Buckeyes Drop 10-Inning Heartbreaker to Gonzaga

Friday, February 24

Phoenix, Ariz.

4:00 pm

Ohio State

2-4

Gonzaga

1-4

Gonzaga

Ohio State

Buckeyes Drop 10-Inning Heartbreaker to Gonzaga

2/24/2023 11:06:56 PM | Baseball

Box Score

PHOENIX, Ariz. – There were bright spots in Ohio State’s game against Gonzaga on Friday, including a grand slam from Matthew Graveline and a late two-run homerun from Kade Kern to tie things up in the ninth inning, but the Buckeyes (2-4) were not able to come away with the win as they fell to the Zags (1-4), 11-9, in 10 innings.

Game Recap

In the bottom of the first inning, with just one out on the board, Marcus Ernst and Kade Kern were walked and Hank Thomas reached base on a fielder’s choice that turned into a Gonzaga error to load the bases. Graveline then stepped up to the plate and what came next had the Scarlet & Gray fans in the stands going crazy; Graveline went yard, blasting the first homerun of his collegiate career over the wall in left field. Graveline’s grand slam gave Ohio State the early 4-0 lead.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the top of the third frame after an RBI single, but the Buckeyes remained ahead by three, 4-1.
Graveline picked up his second hit of the game in the bottom of the third, singling through the left side. Henry Kaczmar followed that with a single up the middle to put runners on first and second, but the Zags turned a double play to end the inning.
Another run crossed the plate for the Bulldogs in the top of the fourth to cut the Buckeye lead to two runs, 4-2.
Mitchell Okuley led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple, but was thrown out at home to keep the Bucks from scoring another run. Josh McAlister was hit by a pitch to reach base and Tyler Pettorini hit an infield single to put runners back on for the Buckeyes, but they were both stranded.
The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game in the top of the fifth inning, getting ahead of Ohio State, 6-4, after a two-RBI triple and a two-run homerun.
The Buckeyes, however, quickly tied things up, 6-6. In the bottom of the fifth, Hank Thomas led off with a double to right field; he advanced to third and then scored on back-to-back wild pitches to put the Bucks within one, 6-5. With two outs on the board, Nick Erwin singled to right center. Okuley then doubled to right center, sending Erwin home to tie things up.
Gonzaga reclaimed the lead in the seventh, getting back ahead of OSU by two, 8-6.
Okuley reached base in the bottom of the seventh after being hit by a pitch, and an infield single from Josh McAlister put two runners on for the Buckeyes. A single off the bat of Pettorini scored Okuley and left the Buckeyes trailing by just one run, 8-7, going into the eighth inning.
The Bulldogs once again took a two-run lead, 9-7, in the top of the ninth, but center fielder Kade Kern came in clutch in the bottom of the inning, hitting it out of the park to send two runs across and tie the score, 9-9.
A two-RBI double from the Zags in the top of the 10^th inning once again put them ahead by two, 11-9.
Erwin and McAlister both recorded base hits in the bottom of the 10^th inning, but the Buckeyes went scoreless, falling to Gonzaga by two.

Buckeyes by the Numbers

Graveline and Kern are the third and fourth Buckeyes, respectively, to hit homeruns this season. Ernst and Erwin each had one during last week’s UCONN series.
The Buckeyes tied their season-high with 13 total hits on the day. Pettorini, Graveline, Erwin, Okuley and McAlister each had two hits.
Graveline led the Buckeyes with four RBIs, the most of his career so far. Kern added two RBIs.
Ernst, Kern and Thomas each scored two runs.
Justin Eckhardt started on the mound, striking out two and giving up four earned runs on five hits in a 4.1-inning no-decision.
Landon Beidelschies and Jake Johnson each pitched one scoreless inning, and both struck out one.
Jacob Gehring (1-0) took the loss. Gehring struck out one and allowed two runs on two hits in one inning tossed.

Up Next

The Buckeyes close out their two-game series with Grand Canyon on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 9:00 P.M. ET before wrapping up the weekend with another game against Gonzaga at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 26.

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