Buckeyes Blank Bearcats, 9-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes

Tuesday, April 19

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

24-12-1

Cincinnati

18-20

Cincinnati

Ohio State

Buckeyes Blank Bearcats, 9-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes

4/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 19, 2016

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team finished up its six-game homestand with a convincing 9-0 victory over first-place Cincinnati from the American Athletic Conference Tuesday evening at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 24-12-1 overall, while the Bearcats fall to 18-20 in 2016.

“Between the drag bunt and sacrifice bunt in the fourth, we were able to produce some runs,” head coach Greg Beals said. “It’s nice for an offense to score in different ways on a night when the wind was blowing in. It wasn’t a ‘bang-it’ type day at the plate. We were able to score nine runs on 10 hits with some doubles mixed in there and also by use of small ball. Tonight was a quality win against a team that was hot off a big road series win at a Top 25 team. It was important for us to defend Buckeye nation.”

The Buckeyes plated four in the fourth, one in the fifth and four in the seventh to notch their third-consecutive win over the Bearcats. At the plate, junior left fielder Ronnie Dawson went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, double, stolen base and RBI, while senior co-captain third baseman Nick Sergakis was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and RBI, walk and double. On the mound, redshirt sophomore Austin Woodby, a transfer from Cincinnati, improved to 5-1, tossing two scoreless innings against his former team. The OSU bullpen pitched six straight scoreless frames to help the Buckeyes to their second shutout of the year.

“It was great to see our bullpen pitch throughout the game and not just in role situations,” Beals said. “It speaks to the strength and depth of our pitching staff.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Ohio State scored four times in the bottom of the fourth on four hits and two UC throwing errors to take a 4-0 lead. Redshirt junior first baseman Jacob Bosiokovic started the momentum with an infield single on a drag bunt down the third base line. With runners on the corners, Sergakis chopped a first-pitch fastball over the head over UC starting pitcher A.J. Olasz to plate the first run of the night. Senior second baseman Troy Kuhn reached base on a throwing error on a sac bunt attempt to load the bases. Two runs then crossed the plate when the UC catcher hit senior shortstop Craig Nennig in the back running down the first base line on a double play attempt. The ball rolled all the way down into the corner of the park to clear the bases. Senior designated hitter Ryan Leffel followed that up with a double down the right field line to score Nennig and bring the score to 4-0. In the fifth, back-to-back doubles by Dawson and Sergakis made it 5-0.

Ohio State opened the game to 9-0 in the seventh with four runs vs. the UC bullpen. A bases-loaded walk by Kuhn pushed it to 6-0 before a RBI single by Nennig made it 7-0. Leffel reached on a catcher’s interference call for the eight-run advantage, while sophomore right fielder Tre’ Gantt sent a sac fly to center for the 9-0 final.

PLAY OF THE DAY
Junior center fielder Troy Montgomery made the play of the night in shallow right center field when he made a full-extension diving catch for the first out of the sixth inning. Lead-off hitter Kyle Mottice roped a liner to the gap on a 3-2 pitch, but Montgomery, a 2016 Preseason All-American, got a great read off the bat and held on with a “snowcone” catch, using every inch of his glove to finish the snag. To watch the play, click here.

A WIN VS. HIS FORMER TEAM
Woodby, from Springboro, Ohio, followed up Feltner’s three scoreless innings by tossing two scoreless stanzas of his own against his former team. He had a solid outing, not allowing any balls out of the infield and allowed only a single baserunner on a hit-by-pitch. He had one strikeout and no walks on the day to improve to 5-1.

CONTROLLED START FOR FELTNER
Freshman right-hander Ryan Feltner had a controlled start vs. the Bearcats, tossing three scoreless innings and allowed one hit with two strikeouts. He left a runner on third base in the top of the third to conclude his night on the mound, fielding his position well with a putout on a groundball up the middle.

MORE BULLPEN TALK
The Buckeyes tossed their second shutout of the year due to contributions from six total pitchers
on the night. Following Feltner and Woodby’s five scoreless innings was senior left-hander Daulton Mosbarger, who threw 1.1 innings allowing one hit and one walk while also striking out a batter. Sophomore right-hander Seth Kinker came in to throw 0.2 of an inning, while giving up no hits and allowing one baserunner on a walk. Kinker was then followed by redshirt junior left-hander Joe Stoll and redshirt sophomore right-hander Kyle Michalik. Stoll threw one scoreless inning striking out two and walking one and Michalik closied the game with a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out the final batter of the game.

TIME TO HIT THE ROAD
Ohio State travels to Champaign, Ill., for a crucial Big Ten road series at Illinois Friday-Sunday at Illinois Field. Fans can listen on AM 1460 ESPN or on OhioStateBuckeyes.com.

WORTHY NOTES
• Ohio State improves to 69-24-2 all-time vs. Cincinnati and 45-12-1 at home vs. the Bearcats.
• The Buckeyes are now 15-2 in Columbus and leads the Big Ten in home wins.
• The Scarlet and Gray lead the Big Ten in doubles (79) and RBI (199).
• Sergakis leads the Big Ten in doubles (14) and total bases (90).
• Sergakis recorded his team-leading 16th multi hit game and his 10th multi-RBI game on the season.
• Dawson extended his reached base streak to 14 in a row. He notched his 11th multi-hit game of 2016.
• Dawson is on a six-game hit streak, while Montgomery improves his streak to five straight contest.
• Woodby leads the team with five wins in 2016.
• Kinker has made a team-high 18 appearances this year. Other Buckeyes making appearances on the mound were Feltner (10), Woodby (13), Mosbarger (8), Stoll (9) and Michalik (9).
• Serveral underclassmen saw action on the field as well: Ridge Winand (4), Andrew Fishel (4) and Jacob Barnwell (8).