Buckeyes Sweep Hoosiers on Dezenzo’s Walk-off

Sunday, April 4

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

12-7, 0

Indiana

11-7, 0

Indiana

Ohio State

Buckeyes Sweep Hoosiers on Dezenzo’s Walk-off

4/4/2021 6:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

What a finish.
What a weekend.#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/YPHokAr6gV

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 4, 2021

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS (PDF)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – What a weekend for Ohio State baseball. The Buckeyes completed a four-game weekend sweep of Indiana on Sunday, thanks to a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth from Zach Dezenzo.

Ohio State's 4-3 win on Sunday afternoon vaulted the Buckeyes ahead of Indiana in the Big Ten standings. The Hoosiers came into the weekend leading the league at 11-3 and leave town 11-7. Ohio State is now 12-7 overall on the year.

Dezenzo grounded out in his first at-bat and then singled in each of his next four trips to the plate, none bigger than the one in the ninth.

"I was really confident going into that at-bat because I've been hitting the ball so hard," said Dezenzo. "He threw me a really good slider on the first pitch and I took it. I was sitting fastball, and got one, and put a good swing on it. It was such a good feeling."

Believe it or not, this was Dezenzo's first walk-off hit at any level. He was 4-of-5 on the day and hit .533 on the weekend.

Patrick Murphy picked-up the win in relief, going 1.2 innings allowing no runs on two hits and two strikeouts. Will Pfennig started and went 3.1 innings and surrendered just one run on one hit.

Joe Gahm came on in relief of Pfennig in the fourth and after getting the second out, he walked a guy to load the bases. A grounder to Dezenzo at short was mid-handled, leading to the first run of the game. Dezenzo would later atone for that error in a big way.

The Buckeyes tied the game in the sixth when Kade Kern fouled-out down the first base line with bases loaded. The Indiana first baseman fell to the ground after the catch, allowing Mitchell Okuley to tag and score to tie the game.

Kern fouls out to 1st and a heads up Mitchell Okuley scores on what turned into a sac fly.

Buckeyes tie it at 1-1 through six innings. pic.twitter.com/NMkff1gr5S

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 4, 2021

In the eighth, Indiana scored twice thanks to a throwing error by pitcher Bayden Root and a double down the left field line. The Hoosiers looked to have the momentum and turned to right-hander John Modugno out of the pen. He came on in relief of starter Gabe Bierman who went 7.0 innings and allowed just the one run on three hits.

Modugno got the first out of the eighth but then walked Okuley and Dezenzo singled. Conner Pohl laced an RBI single to right center that saw Okuley score Dezenzo scamper around to third. Kern followed with another single through the left side to score Dezenzo and the game was again tied.

2 reach with 1-out and Pohl delivers and RBI single!

IND 3
OSU 2
Bot 8th pic.twitter.com/4uxM0SQrO5

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 4, 2021

Kade Kern follows with a single and we're tied!! pic.twitter.com/z6DpmL9fKD

— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) April 4, 2021

Murphy worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning and then gave way to Dezenzo and the bats in the bottom of the inning. Nick Erwin drew a one-out walk in a very good at-bat. Sam Wilson then hit a single to left on an 0-2 pitch putting runners at first and second. After Okuley fouled-out for the second out, Dezenzo lined a ball down the left field line for the game winner.

The Buckeyes will look to keep the momentum rolling as next weekend brings another huge series. Ohio State and Michigan open a three-game set in Ann Arbor on Friday evening. The first two games will be streamed on BTN Plus and the series finale on Sunday will be on ESPN2.

#GoBuckeyes