Backs Against the Wall, Buckeyes Come Back and Shock Wolverines 6-5 

Box Score (PDF) 

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Down to their last strike, the Ohio State Buckeyes stole game three of their series with rival Michigan on the back of key plays by their corner outfielders. Mitchell Okuley and Trey Lipsey homered in the ninth to tie the game, and Okuley’s diving snag on a line drive with two outs and two runners on base closed out the improbable 6-5 win for the Buckeyes.  

The Buckeyes improve to 13-23 on the season and 3-10 in Big Ten play 

Notes 

• The Buckeyes continued their pattern of late-inning offensive surges, scoring five of their six runs after the sixth. They outhit the Wolverines 10-7 on the day.  
• Zach Dezenzo hit a home run for the third consecutive day, a two-run shot for his team-high twelfth of the season.
• TJ Brock entered with two runners on an two outs in the eighth, and ultimately earned the win while stranding four total runners.  He allowed no runs in 2.1 key innings in the series. 
• Kade Kern’s ninth inning single now gives him a hit in 17 out of his last 18 games. Kern came around to score the game-winning run.  
• Colton Bauer’s go-ahead single with two outs in the ninth extends his hitting streak to nine games.  
• Trey Lipsey worked an incredible at-bat before tying the game with a solo home run with two outs and two strikes. He also singled earlier in the game, and is second on the team with a .319 average.  
• Wyatt Loncar was solid through five innings, allowing just two hits and two earned runs while striking out seven Wolverine hitters.  
• Marcus Ernst pitched in two hits, a walk, and a run scored. He leads the team with a .360 average.  

How it Happened 

Sunday’s matchup opened with three scoreless innings and just one run scored through four and a half innings. Buckeyes starter Wyatt Loncar struck out four batters without allowing a hit through the first three innings. The Buckeyes took the lead in the top of the fourth when Brent Todys sliced an RBI single through the right side to score Colton Bauer, who reached on a walk. 

Michigan pulled ahead in the fifth. Two doubles and a walk off of Loncar allowed two runs to score. In the sixth, the Wolverines scored without picking up a hit when a walk, steal, groundout, and wild pitch in succession brought a runner home to make it 3-0.  

The last three innings packed a game’s worth of action. After a walk to Marcus Ernst with one out in the seventh, Zach Dezenzo’s two-run home run in the next at-bat tied the game at 3-3. The tie would be short-lived, as Joey Velasquez picked up his second RBI hit of the day in the home half to push the Wolverines ahead by a run. Michigan added another run in the eighth after a leadoff walk followed by a two-out RBI single to make it 5-3.  

Ninth inning heroics saved the Buckeyes from being swept in the series, with Mitchell Okuley being central to winning the game with two key plays. Okuley led off the ninth inning out of the nine spot in the lineup and poked a solo home run over the wall in right to bring the deficit to just one run. After consecutive groundouts, Trey Lipsey put together an inspiring at-bat, fouling off multiple pitches. Down to his last strike, Lipsey pulled a ball just foul that would have tied the game had it have stayed fair – then, on the next pitch, he drilled a pitch in nearly the same fashion, this time to the left of the foul pole and over the wall for a game-tying solo home run. Kade Kern then singled, advanced to second on Archer Brookman’s walk, and then came all the way home on Colton Bauer’s single into left center field.  

TJ Brock, who entered with two outs and two runners on in the eighth and induced an inning-ending flyout, stayed on for the ninth with a chance to earn the win. Brock caught the first Michigan batter looking, but a walk and a single put the go-ahead run on base. Brock struck out the next batter, and with runners on second and third, a hard hit ball to right field was gloved by a diving Mitchell Okuley to end the game, a 6-5 Buckeye victory.  

 Highlights 

OKULEY CALLS GAME! A ridiculous catch by Mitchell, after his clutch homer in the ninth, ends the game with two in scoring position! Buckeyes take game three; TJ Brock earns the win for his late-inning performance.

FINAL | OSU 6, UM 5#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/4eLmTHMumV

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 24, 2022

COLTON BAUER GIVES US THE LEAD! An RBI single from the senior scores Kade Kern, who singled to reach, and the Buckeyes pull ahead!

M9 | OSU 6, UM 5#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/wHuPyOzvzq

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 24, 2022

Clutch hitting in the ninth by the boys in scarlet in gray! Okuley and Lipsey come up huge with solo blasts to tie it.

T9 | OSU 5, UM 5#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/fESCOpoA3n

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 24, 2022

Z IS ON FIRE! It's Zach Dezenzo's third straight day with a homer, and this one was MAMMOTH – the two-run shot sails over the brick wall in left to tie the game.

T7 | OSU 3, UM 3#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/gACZ0Oho9H

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 24, 2022

KADE KERN FLASHES THE LEATHER IN CENTER! Incredible play by the speedy sophomore to rob the Wolverines of a hit – the maximum effort head-first dive gets us our first out in the fifth. #SCTOP10

B5 | OSU 1, UM 0#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/2h6gWbSFJQ

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 24, 2022

Up Next 

The Buckeyes will be at home this weekend for a three game series with Rutgers, the current Big Ten conference leader. Game one has a scheduled start time of 6:05 p.m. on Friday.  

#GoBucks