Buckeyes Claim 2,500th Win in 5-2 Victory over Northwestern – Ohio State Buckeyes

Saturday, March 26

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

13-7-1, 1-1

Northwestern

6-17, 1-1

Northwestern

Ohio State

Buckeyes Claim 2,500th Win in 5-2 Victory over Northwestern – Ohio State Buckeyes

3/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 26, 2016

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team claimed its 2,500th all-time win in a 5-2 victory over Northwestern Saturday afternoon at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes even the series at 1-all and improve to 13-7-1 overall and 1-1 in B1G play. The Wildcats drop to 6-17 and 1-1 in conference action. Ohio State becomes the fourth Big Ten school to reach the 2,500 milestone.

“It’s awfully early in Big Ten play, but today was a must-win for our team,” head coach Greg Beals said. “Everyone pressed the restart button and had more fun playing the game. In order to be great, you have to be in that right frame of mind. The story of the ball game was pitching and defense. We struck them out 11 times and only gave up one free base. Niemeyer was able to hit the bottom of the strike zone from the third inning on today. He gave us a good outing.”

Redshirt sophomore right-hander Adam Niemeyer registered his fourth-consecutive quality start for the Scarlet and Gray, tossing seven innings and tying his career high with eight strikeouts and no walks to improve to 2-1. Senior left-hander Daulton Mosbarger tossed the final two innings and claimed his first save as a Buckeye.

At the plate, senior first baseman Troy Kuhn was 3-for-4 with a run scored and double, while junior center fielder Troy Montgomery went 2-for-4 with two doubles, RBI, walk and stolen base. Junior co-captain catcher Jalen Washington was 2-for-3 with a double and walk.

NIEMEYER TIES CAREER HIGH
Niemeyer limited the NU bats to two runs and scattered nine hits in seven innings of work. What was impressive was his final three innings, allowing no runs with five punch outs, after working through the workload in the first and third frames, respectively. Niemeyer sat down the last seven batters he faced in his sixth start of the year. He finished the day tying his career-high with eight strikeouts to no walks vs. the Purple and White.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Down 1-0, the Buckeyes responded just the way coach Beals wanted them to with three runs in the first two frames. In the bottom of the second in a first and third situation, NU starter Matt Hopfner caught senior co-captain infielder Nick Sergakis off the bag at first base and in a pickle, but the first baseman air mailed a throw over to third base to allow redshirt junior Jacob Bosiokovic to score the Buckeyes’ opening run. In the second, senior shortstop Craig Nennig singled to right field to give his squad its first lead of the afternoon. Montgomery drilled his fourth double of the season down the right field line to push the lead to two runs, 3-1. Bosiokovic notched the team’s fourth score of the day in the fourth on a RBI single vs. NU reliever Josh Davis. In the seventh, Washington lined a single to left center to make it a 5-2 contest.

HOW THE WILDCATS SCORED
Northwestern tallied a run on three hits in the top of the first vs. Niemeyer. Down 3-1 in the third, the Wildcats got one back on a run and two hits vs. Niemeyer, who stranded two runners with a called strike three. Overall, the Buckeyes stranded six Wildcat runners on base.

FIRST SAVE AS A BUCKEYE
Senior left-hander Daulton Mosbarger closed the door on the Wildcats with a six-out save to finish the afternoon. It was the first save of the season for Mosbarger who allowed one hit and struck out three in two innings of work.

UP NEXT
The Buckeyes and Wildcats conclude the series at Noon ET Sunday live on BTN. Fans can also listen on the radio on AM 1460 ESPN or on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Paul Keels and Brian Mannino will have the call.

WORTHY NOTES

Ohio State claimed its 2,500th win all-time in school history today, becoming the fourth Big Ten program to reach the milestone and 22nd team overall in NCAA Division I baseball.
The Buckeyes improve to 98-49 all-time vs. Northwestern.
Ohio State is now 5-1 at home in 2016.
Sergakis has reached base in all 21 games. He leads the Big Ten with 36 hits. He has 125 hits in his OSU career.
Bosiokovic posted his 14th RBI of the season and 74th of his career.
Niemeyer tied his career high with eight strikeouts and seven innings pitched. He has collected 35 strikeouts to three walks in six starts in 2016.
Kuhn picked up his third multi-hit game in a 3-for-4 performance, while Montgomery also notched his third multi-hit game, tying his career high with two doubles.
Montgomery moved to eighth all-time in OSU history with 46 career stolen bases. He leads the Big Ten with 23 walks.
Several Buckeyes also extended their reaches streaks, including Montgomery (11), Bosiokovic (6) and Washington (5).
Ohio State tied its season-high with five stolen bases.
Dawson’s five-game hit streak was snapped today.