Buckeyes Down Saint Louis, 7-1, on Opening Day

Friday, February 13

Pensacola, Fla.

2:00 P.M. CT/3:00 P.M. ET

Ohio State

1-0

Saint Louis

0-1

Saint Louis

Ohio State

Buckeyes Down Saint Louis, 7-1, on Opening Day

2/13/2026 8:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Ohio State baseball team (1-0) defeated Saint Louis (0-1), 7-1, on Opening Day at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola, Fla. on Friday.

Game Recap

Lee Ellis was the first Buckeye on base, walking to lead off the bottom of the first and then stealing second shortly after. A groundout from Henry Kaczmar advanced Ellis to third base. Mason Eckelman drove in Ellis on a single to right field to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead.
Starter Gavin Kuzniewski fanned two Billikens in the top of the second.
Ale Bemis recorded his first hit as a Buckeye in the bottom of the second inning, with a lead-off single to right field. A triple from Maddix Simpson, which he placed deep in the right field corner, scored Bemis and put Ohio State ahead, 2-0.
In the bottom of the third, Ellis was hit by a pitch, Kaczmar singled through the left side and Eckelman walked to load the bases. With his first hit as a Buckeye, CJ Reid singled to right field, sending two runs home. Eckelman scored on a throwing error by the Saint Louis pitcher and the Buckeyes led, 5-0, at the end of the third.
Kuzniewski added two more strikeouts in the top of the fourth inning, catching both Billikens swinging.
In the bottom of the sixth, Simpson led off with a single into center field. Noah Furcht followed that with an infield single, his first hit as a Buckeye. A sacrifice bunt from Miles Vandenheuvel advanced both runners, and a sacrifice fly from Ellis scored Simpson to extend the Ohio State lead, 6-0.
The Billikens got on the board in the top of the eighth inning with a solo home run, but the Buckeyes led by five, 6-1.
Bemis reached base on a Saint Louis error to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning, then stole second and advanced to third on the next play. A single from Ellis scored Bemis to put the Buckeyes back ahead by six, 7-1.
Two runners reached base in the top of the ninth, but the Buckeyes prevented them from scoring and earned the 7-0 Opening Day victory.

Buckeyes by the Numbers

Seven different Buckeyes recorded hits. Simpson led the team with two hits.
Ellis and Reid shared the team lead in RBIs with two each.
Ellis led the Buckeyes with two swiped bags.
Starter Kuzniewski fanned four and gave up three hits in a scoreless 4.0-inning no-decision.
Zak Sigman (1-0) earned his first career victory on the mound. He struck out three and gave up one run on seven hits in a career-high 5.0 innings pitched.

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