Ohio State Tops Bethune-Cookman, 6-2, Friday Night – Ohio State Buckeyes

Friday, April 1

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

17-7-1

Bethune Cookman

11-16

Bethune-Cookman

Ohio State

Ohio State Tops Bethune-Cookman, 6-2, Friday Night – Ohio State Buckeyes

4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 1, 2016

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Junior left-handed pitcher Tanner Tully tossed a season-high eight innings behind a strong defensive performance to guide the Ohio State baseball team to a 6-2 win over Bethune-Cookman Friday night at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. With the victory, the Buckeyes extend their win streak to five in a row and improve to 17-7-1, while the Wildcats drop to 11-16 in 2016.

“Tanner threw eight innings of quality baseball tonight,” head coach Greg Beals said. “He was able to keep the ball on the ground and we played great defense behind him in the infield. I thought the double play in the eighth inning was a big play against their best hitter. Pitching and defense was the story for me. Craig Nennig’s hit in the fifth inning for a two-out RBI not only got us on the board, but it flipped the lineup to Montgomery who stayed on the ball nicely for a double. We kept our bullpen strong tonight after having two midweek games earlier in the week too.”

STARTER TALK
Tully, the 2014 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, limited the Wildcat bats to two runs, while scattering eight hits on three strikeouts and one walk to improve to 4-1. He collected his third quality start of the season tonight.

“It’s always a long wait in between starts, but I just try to stick to my routine,” Tully said. “Before the game, I was keeping the ball down in the bullpen and it continued on the mound tonight. We had some great plays by our defense and it helped me pitch some quick innings.”

A FEW MOMENTS WITH A CAPTAIN
Junior co-captain catcher Jalen Washington went 2-for-4 with a RBI, stolen base and run scored, while senior shortstop Craig Nennig had a 1-for-2 day with a run scored and RBI. On the base paths, the Buckeyes swiped four bags in the series opener, while the OSU defense didn’t commit an error vs. the Wildcats.

“That’s the Ohio State team that we all know,” Washington said. “We work hard and that’s what we expect when we come out and play. We have guys stealing bases and played clean defensively. Tanner started off really well in the bullpen and was locked in from the start. It was great to see him go deep in the game. It really helped out the ball club.”

BUCKEYE SCORING PLAYS
Both pitchers were locked in to begin action on a mild Friday night in Columbus. The first four frames went scoreless until Nennig worked the count on right-handed starter German Hernandez and knocked a 3-2 pitch to left field for a two-out RBI to push Washington home in the bottom of the fifth. Junior center fielder Troy Montgomery then manufactured two runs on back-to-back plays. He scorched his eighth double of the year down the left field line on a hit-and-run to score Nennig. The Buckeye lead-off hitter then stolen third base and scored easily after a throwing errorby the Wildcat catcher. Pinch runner Jake Brobst scored a fielding error in the seventh before senior second baseman L Grant Davis, who singled in the inning, touched the dish after a balk was called. The two Ohio State captains combined to score a key insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Senior co-captain third baseman Nick Sergakis lined a lead-off single to center and scored on a RBI single by Washington for the 6-2 advantage.

WILDCATS ANSWER IN THE SEVENTH
Bethune-Cookman quickly answered in the top of the seventh, plating two runs on three hits vs. Tully. Jameel Edney doubled down the left field line to score the first run. A single up the Michael Cruz made it 3-2 contest. Tully limited the damage when he painted the corner of the plate for his third strikeout of the game.

DEFENISVE PLAY OF THE NIGHT
With one down in the top of the eighth, the Wildcats strung together back-to-back singles vs. Tully. However, the OSU lefty was backed up by his defense. Cruz slapped a single up the middle, but Nennig was in great position to bury the ball, step on the bag and fire to Troy Kuhn for the team’s second double play of the night and retire the side.

UP NEXT
Ohio State and Bethune-Cookman meet in game two at 3:05 p.m. ET Saturday at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. The contest will be streamed on BTN Plus ($). Fans can also listen on AM 1460 ESPN or on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Paul Keels (play-by-play) and Brian Mannino (analysis) will have the call.

SOME NOTES

The Buckeyes improve to 2-1 all-time vs. Bethune-Cookman.
Ohio State is 8-1 in home games and 10-1 in its last 11 contests.
The Buckeyes are 8-0 when not committing an error and 11-1 when leading after six innings.
Sergakis has reached base in all 25 games and leads the Big Ten with 41 hits. His hit streak also extended to eight-consecutive games.
Other Buckeyes also extended their reaches streaks, including Montgomery (16), Washington (9) and L Grant Davis (4).
Montgomery notched his ninth steal of the year and 48th his career. He passes former Buckeye Jacob Howell (2004-07) for seventh on the OSU all-time list.
Tully tossed a season-high eight innings and picked up his third quality start.
Seth Kinker made his 13th appearance of the year and tossed a scoreless ninth.