Ohio State
19-7-1
Bethune Cookman
11-18
Buckeyes Bury Wildcats, 13-5, for Series Sweep Sunday – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 3, 2016
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team claimed a series sweep over Bethune-Cookman with a 13-5 victory Sunday afternoon at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes extend their season-high win streak to seven-consecutive games and improve to 19-7-1 overall, while the Wildcats drop to 11-18. Ohio State defended its home turf to begin 2016, going 10-1 in the first 11 contests in Columbus.
“The key today was getting a win and finishing out the home stretch in a very good fashion,” head coach Greg Beals. “A good ball club needs to take care of business at home and now we need to go on the road and keep the win streak alive.”
Ohio State will now begin a four-game road swing at Kent State at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday in Kent, Ohio. It will mark the first time the Buckeyes will travel to Kent State since the 1987 campaign.
The Ohio State offense picked up right where it left off yesterday with 13 runs on 15 hits vs. the Wildcats in the series finale. Eight different Buckeyes recorded hits, while four had multi-hit games. Redshirt junior right fielder Jacob Bosiokovic tied for the Big Ten lead in home runs with his ninth of the year, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, while senior second baseball L Grant Davis had a career-high four RBI with a 2-for-5 day on two doubles and one run scored. Senior first baseman Troy Kuhn was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI and freshman Brady Cherry went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and RBI.
The offensive charge finished off a 5-0 week for the Scarlet and Gray. The Buckeyes batted .308 on the weekend combining for 45 run scored, 17 doubles, eight home runs and 13 stolen bases to begin the month of April.
“I think the sweep will give us confidence heading into the midweek game at Kent State and at Maryland next weekend,” Davis said. “We weren’t clicking as a lineup as a whole to begin the year, but that’s been happening lately now. We are putting good swings on the ball. It’s very scary what this team is capable of. That’s a good thing.”
BUCKEYES LIGHT UP THE BOARD
Ohio State scored a run in the second, four in the fourth and a notched a seven spot in the fifth frame on 12 hits vs. the BCU hurlers. Sergakis homered for the fifth time this year to lead off the second. In the fourth, Kuhn legged out an infield single as Bosiokovic scored to tie it at 2-all. Davis then cleared the bases when he jacked a three-run double off the wall in center for the 5-2 advantage.
The Scarlet and Gray opened the game in the fifth with seven runs on seven hits vs. the Wildcats. Bosiokovic crushed a 2-2 pitch deep over the wall in left for the 6-2 lead. A double by Kuhn made it 8-2, scoring both Sergakis and Ronnie Dawson, respectively. Cherry then singled to right center on a 3-2 count to push it to a seven-run cushion. A second double by Davis to left advanced the 10th run home. Junior center fielder Troy Montgomery singled up the middle to score Davis before Bosiokovic knocked a RBI single to right center for the 12th Buckeye run. Junior co–captain Jalen Washington hit in the final run in the eighth on a single, scoring senior Ryan Leffel.
PITCHING TALK
Senior left-hander pitcher John Havird improved to 2-1 on the year, tossing five innings and allowed two runs, two earned, four hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Seth Kinker tossed a scoreless sixth on two hits and a pair of punch outs before freshman left-hander Connor Curlis threw the next two frames and allowed three runs, one earned with a walk and a season-high four strikeouts. Redshirt junior right-hander Shea Murray pitched a scoreless ninth with a pair of strikeouts.
SOME NOTES
- The Buckeyes improve to 4-1 all-time vs. Bethune-Cookman.
- Ohio State is 10-1 in home games and 12-1 in its last 13 contests.
- The Buckeyes have won three-consecutive home series.
- Ohio State has launched 32 home runs in 2016 to lead the conference and Top 15 nationally.
- Ohio State finished the week with a 5-0 mark and extended its season-high win streak to seven in a row.
- The Buckeyes are 9-0 when not committing an error and 12-1 when leading after six innings.
- Sergakis has reached base in all 27 games and leads the Big Ten with 44 hits. His hit streak also extended to 10-consecutive games (career-high).
- Davis tallied a career-high four RBI with two doubles.
- Bosiokovic is tied for the conference lead with nine home runs and registered his seventh multi-RBI game.
- Cherry earned his sixth multi-hit contest, while Davis (5) and Kun (7) also had multi-hit days.
- Bosiokovic is tied for the team lead with six multi-RBI games. Davis notched his second, while Kuhn had this third of the year.
- Curlis tied his game high with four strikeouts in his fourth appearance of the year, while Murray tied his game-high with a pair of punch outs in his second appearance of 2016.
- Other Buckeyes also extended their reaches streaks, including Washington (121) and Ratcliff (10). Nennig (5), Davis (5), Kuhn (4) and Dawson (4) also added to their reached base streaks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Havird, John (2-1)
L: Seibold, A. (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Quinn, R. 1
3B: Heron, J. 1
HR: Bond, N. 1
RBI: Bond, N. 3 ; Sterijevski 1 ; Heron, J. 1
SF: Sterijevski 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Edney, J. 1 ; Rodriguez, D 1 ; Middleton, C 1 ; Bond, N. 2
HBP: Edney, J. 1 ; Middleton, C 1
Batting:
2B: Kuhn, Troy 1 ; Leffel, Ryan 1 ; Davis, L 2
HR: Bosiokovic, Jacob 1 ; Sergakis, Nick 1
RBI: Montgomery, Troy 1 ; Bosiokovic, Jacob 2 ; Sergakis, Nick 1 ; Kuhn, Troy 3 ; Washington, Jalen 1 ; Cherry, Brady 1 ; Davis, L 4
SH: Dawson, Ronnie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bosiokovic, Jacob 2 ; Dawson, Ronnie 1 ; Sergakis, Nick 2 ; Kuhn, Troy 2 ; Leffel, Ryan 1 ; Washington, Jalen 1 ; Cherry, Brady 2 ; Davis, L 1 ; Nennig, Craig 1
HBP: Washington, Jalen 1 ; Ratcliff, Zach 1 ; Nennig, Craig 1
PO: Montgomery, Troy 1 ; Brobst, Jake 1
