Buckeyes Split Series in Vegas with 8-7 Win – Ohio State Buckeyes

Tuesday, March 15

Las Vegas, NV

Ohio State

8-6-1

UNLV

7-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Ohio State	1	3	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	8	7	3
UNLV	3	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	7	10	1

Buckeyes Split Series in Vegas with 8-7 Win – Ohio State Buckeyes

3/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 16, 2016

Box Score

RELATED INFO
Follow the Buckeyes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram | Box Score | PDF: Box Score| Season Stats | Photo Gallery LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Ohio State baseball team claimed an 8-7 win to split a four-game series at UNLV Tuesday night at Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 8-6-1, while the Rebels fall to 7-8 in 2016.

“The key was just winning tonight and getting out of here with a split,” head coach Greg Beals said. “We’re not happy with a split but that’s all that we could do coming into tonight’s ball game. We got some key hits with the offense and I really liked how the bullpen pitched. We’re going to use the guys. It was great to see Yianni go two innings strong. We need to clean up our defense and support our pitching staff and I know we are capable of playing quality defense.”

In a back-and-fourth battle that saw five lead changes, Ohio State scored a run in the first, three in the second and two in both the sixth and seventh, respectively. The OSU bullpen limited the UNLV bats to two runs, no earned with eight strikeouts to one walk in five innings of work. Sophomore pitcher Seth Kinker received the win to improve to 1-1, while redshirt sophomore right-hander Yianni Pavlopoulos earned his third save.

“It’s going to be nice to go back home and play in front of our home crowd after spending a month on the road,” Beals said. “It’s going to be nice to go back to Bill Davis Stadium.”

At the plate, junior center fielder Troy Montgomery was 1-for-2 with a walk, home run, two RBI and run scored, while Tre’ Gantt was 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. Senior first baseman Troy Kuhn had a pair of hits, RBI and a run scored and senior second baseman L Grant Davis had a pair of runs scored and a hit.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Montgomery crushed a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right center for a lead-off home run vs. UNLV starter Blaze Bohall. After the Rebels plated three in the bottom half of the first, Ohio State answered with three of its own runs in the top of the second. Kuhn singled up the middle to plate Gantt, who began the inning with a lead-off double. Back-to-back walks to junior left fielder Ronnie Dawson and senior third baseman Nick Sergakis put the Buckeyes back on top, 4-3, vs. Bohall. Down 5-4 in the sixth, the Buckeyes manufactured two runs to take their third lead of the contest when senior shortstop Craig Nennig put down a RBI sac bunt and Montgomery followed with a sac fly to left field vs. Wilson. Kuhn led off the at-bat with a walk before Davis sent single up the middle. The Scarlet and Gray tacked on two more runs in the seventh when Gantt lined an RBI single up the middle to plate Dawson, who tagged on a fly out to center field from first base to set up the OSU chance. A throwing error pushed Gantt home for the 8-5 advantage.

REBEL SCORING PLAYS
A two-out, three-run double in the bottom of the first by Nick Ames, who went 5-for-5, gave the Rebels a 3-1 lead. After a lead-off double in the fourth, UNLV scored a fourth run when Payton Squier grounded out to second base to plate Cody Howard and tie the contest at 4-all. The contest saw its fourth lead change in the bottom of the fifth when a throwing error from behind the plate to first base pushed the runner at third across the dish.

The Rebels wouldn’t go away quietly. A fourth hit on the night by Ames on a one-out RBI double in the seventh made it a two-run game. A two-out RBI single by Nick Rodriguez plated the home team’s seventh run vs. senior left-hander Michael Horejsei.

KEY PLAY
The Rebels got the first two aboard in the bottom of the ninth, but a big play by Kuhn helped end the contest when he threw out the lead runner at third base on a sac bunt attempt down the first baseline. Pavlopoulos would go on to claim a fly out and strikeout to end the game, leaving two runners on in scoring position.

BULLPEN TIME
Sophomore right-hander Seth Kinker pitched 2.0 scoreless innings and allowed with two strikeouts, while senior left-hander Michael Horejsei threw 0.2 innings and allowed two hits, two runs, no earned with two punch outs. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Austin Woodby pitched 0.1 inning and allowed no hits or runs with one strikeout. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Yianni Pavlopoulos closed the door on the Rebels to pick up his third save of the year. He tossed the final two innings and allowed no runs or hits, fanning three UNLV batters.

STARTER TALK
Freshman right-handed pitcher Ryan Feltner tossed four innings and allowed five runs on six hits with six walks and one strikeout in his third start of his rookie campaign.

UP NEXT
The Buckeyes open the 2016 home schedule with a three-game series against Hofstra Friday-Sunday at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. First pitch vs. the Pride starts at 5:05 p.m. ET Friday. Click here to purchase tickets.

WORTHY GAME NOTES

Ohio State improves to 4-5 all-time vs. the Rebels.
The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten with 18 home runs, posting five home runs on 18 extra-base hits in the series vs. the Rebels.
Montgomery notched his fourth home run of the season. He’s notched nine RBI in 12 starts following his third multi-RBI game of 2016 (tied for the team lead).
Kuhn boasted his 72nd RBI of his career (tied for second among active Buckeyes).
Sergakis has reached base in all 15 games. He leads the team with 25 hits in 2016. Sergakis also has a five-game hit streak.
Gantt, Kuhn and Davis each plated two runs. Both Kuhn and Gantt registered their second multi-hit performance.
Kinker, Horejsei, Woodby and Pavlopoulos all made their seventh appearance.