Buckeyes Back Home Looking to Turn the Tide
4/21/2021 5:22:56 PM | Baseball
Ohio State vs. Penn State
Game 1
Date: April 23, 2021 | Time: 6:05 p.m. | Watch: BTN Plus+ | Scoring/Listen
Probable Starters:
Ohio State – Garrett Burhenn (Jr. | RHP | 2-1 | 4.15 ERA | 34.2 IP | 36 K | 13 BB)
Penn State – Bailey Dees (Jr. | RHP | 2-2 | 4.24 ERA | 40.1 IP | 39 K | 17 BB)
Game 2
Date: April 24, 2021 | Time: 3:05 p.m. | Watch: BTN Plus+ | Scoring/Listen
Probable Starters:
Ohio State – Seth Lonsway (R-Jr. | LHP | 1-4 | 4.45 ERA | 32.1 IP | 54 K | 21 BB
Penn State – Conor Larkin (Jr. | RHP | 1-4 | 3.99 ERA | 38.1 IP | 65 K | 25 BB)
Game 3
Date: April 25, 2021 | Time: 1:05 p.m. | Watch: BTN Plus+ | Scoring/Listen
Probable Starters:
Ohio State – Jack Neely (Jr. | RHP | 1-2 | 5.20 ERA | 27.2 IP | 35 K | 18 BB)
Penn State – Kyle Virbitsky (Jr. | RHP | 1-2 | 4.69 ERA | 40.1 IP | 42 K | 10 BB)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After spending the last two weekends on the road, Ohio State returns home to Bill Davis Stadium this weekend to begin a key stretch of games that opens against Penn State on Friday night. The Buckeyes will play nine of the next 12 games at home. Ohio State and Penn State are both riding modest losing streaks as the Buckeyes have dropped the last five games and the Nittany Lions have lost the last four.
TICKETS
A limited number of general admission tickets are available for all remaining home games this season. For instructions on how to purchase, please visit the Ohio State Ticket Office online by CLICKING HERE.
The Opponent
- Penn State was swept at home last weekend by league-leading Nebraska and enters the weekend at 8-16 overall and in 12th place in the Big Ten Standings.
- The last win for the Nittany Lions was an 11-0 thrashing of Purdue on April 10 in East Lansing, Mich.
- The Nittany Lions are much like the Buckeyes in that just one player is batting over .300 and that’s Gavin Homer, who is hitting .346.
- Penn State leads the league in doubles with 54 but is second-to-last in runs scored at 4.3 per game.
- On the mound, Penn State is like Ohio State in that both teams like to pitch inside. Penn State is second behind the Buckeyes in hit batters at 40 and 48, respectively.
Ohio State Quick Hitters
- Ohio State enters the weekend at 13-12 overall and in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten standings.
- The Buckeye pitching staff leads the Big Ten in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.9 which is also 14th nationally.
- The OSU staff is also third in the Big Ten in hits allowed by batter per nine innings (7.90) and opponent batting average (.234).
- Seth Lonsway leads the conference and is fourth nationally at 15.03 strikeouts per nine innings. He is also second in the Big Ten in hits allowed per nine innings at 4.70.
- Lonsway has recorded double-digit strikeouts in each of his last three starts and has 10 double-digit strikeout games in his career. This current streak ties the longest of his career.
- TJ Brock has seven saves on the year which is tops in the Big Ten and tied for 11th nationally.
- Freshman Kade Kern continues to lead the team in hitting at .340, which is 12th in the league. He also tops the team with 19 RBI and an OBP of .396. Kern has seven multi-hit games on the season including a five-hit game in the opener which is the most in a game by a Big Ten player this season.
- Brent Todys is currently riding a career-high five-game hitting streak. He is hitting .350 with a home run, two doubles and five RBI over those five games.
- Conner Pohl has hit safely in seven consecutive games which is two shy of his career-high. Pohl leads the team with seven home runs and is tied for the team lead with 12 walks.
- Pohl has had a hit in 17 of the 25 games this season. He has reached base in all but two of the games this year.
- Zach Dezenzo has hit safely in 12 of the last 15 games and is hitting .333 with three home runs and six doubles over that stretch. He has also reached base safely in the last 12 games which is the longest streak of his career.
Maryland Weekend Recap
- It was a long weekend in College Park as the Buckeyes came home winless in three tries.
- Maryland scored seven runs in the sixth inning on Friday night to take game one 10-6. On Saturday, the Buckeyes got two runs in the seventh and ninth innings to force extras but fell 5-4 in 10 innings. And on Sunday, the Terrapins scored nine unanswered runs to run away with the finale 9-4.
- Remarkably, the Buckeyes out-hit Maryland 24-17 in the series but were out-scored by 10 runs. The Terrapins took advantage of 21 walks, eight hit batters and 10 wild pitches by Buckeye pitchers over the three games.
- At the plate, Brent Todys, Conner Pohl and Zach Dezenzo each had a hit in all three games while Kade Kern collected five hits in the last two games after going hitless in the opener.
- Pohl went deep twice in the series.
#GoBuckeyes
