Buckeyes Blow Through Wildcats, 11-2, on Nennig’s Big Saturday – Ohio State Buckeyes

Saturday, April 2

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

18-7-1

Bethune Cookman

11-17

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Bethune-Cookman	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	1
Ohio State	0	5	2	1	2	0	0	1	X	11	13	0

Buckeyes Blow Through Wildcats, 11-2, on Nennig’s Big Saturday – Ohio State Buckeyes

4/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 2, 2016

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Craig Nennig didn’t mind the erratic weather. The senior shortstop registered a career-high six RBI on three hits to lead the Ohio State baseball team to an 11-2 win over Bethune-Cookman on a windy, frigid and sometimes sunny and snowy Saturday afternoon at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. With the victory, the Buckeyes have won a season-high six straight games to improve to 18-7-1, while the Wildcats fall to 11-17.

“It was definitely a mental toughness day,” head coach Greg Beals said. “I told the guys before the game that the team that could deal with the elements and keep playing will have the best shot to win. It was probably quite a challenge for team from Daytona Beach to play in the elements with the cold, wind and snow flurries even in the ninth inning. It was a very interesting day. Craig’s senior season got off to a slow start, but he fought and continued to put in the work. He’s got himself going right now.”

WEIRD AND WINDY WEATHER
It wasn’t the best of days for a baseball game. Wind gusts were reaching up to 60 miles per hour in the Columbus area. Sometimes it was sunny, sometimes it was rainy. A patch of snow flurries even invaded the grounds as the last pitch was thrown. The only consistency was the wind. And it was windy. The flag in left center field was rippling back and forth straight out to Harmon Family Football Practice Park located behind Bill Davis Stadium to start the day and blew out to right center for the second-half of the non-conference contest.

NENNIG EMBRACES THE WEATHER
A native of Wrightstown, Wis., Nennig was used to the challenging weather conditions. He embraced it. Nennig went 3-for-4 with a home run, triple, stolen base and run scored. A week ago, the OSU senior didn’t have a collegiate home run. Now, No. 7 has three dingers on the year following his career day at the dish.

“It’s definitely conditions I was used to in high school,” Nennig said. “It got to a point for a while that it was a challenge to see the ball on both sides of the field. It was tough conditions to play in, but I’m happy for the team. We stuck with it and pulled out the W.”

DOUBLE-DIGITS ON THE BOARD
Despite the elements, the Buckeyes lit up the board with 11 runs on 13 hits. In all, seven different Buckeyes registered a hit, while five had multi-hit games. Besides Nennig, junior left fielder Ronnie Dawson went 2-for-3 with a home run, run scored, two RBI and two steals, while senior co-captain infielder Nick Sergakis was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, two doubles and one steal. Junior co-captain Jalen Washington was 2-for-4 with a RBI, three runs scored, double and stolen base. Senior Zach Ratcliff was 2-for-2 with a double, run scored and RBI as well.

The Scarlet and Gray registered five runs on four hits against BCU starter Tyler Norris in the bottom of the second. Sergakis doubled to start the rally. After senior first baseman Troy Kuhn was hit by a pitch, Washington sent a RBI single through the right side to make it 1-all. A RBI single by freshman Brady Cherry pushed the Buckeyes in front, 2-1. Nennig then unleashed on a 2-2 pitch for a three-run shot over the wall in left to push the score to 5-1. In the third, Dawson launched his sixth home run of the year to lead off the side, while a bunt single by Nennig pushed Sergakis home. Dawson singled up the middle with one down in the fourth to make it an 8-2 advantage. A two-run triple by Nennig in the fifth made it 10-2. Ratcliff doubled down the line to score Washington for the 11-2 final.

WILDCATS SCORE, BUT JUST TWICE
Three-hole hitter Michael Cruz knocked a fly ball to center field, and it carried with the wind, for a solo home run with two down in top half of the first. Bethune-Cookman scored a second run in the third on a RBI single by Danny Rodriguez. But that’s all the Wildcats would get vs. the OSU hurlers, who registered six straight scoreless frames.

PITCHING TALK
Redshirt sophomore pitcher Adam Niemeyer tossed 4.1 innings on six hits, two runs, two earned, one walk and six strikeouts in a no decision. Senior left-handed Daulton Mosbarger claimed his first win as a Buckeye and second collegiate victory, throwing 2.2 innings on no runs, one hit with three walks and two strikeouts. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Michalik and redshirt junior Joe Stoll pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

UP NEXT
Ohio State and Bethune-Cookman conclude the series at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday 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 3-1 all-time vs. Bethune-Cookman.
Ohio State is 9-1 in home games and 11-1 in its last 12 contests.
The Scarlet and Gray registered a season-high seven stolen bases.
Ohio State has launched 31 home runs in 2016 to lead the conference.
The Buckeyes are 9-0 when not committing an error and 12-1 when leading after six innings.
Sergakis has reached base in all 26 games and leads the Big Ten with 43 hits. His hit streak also extended to nine-consecutive games to his career best. He tied his career-high with two doubles.
Nennig had a career-high six RBI. He’s posted all three home runs in the last week after never hitting a collegiate home run in his first three seasons. His eight total bases was also a career-high.
Dawson notched his sixth home run of the year and 17th of his career (leads all active Buckeyes). He registered two stolen bases to now lead the team with 10 swipes.
Several Buckeyes had multi-hit games including Sergakis (14), Washington (8), Dawson (8), Nennig (4) and Ratcliff (2). Nennig had his third multi-RBI contest, while Dawson registered his fifth multi-RBI performance.
Other Buckeyes also extended their reaches streaks, including Washington (10) and Ratcliff (9). Troy Montgomery’s 16-game reached base streak was snapped today.
Mosbarger claimed his first win as a Buckeye.