.
“The last two days have been two teams going at each other and they found a way to come out on top,” Haire concluded. “We’ll do our best to find a way to come out on top tomorrow.”
Series Notes
Sophomore Jake Michalak takes the ball on Sunday looking to salvage an important game as a boost to next weekend’s series in Jacksonville.
It’s early in the season but Michigan State, Michigan, Oregon, Purdue, UCLA, USC are a combined 14-0 through Saturday.
Nik Copenhaver and Justin Haire are both alumni from Hamilton Badin High School. Copenhaver spent last year at Vanderbilt.
Lee Ellis’ home run was a welcome sight, a no-doubter to left field off hard-throwing ASU starter Jack Martinez.
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