Ohio State
22-12-1, 3-5
Rutgers
16-18, 3-5
Ohio State Defeats Rutgers, 11-3, in Zach Farmer Memorial Game – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 16, 2016
RELATED INFO
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – On a beautiful Saturday afternoon on the banks of the Olentangy, the Ohio State baseball team defeated Rutgers, 11-3, to even the B1G series at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. The win gives the Buckeyes a 22-12-1 record, 3-5 in Big Ten play, the loss drops the Scarlet Knights to 16-17 overall and 3-5 in conference action.
“I think the story was pitching today,” head coach Greg Beals said. “John Havird was in command the entire game. He pitched his butt off last week and didn’t get the win and it’s great that he got it today. It was well-deserved. Craig Nennig played a great shortstop. We made a change in the lineup and you saw some athleticism with Kuhn at second base and Bosi [Bosiokovic] at first base. Tre’ Gantt made a nice sliding catch in right field and had a couple hits. Defensively, we were pretty strong behind Havird today.”
It was a special day at Bill Davis Stadium as the Buckeyes held the Zach Farmer Memorial Game. His father, Larry Farmer, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, alongside his mother, Tammy Farmer. Be The Match, the organization which Zach worked with to start a campus drive to register volunteer donors for marrow transplants, were also in attendance helping fans sign up and swab for the national registry. The Buckeyes lost their teammate and friend Zach Farmer after he lost his battle with leukemia last summer. 2014 team captain Tim Wetzel caught the first pitch.
“It is nice having the Farmer family back at the ballpark today,” Beals said. “Be The Match is something important to us as a program because we know how important it was to Zach and this is our way of continuing his fight.”
Senior left-hander John Havird was sharp on the mound for the Scarlet and Gray, tossing seven innings and held the Rutgers bats to two runs, no earned, three hits, one walk with one strikeout to improve to 3-1 in 2016. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Michalik, who now wears No. 11 – the jersey Farmer wore during his freshman season in 2014 – fittingly closed out the game, tossing two innings on one run, no earned, a walk and strikeout.
At the dish, junior Troy Montgomery went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and stolen base, while senior Troy Kuhn was 3-for-5 with one run scored, double, two RBI and one walk. Junior Ronnie Dawson had a 2-for-4 performance with a RBI and two runs scored and sophomore Tre’ Gantt was 2-for-3 with two RBI and stolen base. Senior co-captain Nick Sergakis also homered for the seventh time this season, while junior co-captain Jalen Washington had a 2-for-4 day with a RBI, stolen base and run scored.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Ohio State lit up the scoreboard, scoring in the second through six innings and another run in the eighth. The Buckeyes plated a pair in the second and third, respectively, before scoring four times in the fourth stanza. Ohio State added a ninth run in the fifth and 10th run in the sixth. After going scoreless in the seventh, the Buckeyes added another to their tally in the eighth to bring their total to 11 for the day.
The Ohio State lineup clicked from top to bottom on the day as 11 different Buckeyes reached base in the game, totaling 18 hits in the contest. In the second, Gantt placed a bunt down to score Kuhn from third base for the first run of the beautiful afternoon in Columbus. Washington singled to left to plate Craig Nennig to make it 2-0. Sergakis crushed the first pitch he saw from right-hander Kyle Driscoll for a two-run shot to put the Buckeyes back on top, 4-2, in the third. Dawson had a RBI single to right in the fourth before a balk allowed Montgomery to cross the plate. Kuhn sent a two-run single up the middle to make it 8-2. Montgomery reached second on an error and stolen third before scoring on a throwing error by the Rutgers catcher in the fifth. In the sixth, Gantt singled to right field to plate freshman Brady Cherry. Senior Jake Brobst singled to right center to plate senior Ryan Leffel.
UP NEXT
Ohio State concludes its series vs. Rutgers at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. Click here for parking info for the weekend. The game will be broadcast on BTN Plus ($) and fans can listen on the radio on AM 1460 ESPN.
GAME NOTES
- Ohio State moves to 6-4 vs. Rutgers all-time. This was the second meeting between the two schools in Columbus.
- Ohio State is now 13-2 at home in 2016.
- Sergakis notched his seventh home run of the season. He leads the team with 15 multi-RBI games.
- The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten with 38 home runs in 2016.
- Montgomery recorded his seventh multi-hit performance on the year.
- Kuhn registered his eighth multi-hit game of the season as well as his fourth multi-RBI performance.
- Gantt recorded his fourth multi-hit performance of the year and his second multi-RBI game.
- Other Buckeyes had multi-hit games, including Dawson (8), Washington (8) and Chery (6).
- Nennig (11) and Dawson (10) extended their reached base streaks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Havird, John (3-1)
L: Driscoll (3-4)
Batting:
3B: Harris 1
RBI: Carter 2 ; Bowerbank 1
SF: Bowerbank 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Freeman 2 ; Rosa 1
Batting:
2B: Kuhn, Troy 1
HR: Sergakis, Nick 1
RBI: Dawson, Ronnie 1 ; Sergakis, Nick 2 ; Kuhn, Troy 2 ; Brobst, Jake 1 ; Gantt, Tre' 2 ; Washington, Jalen 1
SH: Bosiokovic, Jacob 1 ; Gantt, Tre' 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Montgomery, Troy 2 ; Dawson, Ronnie 2 ; Sergakis, Nick 2 ; Leffel, Ryan 1 ; Kuhn, Troy 1 ; Nennig, Craig 1 ; Cherry, Brady 1 ; Washington, Jalen 1
SB: Montgomery, Troy 1 ; Nennig, Craig 1 ; Gantt, Tre' 1 ; Washington, Jalen 1
CS: Nennig, Craig 1
