Pitchers Shine in Ohio State's 7-2 Victory Over BYU

Saturday, February 17

Phoenix, AZ

7:00 PM

Ohio State

1-1

Brigham Young University

1-1

Ohio State

Brigham Young

Pitchers Shine in Ohio State's 7-2 Victory Over BYU

2/18/2024 12:23:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Ohio State baseball Colin Purcell and Hunter Shaw made impressive debuts on Saturday as the Buckeyes (1-1) downed BYU (1-1), 7-2, in their second game of the MLB Desert Invitational on Saturday.

Game Recap

Purcell earned the nod on the mound, his first start for the Buckeyes, and came out strong, striking out two of the four batters he faced in the bottom of the first inning.
In the top of the third inning, in his first at-bat in the Scarlet and Gray, Nick Giamarusti went yard to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead over the Cougars.
Joseph Mershon hit a lead-off single in the top of the fourth inning and then stole second. Ryan Miller walked and Josh Stevenson reached base on a fielder's choice in which Mershon was thrown out. Both runners advanced on a BYU error, but they were stranded on base as the Cougars got the final out of the inning.
BYU got on the board in the bottom of the fourth frame to tie the score, 1-1.
In the top of the sixth, Matthew Graveline doubled to center field. Tyler Pettorini was next up and he singled, driving home Graveline to put the Buckeyes back in the lead, 2-1.
Mershon walked to lead off the sixth inning and swiped second base again. Stevenson was also walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Giamarusti was walked to load the bases and Henry Kaczmar was hit by a pitch to send Mershon home and put Ohio State ahead by two, 3-1.
Shaw entered the game for the Buckeyes in the bottom of the sixth and came out throwing heat, catching all three batters he faced swinging.
A solo homerun from the Cougars in the bottom of the seventh put them within one run of the lead, 3-2, but the Buckeyes were undaunted.
In the top of the eighth with one out on the board, Trey Lipsey was walked and advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt. Kaczmar was next up and he came up big, tripling to center field to score Lipsey and put Ohio State back up by two, 4-2. An RBI single from Pettorini extended the Buckeyes' lead to three runs, 5-2.
In the top of the ninth inning, Mershon was once again walked to lead things off and then promptly swiped his third bag of the night. Mershon advanced to third on a groundout from Miller and then scored on a wild pitch to give Ohio State a four-run lead, 6-2. Giamarusti was hit by a pitch to get on base and then stole second base. An RBI single from Kaczmar scored Giamarusti and put the Buckeyes ahead, 7-2.
The Cougars went down in order in the bottom of the ninth and the Buckeyes earned their first victory of 2024.

Buckeyes by the Numbers

Purcell (1-0) earned the victory on the mound. He struck out four batters and allowed one earned run on five hits in 5.0 innings pitched.
Shaw picked up his first save, fanning six in an impressive relief appearance. He tossed 4.0 innings and allowed just one run on one hit.
Neither Purcell nor Shaw walked any batters.
Kaczmar and Pettorini led the Buckeyes at the plate with three hits apiece.
Mershon swiped three bags, while Giamarusti and Mitchell Okuley each had one stolen base.
Kaczmar led the Buckeyes in RBIs with three and Pettorini batted in two runs.
Mershon and Giamarusti led the team in runs scored with two each.

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