Buckeye Bats Power Past NKU in Tuesday Night Win

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team rallied to beat Northern Kentucky, 10-8, Tuesday night at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeye bats powered 14 hits, including a season-high seven extra-base hits in the midweek win. Down 6-1, Ohio State scored four runs in the fourth and plated three runs in the bottom of sixth highlighted by a go-ahead, two-run homer by redshirt sophomore Brent Todys. The Buckeyes added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. With the win, the Scarlet and Gray improve to 10-10 on the year, while the Norse drop to 4-13.

QUOTE FROM COACH
“It was good to get the win at home and continue to move in a positive direction as a ball club,” head coach Greg Beals said. “Offensively we are swinging the bats really well right now. We are getting production throughout the lineup. That’s really good to see. We are getting the pitch we want to hit and staying focus at the plate. You don’t get seven extra-base hits if you’re not in a good offensive mindset. The offensive production is supporting our pitching staff. I thought Bayden Root gave us a really good outing tonight.”

⬇️7⃣ | Two-run 💣 by @Brenttodys 👏 The boys take the lead❗️

NKU 7, OSU 8 | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/8EXfDF8LPP

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 19, 2019

AT THE PLATE
Junior first baseman Conner Pohl was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored, while senior left fielder Brady Cherry went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBI and two doubles. Freshman centerfielder Nolan Clegg hit his first career homer and had three walks, while freshman third baseman Zach Dezenzo doubled, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Freshman Marcus Ernst was 2-for-4 with a walk and run scored. Todys was the fifth Buckeye to record a multi-hit game with his second homer of the season.

FIRST CAREER WIN
Freshman right-hander Bayden Root, from Kokomo, Ind., claimed his first collegiate win tonight vs. the Norse. He struck out four in 2.2 innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits to improve to 1-1. Junior left-hander Andrew Magno picked up his second save of the year with two strikeouts in 0.1 innings of work.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY SCORES FIRST
The Norse took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-out, two-run homer by Griffin Doersching. Will Haueter doubled down the left field line before the long ball by the NKU first baseman.

CHERRY AND POHL STAY HOT AT THE PLATE
The Buckeyes created a run of their own with two outs in the bottom of the first. Cherry ripped a pitch down the left field line for his team-best seventh double of the year before Pohl hit a 0-1 pitch off NKU starter Proctor Mercer for a RBI single.

NORSE EXTENDS LEAD
The Norse added a run in the third after a fielding error with two outs allowed Sam Hedges to score. A two-out, two-run homer in the top of the fourth by Sam Hedges made it a 6-1 contest

BUCKEYES PLATE FOUR IN THE FOURTH
Clegg launched the first pitch he saw off NKU reliever Jake Dennis over the wall in dead center for a two-run shot for his first collegiate home run. With two outs, Cherry hit his second double of the night to plate both Dominic Canzone and Nick Erwin to make it a 6-5 game.

⬇️4⃣ | First career dinger for @nolanclegg❗️A two-run shot over the wall in CF.

NKU 6, OSU 3 | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/T5vpZxpmtA

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) March 19, 2019

OHIO STATE TAKES THE LEAD
Down 7-5, the Buckeye bats rallied with three runs on four hits against NKU reliever Noah Richardson, who fell to 0-2 on the year. Dezenzo doubled down the left field line to score Pohl. Todys came up with the big hit of the game with a first pitch, two-run homer over the wall in left to put the Buckeyes ahead, 7-6. Ohio State tacked on two more runs in the eighth with bases-loaded walks.

UP NEXT
Ohio State continues its nine-game homestand with a four-game series against Hawaii Thursday-Sunday at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.

GAME NOTES

The Buckeyes recorded a season-high seven extra-base hits tonight.
Ohio State overcame its biggest deficit of the season to win a game (five runs, down 6-1).
Ohio State left 12 on base, while the Norse stranded eight runners.
Cherry leads the team with eight doubles and 12 extra-base hits this spring. He is now hitting a team-high .380 and 17 RBI on the year.
Clegg launched his first collegiate home run tonight. He also had a season-high three RBI and three walks.
Todys hit his second homer as a Buckeye and first at Bill Davis Stadium.
Multi-hit games: Cherry (8), Pohl (6), Dezenzo (5), Todys (5) and Ernst (2).
Multi-RBI games: Cherry (4), Todys (3) and Clegg (3).
Hit streaks extended: Pohl (8), Cherry (7) and Ernst (5).
Reached base streaks extended: Canzone (16), Pohl (8), Cherry (7), Ernst (5) and Todys (4).
Nick Erwin made his first collegiate start today at shortstop.