Buckeyes Open Big Ten Play this Weekend at Purdue
3/24/2022 4:08:37 PM | Baseball
Ohio State at Purdue
Game 1
Date: March 25, 2022 | Time: 4:00 | BTN+ | Scoring/Listen |
Probable Starters:
Ohio State – Isaiah Coupet (So. | LHP | 2-2 | 4.62 ERA | 25.0 IP | 42 K | 15 BB)
Purdue – Jackson Smeltz (RS-Jr. | LHP | 4-0 | 2.30 ERA | 27.1 IP | 44 K | 9 BB)
Game 2
Date: March 26, 2022 | Time: 1:00 | BTN+ | Scoring/Listen |
Probable Starters:
Ohio State – Nate Haberthier (So. | RHP | 0-1 | 8.04 ERA | 15.2 IP | 9 K | 5 BB)
Purdue – TBA
Game 3
Date: March 27, 2022 | Time: 1:00 | BTN+ | Scoring/Listen |
Probable Starters:
Ohio State – Wyatt Loncar (Jr. | RHP | 1-2 | 5.79 ERA | 18.2 IP | 28 K | 10 BB)
Purdue – Troy Wansing (Fr. | LHP | 2-0 | 1.33 ERA | 20.1 IP | 25 K | 9 BB)
Game Notes: Ohio State | Purdue
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State is set to begin its 24-game Big Ten slate this weekend when it heads to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on Purdue in a three-game series. All four games will be streamed on BTN+ and the games can be heard locally on 1460 AM or on OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
The teams met once last year in West Lafayette with the Buckeyes leaving with a 5-1 victory. Ohio State took 2-of-3 in the series in Columbus last year as Purdue’s one win was a wild 16-15 game in the series finale. Overall, the Buckeyes have won six of the last seven meetings with Purdue and swept the last series in West Lafayette in 2019.
The Opponent
- Purdue has started the season 17-1 with five of those wins coming at home.
- This weekend will be the first games this season for Purdue against a Power 5 team.
- Evan Albrecht has hit safely in the last three games and leads the team with a .362 batting average.
- CJ Valdez had a nine-game hitting streak earlier this season and is currently hitting .354. Cam Thompson leads the team with five home runs and 28 runs batted in.
- Sunday starter Troy Wansing is 2-0 with a team-best 1.33 ERA. Jackson Smeltz is 4-0 and has 44 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched.
- Purdue is fourth in the country in stolen bases (54) and stolen bases per game (3.0)
Ohio State Quick Hitters
- Ohio State enters the weekend at 8-11 overall and is coming off a 7-5 midweek victory over Wright State on Tuesday night.
- Sophomore Kade Kern had three hits, including a pair of doubles and two runs batted in, against Wright State. He got off to a tough start this season but has hit safely in three of his last four games and has raised his batting average by 61 points.
- Senior Marcus Ernst has had an unreal start to the season. He has hit in a career-high 13 consecutive games and has reached base in 19-straight dating back to last season.
- Ernst is batting .451 which is tops in the Big Ten. He also leads the conference in hits (32) and hits per game (1.68) and is second with an on-base percentage of .549. Ernst has 11 multi-hit games, including four three-hit games this season.
- Freshman Tyler Pettorini had a seven-game hit-streak snapped last weekend but is still batting .333 with four doubles and eight RBI.
- The Buckeye backstop combo of Archer Brookman and Brent Todys is hitting .289 and .286, respectively. Both numbers are over their career averages and they have combined for five doubles and a pair of home runs. Todys is currently riding a five-game hitting streak and has reached base in his last 12 games.
- Senior Zach Dezenzo leads the team with six home runs and 20 runs batted in.
- On the mound, Friday starter Isaiah Coupet has 42 strikeouts in 25.0 innings of work. That’s 15.12 strikeouts per nine innings which is tops in the conference and ninth nationally.
- Nate Haberthier is coming off a complete game at UNCW last Saturday that saw him go a career-high 8.0 innings, allowing just one earned on four strikeouts and no walks. He is sixth in the conference at 1.90 walks per nine innings.
- Ethan Hammerberg has been dominant in the back end of the bullpen so far this season. He has made a team-high nine appearances and owns a 1.62 ERA in 16.2 innings pitched. He has 24 strikeouts and just three walks to go along with a pair of saves.
- Freshman Jake Johnson has had a great start to his career. He’s made seven appearances and has a team-leading 0.69 ERA in 13.0 innings. He has also walked just three batters walking striking out 15.
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