I'm not going to be very detailed this week, because it was an extremely forgettable weekend and I don't want to dwell on it too much longer, but to remain faithful to you all, here's this week's recap from the diamond.
After a 2-0 series in Las Vegas, Ohio State trekked further west to San Luis Obispo, California for what should have been an opportunity for an easy 4 game sweep. Cal Poly came into this series 4-7, having been shut out 4 times and not winning any game by more than 1 run. The easy sweep for the Buckeyes did not happen as Cal Poly went 3-1, all three wins by multiple runs.
Game 1 on Friday had a solid start as Ohio State scored Nick Giamarusti in the T2 and Henry Kaczmar in the T3 to take an early 2-0 lead. However, a 3-run B5 by the Mustangs and Ohio State going scoreless the rest of the game led to a 4-2 Mustang victory. Starting pitcher Landon Biedelschies recorded the loss to drop him to 2-2 on the season.
| 3/8/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Cal Poly | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 3 |
Game 2 on Saturday started out similarly as the Bucks took a 1-0 lead in the T1 as Trey Lipsey got batted in despite a double play by the Cal Poly defense, but it was all downhill from there. Cal Poly used a 3-run B3 and a 14-run B6 to pull away for the 19-2 win. Starter Colin Purcell recorded the loss, dropping him to 1-2.
| 3/9/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Cal Poly | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 0 | X | 19 | 21 | 0 |
Game 3 on Sunday was the lone bright spot of the weekend, and even that wasn't all that pretty. Ohio State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the T1 off of a Tyler Pettorini RBI single to score Kaczmar, a wild pitch that scored Matthew Graveline, and an RBI double by Joseph Mershon to score Pettorini. The Bucks would extend the lead to 5-1 in the T2 thanks to a sac-groundout by Kaczmar to score Ryan Miller and an RBI double by Graveline to score Lipsey. Ohio State would go scoreless the rest of the game, but would hold on for a 5-3 win. Starting pitcher Gavin Bruni earned the win, bringing him to 2-0 on the season.
| 3/10/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| Cal Poly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
Looking for the split in Game 4 on Monday, Ohio State could not get any runs across until the T8 despite having a man reach 3rd base multiple times, and by then it was too late. Cal Poly jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the B2 and held on from there for the series clinching 3-1 win. Starting pitcher Chase Herell recorded his first decision - and loss - of the season, starting 0-1.
| 3/11/24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Cal Poly | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 8 | 0 |
After the 1-3 weekend, Ohio State dropped to 7-7 and Cal Poly rose to 7-8.
Up next, Ohio State has one more game in California, going down to Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, before heading back east for a three game weekend series at West Virginia. All 4 games will be broadcast on ESPN+
