COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State racked up a season-high 20 hits and rolled past Michigan State 13-5 on a cold Saturday evening at Bill Davis Stadium.
The Buckeyes claimed their first Big Ten victory and improve to 10-16 on the season.
Freshman Trey Lipsey had five of the 20 hits as he was 5-for-5 with a double, a triple and four runs batted in. This was his second game of three hits or more this week as he also had three hits in the game against Nebraska last Sunday.
Trey Lipsey's final statline:
1 triple
1 double
3 singles
4 RBIA 5-5 night from the freshman out of Southfield, Michigan against the Spartans propels the Buckeyes to a huge win in the opener. Have a night, Lip!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/2O1DpQjYFR
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 10, 2022
Seniors Marcus Ernst and Zach Dezenzo as well as sophomore Kade Kern all had three-hit games. Kern had a double and drove in a pair as he now has 15 hits in his last eight games. Archer Brookman drew a pair of walks and drove in two.
All nine starters reached base in the game while eight of the nine recorded a hit. This was the first 20-hit game for the Buckeyes since recording 20 against Purdue on May 2 of last yea.r
On the mound, Nate Haberthier started and went 4.2 innings, allowing just three runs on three hits while striking out a career-high seven. Jake Johnson picked up the win for the second consecutive game as he came on in relief and got the Buckeyes out of a jam. Aaron Funk pitched the final three innings to earn the first save of his career.
The Buckeyes enjoyed their best inning of the season in the second as they scored seven times on seven hits and sent 11 batters to the plate. Blayne Robinson opened the inning with a walk, Colton Bauer and Tyler Pettorini followed with singles and then Brookman hit a sac fly deep to right center to score the first run. Mitchell Okuley, Ernst and Dezenzo all hit singles and then the big blow was a triple off the first base bag from Lipsey. Kern added an RBI single and the Buckeyes were staked to a 7-0 lead.
Buckeyes biggest inning of the year. All 7 hits from the 7-run 2nd #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/usXUPH8BQi
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 9, 2022
Michigan State broke into the scoring column with a fluky RBI single in the top of the fourth. The Spartans cut the lead to 7-3 with two runs on a pair of hits in the fourth before Johnson came on to strand the bases loaded and record the final out. The Spartans looked to add on with runners on the corners and no outs in the fifth but Johnson got a strikeout and a huge 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.
The Buckeyes used that momentum to post another five-run inning in the sixth. Ernst and Dezenzo had one-out singles and then Lipsey doubled down the left field line to score a pair. Kern, Bauer and Brookman all added RBI singles and the lead was out to 12-3.
MSU got two back in the top of the seventh off Funk but he held the Spartans scoreless over the final two innings to complete the save.
Game two of the series is scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. start on Sunday afternoon. Wyatt Loncar will start for the Buckeyes and will be opposed by left-hander Nick Powers.
#GoBucks
