Junior starter Blaine Wynk seeks to rebound from a slow start in Phoenix with his Friday start against North Carolina State. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Coming off a disappointing opening weekend in Phoenix, Ohio State seeks its first win against three blue-bloods and a former NCAA title winner in Jacksonville.
Columbus, OH – You can nearly always quote Casey Stengel regarding a given baseball issue…because despite his ‘issues’ with the King’s English, ol’ Casey made a lot of baseball sense. You just had to sort it out.
Back in 1962 Stengel said this about the progress of his expansion New York Mets: “This team has come along slow, but fast.”
The Sheward-Fulks agency, in Jackson, Ohio, proudly supports the Buckeyes.
Such are the early impressions of the 2025 Buckeyes following a disappointing series in Phoenix last week, hoping to reverse a revealing three-game losing streak this weekend in Jacksonville in the Jax College Baseball Classic.
But things don’t get easier for the Buckeyes when they meet North Carolina State on Friday, Coastal Carolina on Saturday, and Alabama on Sunday…three teams that went a collective 10-0 on opening weekend.
NC State is ranked 12th nationally, Coastal Carolina is a former NCAA title winner in 2016, and Alabama is in year two of an impressive rebuild by former Maryland coach, Rob Vaughn. It is, for week 2 of the season, the veritable eye of the storm.
The Buckeyes will seek to find consistency, first and foremost, with their starting pitching.
Junior Blaine Wynk will no doubt be tried again on Friday, but the Miamisburg native only lasted three innings in his season debut against Arizona State, giving up six runs on four hits and a pair of home runs.
Sophomore Chase Herrell pitched effectively on Saturday against the same Sun Devils, lasting through the sixth (4 runs on 6 hits).
And sophomore Jake Michalak lasted just two innings on Sunday, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits, including a pair of home runs.
Reliever Hunter Shaw showed the most impressive three-innings of any Buckeye pitcher in Arizona, retiring nine consecutive ASU hitters.
Actually, one can easily make the case for reliever Hunter Shaw having been the most impressive arm from opening weekend, retiring nine consecutive ASU hitters in succession after relieving Wynk on Friday night. Shaw tired in his fourth inning of work and was tagged with a tough-luck loss.
NC State, regardless of who pitches, will be no easy remedy. The Wolfpack, under coach Elliot Avent came through the weekend hitting a collective .364 with 7 home runs against Fordham.
Coastal, playing for first-year coach Kevin Schnall, hit .344 in their four-game weekend with St. Joseph, Kansas State, and Washington.
And Alabama sits at .384 with 8 homers and owns 53 hits after winning their first four games of the season against Bradley and Middle Tennessee.
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” I was proud of the way he competed, and things will clean up over the course of time. I’ve got a lot of faith in him,” Justin Haire said of Wynk, his hoped-for, and presumed horse at the top of the weekend rotation. And Wynk has the physical tools to beat any Division I team in the country.
But like a number of Buckeye pitchers last weekend he fell victim to failure to locate and execute secondary pitches. The fastball reached 96 on the scoreboard radar, but one-dimensional easily becomes hitting speed at this level of college baseball.
“He had trouble landing his off-speed stuff and the changeup,” explained Haire.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and Ohio State baseball for Press Pros Magazine.com.
And almost to a man, you could say that about nearly all of the Buckeyes hurlers who found that throwing hard, and throwing hard in the middle of the strike zone can get you in trouble. You have to ‘pitch’, and you have to execute.
And, you can’t give up that many free bases. A pitching nemesis in 2023 and ’24, the Buckeyes started 2025 by walking 19 hitters in 24.2 innings against Arizona State.
But, credit Haire for patience and putting the best face on it possible. Pitching is, and always will be, 80% of baseball.
As for things cleaning up over the course of time…given the perceived upgrade in competition this weekend, sooner than later is kinda’ necessary.
In this case slow, but fast is going to prove uncomfortable.
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