On a good day…Ryan Miller crashed his sixth home run of the season in the third to give the Buckeyes a 6-2 lead. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
It took 16 runs and a tough day for the Rutgers pitchers. But the Buckeyes reach a milestone with a 16-run win, and a chance to win a series on Sunday.
Columbus, Oh – Justin Haire was anything but satisfied Saturday. It’s hard to make up for a year in just a day, but at least he could manage a smile.
The Buckeyes avenged Friday and an embarrassing 17-4 loss by pounding on Rutgers in like fashion, scoring 16 times, making the most of 11 hits and 7 Rutgers walks to achieve their 11th win of the season, 16-8.
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There is some significance to that 11th win, because it guarantees that they won’t finish with the worst win total in the modern era of Ohio State baseball (since 1950). That distinction belongs to the 1972 team that finished 11-25, overall, and 6-10 in the Big Ten. It may not seem like much now, but fifty years from now it’s something you can hang your hat on.
And yet, it wasn’t as easy (as always) as 16 to 8 sounds!
Rutgers scored two runs in short order in the top of the first off Jake Michalak off a pair of hits and three walks…one that forced in the second run.
But the Buckeyes responded immediately in the bottom of the first off Rutgers starter Quinn Berlin off a pair of walks, a couple of hits, an error, a hit batsman…it all adds up and the good guys led 4-2.
Trey Lipsey would score on this overthrow at third base, increasing the Bucks’ lead to 11-6 in the fifth inning.
Michalak settled down to pitch a scoreless third…and the Buckeyes would come back with a pair of runs in their half of the inning on Ryan Miller’s 6th home run of the year, following a double by Will Carpenter…6-2, Buckeyes.
Michalak’s day would end one out deep in the fourth when Rutgers came back with 2 runs to cut the lead to 6-4. But it also signaled the latest testimony of reliever Doug Bauer and his ability to come in, throw strikes, be dominant, and pitch competitive baseball.
Bauer gave up two inherited runs from Michalak, and a wind-aided two-run home run by the Knights’ JT Thompson in the sixth, but otherwise he was everything they needed over 3.2 innings, allowing 2 run on 4 hits, striking out three without a walk.
Leading 6-4 in the bottom of the fourth, the Bucks would score four times off relievers Ryan Dillon and Preston Prince…then add a run in the fifth before blowing the game wide open with a 5-run eighth. It eased a lot of fears over whether an 11-8 lead would hold up, given the events of the past two months, and made Hunter Shaw’s final two innings of wrap-up work seem academic. Shaw was nearly perfect with a walk and a strikeout.
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There were more than a few offensive highlights…multi-hit games by Trey Lipsey (2 for 5), Tyler Pettorini (2 for 4), and Ryan Miller (2 for 4).
But for the sake of sheer improvement, a nod to the bullpen work of Bauer and Shaw, who combined pitched 5.1 innings of 2-run, four hit baseball without a walk.
“Those guys were good. Dougie did a good job,” said Haire. “He and Hunter continue to take the ball and give us everything they have. And a lot of them (relievers) have gotten better. Sometimes they don’t get the results that they should, but Doug did a great job of coming in and steadying things. I’m just proud of our guys and happy for this win for them.”
Handyman Will Carpenter, who seems like he can play anywhere, made this play on a ground ball out in the second.
What’s triggered Bauer’s turnaround?
“Work, and some mechanical changes,” he said, post-game. “I’ve tried to simplify things, a little less movement, and I’m not trying to pinpoint everything. I’m just trying to pitch to general location. Not trying to be too fine, because that leads to getting behind in the count when you’re not perfect. You’re not going to feel great as a reliever every day, so when you can do something to make it easier you can get ahead and then expand when you need to.”
What he’s done has been nothing short of exemplary, an example for any number of pitchers who’ve struggled to throw strikes. But in Bauer’s case, when he is feeling good and on a roll he can get it up there with the best of Big Ten relievers, his best fastball registering 96 on he scoreboard radar Saturday.
And with forty games in the books the Buckeyes can be focused on both winning as many as they can, as well as playing spoiler to teams like Rutgers and Northwestern, both fighting to secure those final two Big Ten tournament seeds.
Crushed…what it felt like to be a baseball on Matt Graveline’s double in the eighth inning.
“It’s going to be fun to be in a position to play tomorrow,” said Haire, ignoring the spoiler prospect. He’s a solid one-game-at-a-timer.
“Hopefully we can take the series.”
The Buckeyes won it with 16 runs on 11 hits and had 1 error. Doug Bauer getting the win, his second of the year (2-1). The Buckeyes improve to 11-29, and 3-17 in conference.
Rutgers lost it with 8 runs on 11 hits and one error. Their record now sits at 19-24, and 8-12 in the Big Ten.
And Ryan Miller, one of the multi-hit guys, wore his own smile as he talked briefly, post-game. 2 for 4 with his 6th homer, he values those final 16 games as a senior.
“Things have slowed down for me in the past year,” he acknowledged to his power numbers and his value in the middle of the batting order. “That’s always a big key, that and just trusting your training and preparation. You practice your butt off and hope things just go to work for you. The coaches put us in a great position.
“Evening the series today was awesome and getting a chance to take the series tomorrow would be awesome.”
Little things do mean a lot to this group, from the top down. It’s been said, and it’s been written.
You never take the game, or even putting on a uniform for granted. When it’s gone for most, it’s gone for good and sixteen games remaining can have the significance of 16 days of your life you’ll never get back.
And Justin Haire never looks beyond tomorrow, even bristling at the suggestion sometimes.
But if you’re overly optimistic with sixteen remaining you can dream of 27-29. And why not? There haven’t been a lot peaks this year, and dreams too often nightmares.
And two years ago the Buckeyes indeed did finish with a 9-game win streak to break .500. So anything’s possible.
One game at a time…of course!
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