Buckeyes Down Penguins, 12-8

Tuesday, March 21

Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State

9-11

Youngstown State

2-15

Youngstown State

Ohio State

Buckeyes Down Penguins, 12-8

3/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 21, 2017

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team won, 12-8, over Youngstown State Tuesday evening at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 9-11 overall, while the Penguins drop to 2-15 in 2017.

“It was a win that we needed as we head into conference play this weekend,” head coach Greg Beals said. “It wasn’t the prettiest win but it was a victory and that’s the biggest point for me. I thought we got a good start out of Curlis. We need Curlis to be ready for the weekend, so we had a limited start on him today. We got a lot of help offensively. I think we walked 10 times tonight. They fueled our offense, but we got some hits when we needed to. I really liked the production that we got from Noah West. When you get your nine-hole hitter on base, we have a chance to score some runs and he was able to do that for us tonight.”

Freshman Noah West had a big night, going 2-for-4 with four runs scored, a double, triple, RBI and walk. Sophomore Jacob Barnwell was 3-for-4 with a run scored, double, three RBI and two walks. Jalen Washington drove in three runs and Noah McGowan also had two hits, including a double on the evening. On the mound, sophomore left-handed pitcher Connor Curlis got the win in a controlled start, tossing three scoreless innings on one hit and one walk and striking out four batters.

“I felt pretty good heading into the game,” West said. “Just getting the opportunity to put on the Scarlet and Gray is just a dream come true. I’m just trying to go out there and have some fun and relax a little. I was just trying to put the ball and play and make the defense work a little bit.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
After Curlis left two on in the first with a strikeout, Zach Ratcliff lifted a fly ball in the bottom half to score lead-off hitter Tre’ Gantt to make it 1-0. In the bottom of the second, Barnwell ripped a 1-2 pitch to the gap in left center to score both West and Bo Coolen. In the third, McGowan led off the bottom half with a triple down the right field line. He scored right after on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the fourth, a sac fly by Washington made it 5-0. A failed pick-off attempt scored Gantt from third base for a six-run cushion. Conner Pohl pushed home a run on a fielder’s choice for the seventh run.

In the fifth, a two-run triple by Anthony Rohan got the Penguins on the board for the 7-2 score. Ohio State answered in the bottom of the fifth when Washington singled through the right side to drive in two runs. A two-run home run by Trey Bridis and a RBI single made it a 9-5 contest in the top of the sixth. The Scarlet and Gray registered back-to-back RBI triples by West and Gantt for an 11-5 advantage. The Penguins cut their deficit to four runs in the top of the eighth on two bases-loaded walks, but the Buckeyes added an insurance run in the bottom half following a RBI single by Barnwell.

BIG TEN PLAY STARTS FRIDAY
A new season begins Friday night at Bill Davis Stadium as the defending Big Ten tournament champions open conference play against Minnesota, the defending Big Ten regular season champions. First pitch Friday is at 5:05 p.m. Game two begins at 3:05 p.m. The first two contests vs. the Golden Gophers will be streamed on BTN Plus, while the series finale will be shown live on BTN at Noon Sunday.

GAME NOTES

The Buckeyes improve to 14-2 all-time vs. Youngstown State.
Ohio State claims their first home victory of the season tonight.
The Scarlet and Gray walked 10 times tonight, tying their season high.
West notched his first multi-hit game of his career also registered his first career double and first career triple with a season-high four runs scored. He extended his hit streak to four-consecutive games.
Barnwell had his fourth multi-hit performance and recorded a career-high three RBI.Washington leads the team with 19 RBI after his team-high sixth multi-RBI contest of
2017.
Curlis picked up his second win of the season.