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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – After a tough loss last night, the Ohio State baseball team bounced back with an 8-3 win over Oral Roberts Sunday afternoon at Whataburger Field to conclude action at the 2019 Kleberg Bank College Classic. Sophomore left-hander starter Griffan Smith improved to 2-0 throwing five quality innings with five strikeouts. Junior outfielder Dominic Canzone homered and drove in four runs, while junior first baseman Conner Pohl, junior shortstop Noah West and redshirt sophomore catcher Brent Todys each had a pair of hits. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 5-2 and the Golden Eagles drop to 3-3 in 2019.
QUOTE FROM COACH
“I think the postgame message is more about the total resolve of our ball club to take the tough defeat last night with a quick turnaround and get back to work this morning,” head coach Greg Beals said. “Our guys answered the bell. We talk about next pitch and staying in the moment and the guys responded really well. I love what I’m seeing from Noah West at the top of the order. Obviously that big hit from Canzone really busted things open and Conner Pohl got two knocks after struggling a little bit. That was great to see. We set the tempo on the mound as always and Griffan Smith gave us that quality start we needed.”
QUALITY START
Smith from Cincinnati, Ohio, worked five frames and limited the Golden Eagles to one run, unearned, on three hits and three walks to claim his second win in a six-day span.
Crushed by a barrel 💣👀@dacanzone 💪#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/GN99YUTc53
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) February 24, 2019
OHIO STATE SCORING PLAYS
The Buckeyes plated seven runs to take a 7-0 lead after four innings on a mild afternoon on the banks of the Corpus Christi Channel. Canzone flied out to center to score West in the bottom of the first. In the second, a safety squeeze play worked as Marcus Ernst pushed home Pohl for the 2-0 lead. The Scarlet and Gray added four runs in the fourth. Malik Jones singled up the middle to plate Todys before Kobie Foppe sent a sac fly to center field to allow Zach Dezenzo to cross the dish. Canzone then crushed a 1-0 pitch over the bullpen in right field for a three-run shot.
EAGLES CUT THE LEAD
Oral Roberts scored a run in the fifth on a wild pitch and add two more runs in the sixth with a RBI single and second wild pitch. Dezenzo put the game back to five runs when he knocked a RBI single to right center to plate Pohl in the seventh.
BULLPEN TALK
Freshman right-hander TJ Brock got out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth with a pop-up. He worked two innings of relief on two runs, two hits and two walks. Freshman left-handed reliever Mitch Milheim tossed two scoreless frames with one strikeout to close the door on the Golden Eagle
UP NEXT
Ohio State concludes play in Corpus Christi with a contest at 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET Monday vs. the Islanders at Chapman Field. Junior right-handed pitcher Jake Vance (1-0, 3.60) gets the start for the Buckeyes.
GAME NOTES
RANDOM NOTES FROM AROUND THE BALLPARK
Perfect night for ⚾️ in Texas 😍 pic.twitter.com/uF5g7MG1tn
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) February 24, 2019