Keep your hats on…Ryan Miller’s solo homer in the third inning of game one propelled the Buckeyes to an early 3-0 lead. But Michigan would rebound to score eleven over the final six innings to win, 11-4. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
An early 3-run lead in game one proved not to be enough…and the familiar issue of walks, wild pitches, and hit batsmen in the second game extended the Buckeyes misery to 3-22 in the Big Ten.
Columbus, OH – The sun did shine a bit on Bill Davis Stadium on Sunday, enough for the Buckeyes to build an early 3-0 lead in the first game of their get-away day doubleheader with Michigan.
But it also rained, and just enough to wash out that 3-0 lead with Michigan rallies to score 3 in the fourth inning, 2 in the fifth, and 4 in the sixth to take a 9-4 lead. Eventually they would add two more runs in the eighth to take the first game, and the series 11-4.
Starting pitcher Gavin Kuzniewski gave the Buckeyes his best three-inning outing in five starts with three scoreless, while the Buckeyes supported him with a leadoff homer by Ryan Miller in the bottom of the third, his seventh of the season. They followed with a single by Maddix Simpson and a walk to Matt Graveline…followed by single from Tyler Pettorini and Lee Ellis that drove in Simpson and Graveline…3-0.
OSU’s Hunter Shaw pitched 3.1 innings of relief, allowing three runs on five hits, and struck out three.
And then, that familiar tune and the official ‘walk-up’ music of the 2025 season. Kuzniewski came back out in the fourth as a lesser version himself, gave up the lead when a throwing error by Lee Ellis allowed Michigan its foot in the door…and watched Michigan take the lead for good in the fifth on with a pair of doubles and an RBI single.
Hoping to get three additional outs from his starter, Justin Haire left Kuzniewski in for the sixth hoping to get those outs, but that proved disastrous.
Michigan singled to lead off the inning, then followed with a two-run homer, back-to-back doubles, and an RBI single (five hits in the inning) to stretch the lead to 9-4.
Hunter Shaw relieved Kuzniewski with two outs in the fifth and proceeded to pitch 3.1 innings, allowing 3 runs on five hits, striking out three.
Offensively, the Buckeyes, as they’ve had in the past, had their chances, leaving the bases loaded in the third and men on second and third in the fourth for want of a two-out hit. In total, they left 11 on base, falling to 11-32, overall.
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The second game began beyond 7 pm after a three-hour delay due to storms and lightning. But again, the name of the tune was the familiar refrain of walks by starter Jake Michalak, whose four in the first two innings helped prompt a 3-0 start by Michigan, and they came on just one hit.
Despite the walks and a pair of hit batsmen, Michalak did deliver a competitive five-inning outing in which he allowed just 5 hits. But 5 walks, along with 2 hit batsmen, and a two-run homer in the fifth by designated hitter Keegan O’Hearn, saw him exit the game after the fifth trailing 5-0.
Starter Jake Michal pitched competitively for five innings, but 5 walks and a pair of hit batsmen marred his outing.
Lefthander Sahil Patel came on in the sixth to make his first appearance of the weekend, but immediately became initiated with a solo home run by Michigan’s Mitch Voit, the second hitter he faced.
And Patel, like Michalak, struggled to throw strikes, walking 4 and hitting a batter while allowing 8 runs on 6 hits over 2.1 innings.
The Buckeyes did score three times in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Michigan margin to 9-3 at that point, but Patel would allow 4 more runs in the top of the eighth. The Buckeyes could not answer in the bottom of the inning, and Michigan would gain the sweep of the series with their second run-rule decision of the weekend 13-3.
In falling to 11-33 for the season, and 3-21 in conference play, it marked the sixth series sweep suffered for the season, and their eighth run-rule decision lost. And still more galling, the Buckeyes were outscored by their TTUN rivals on alumni weekend by a total of 47-8!
After a Tuesday evening non-conference game with Ohio University on Tuesday, the Buckeyes will travel to Chicago next weekend for a three-game series with Northwestern.
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