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Ohio State Baseball Getting Hot

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Bucks2K18's picture
by Bucks2K18
4/5/26 at 4:26p in the OSU Athletics Forum
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Things are looking up for the BaseBucks. After a road sweep of Minnesota, Ohio State came back home to begin a home stretch halfway through the season. And while it was not always easy, they took care of business for their third straight sweep overall, second straight conference sweep, and first home sweep since 2023.

The stretch started with some midweek MACtion against Toledo. The Rockets took an immediate lead with a solo homer in the T1 and stretched the lead to 3-0 in the T2, but it was pretty much all Buckeyes from there. A sac-fly by Lee Ellis in the B4 brought Mason Eckelman home to get the Buckeyes on the board, then a throwing error by Toledo allowed Maddix Simpson to get home as well. An RBI single by Grant Mangrum sent Miles Vandenheuvel home to tie the game. The Buckeyes then took a 5-3 lead after another throwing error by Toledo allowed Mangrum and Alex Bemis to come home. Toledo tied the game back up in the T6, but a passed ball brought Vandenheuvel home to immediately retake the lead. Bemis added some insurance runs in the B7 as he launched a 3-run bomb to plate Ellis and Vandenheuval and give the Buckeyes a 9-5 lead. A groundout by Ellis to bring Noah Furcht home in the B8 served as the final run as Ohio State closed out the 10-5 midweek win. Reliver Jake Michalak earned the win, bringing him to 4-0 on the season, as he only allowed 2 runs through 2.0 innings, but all six pitchers were solid as the crew combined to fan 12 Toledo batters highlighted by Zach Weber and Andrew Edrington who combined to K 5 of the 8 batters they faced. 

3/31/26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Toledo 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 8 3
Ohio State 0 0 0 5 0 1 3 1 X 10 7 1

 

 

After that, Ohio State welcomed in a struggling Maryland squad and did just enough to secure their second straight B1G series sweep.

 

Game 1 on Friday was an offensive outburst, and served as a precursor to the weekend. Maryland loaded the bases in the T1, but did nothing with that, but it would be indicative of the game to come. Maryland did take a 2-0 lead in the T2, but left 2 more on base. Ohio State tied the game in the B2 as back-to-back errors by the Maryland outfield allowed Dane Harvey and Simpson to both get home. Maryland retook the lead in the T4, but left another 2 stranded. A sac-groundout by Harvey brought Henry Kaczmar home to tie the game, and on the next base, Ellis doubled to send Eckelman home and take the 4-3 lead after 5. Vandenheuvel extended the lead in the B6 as he came home on an RBI double by Kaczmar.

Then Ohio State broke the game open in the B7. Simpson padded the lead as he blasted a 3-run homer, plating Eckelman and Ellis, and giving the Buckeyes an 8-3 lead. A few pitches later, Vandenheuvel was struck on his at-bat, and then worked around the bases on a theft of second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher, and then came home on an RBI triple by Bemis. A subsequent RBI double by Kaczmar plated Bemis to give the Buckeyes a 10-3 lead after 7. However, Maryland would get back in the game with 5 of their own in the T8, but closing pitcher Andrew Edrington slammed the door shut on Maryland and earned his first save to give the Buckeyes the 10-8 win. Reliever Ryan Zamora earned the win, bringing him to 2-0 as he only allowed 2 runs through 3.2 innings. 

4/3/26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Maryland 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 8 9 4
Ohio State 0 2 0 0 2 1 5 0 X 10 10 0

 

Game 2 on Saturday turned into a home run derby with some help from the wind. Maryland took an immediate 1-0 lead with a solo homer in the T1, but Bemis wasted no time tying the game as he launched a lead-off solo home run in the B1. Then a sac-groundout by Furcht brought Kaczmar home to take a 2-1 lead after 1. Maryland tied the game in the T2, but the Buckeyes immediately retook the lead as CJ Reid hit a 2-run homer, and Mangrum gave the Buckeyes a 5-2 lead as he came home on a double by Furcht. Maryland took an 8-5 lead in the T3 with 2 more home runs including a grand slam, but Ohio State would not go easy. In the B3, Harvey hit his own lead-off solo shot, then Mangrum tied the game with a 2-run blast, plating Reid along with him. Two batters later, Kaczmar retook the lead for the Buckeyes when he hit his own 2-run bomb, bringing Bemis home for the 10-8 lead through 3. 

The bats would briefly quiet down, but 2 home runs and a triple in the T6 gave Maryland a 12-10 lead. In the B6, Ellis launched another 2-run blast, bringing Eckelman home, and in the B7, a 2-RBI single by Harvey sent Mangrum and Bemis home to give the Buckeyes a 14-12 lead, and Michalak shut the door on the game as he struck out 5 of the last 6 Terrapin batters to close the game and give him his 5th recorded win of the season as he only allowed 1 run on 5 hits to 8 K's through 4.0 innings.

4/4/26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Maryland 1 1 6 0 0 4 0 0 0 12 16 4
Ohio State 2 3 5 0 0 2 2 0 X 14 17 1

 

Game 3 on Sunday was slightly more defensive than the other two games, but Ohio State did all that they needed to. This time, it was the Buckeyes that struck first. In the B2, a bases loaded walk sent Ellis home, then 2-RBI singles each by Kazmar and Harvey sent Simpson, Mangrum, Bemis, and Kaczmar home as the Buckeyes built a 5-0 lead. The game turned into a pitching duel from there, but the Buckeyes added another run as Vandenheuvel reached on a mess of a fielder's choice error by Maryland. Ellis scored on the play, but another potential run was negated as Harvey missed home plate and was passed by Ellis on the base running. Then in the B8, Furcht came home on a wild pitch as the Buckeyes extended the lead to 7-0. Lincoln McVicker then came in and closed the door on Maryland, going 1-2-3 through the Terrapin batters. Starting pitcher Pierce Herrenbruck earned the win as he got 5 K's to 4 walks and only allowed 4 hits through 5.2 innings pitched to move him up to 3-1 on the season.

4/5/26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Maryland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3
Ohio State 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 X 7 5 2

 

After the full week sweep, Ohio State improved to 17-13 (7-5). Toledo improved to 15-15 after a weekend sweep against Eastern Michigan, and Maryland dropped to 13-18 (2-10)

 

Up Next, Ohio State continues the home stretch with Bowling Green on Tuesday and Penn State over the weekend.

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