Friday, February 20
Memphis, Tenn.
12:00 P.M. CT/1:00 P.M. ET
Ohio State
3-1
0
vs
6
Louisiana Tech
5-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Louisiana Tech
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
2
6
12
0
Ohio State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
Buckeyes Split on Day One of Grind City Classic
2/20/2026 10:49:00 PM | Baseball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After falling to Louisiana Tech (5-1), 6-0, in its first game of the day, the Ohio State baseball team (4-1) bounced back for a 12-5 win over Memphis (2-3) to close out day one of the Grind City Classic on Friday.
Game 1: Louisiana Tech 6, Ohio State 0
Game Recap
Game Recap
Game 1: Louisiana Tech 6, Ohio State 0
Game Recap
- With two outs on the board in the bottom of the first, Mason Eckelman and Noah Furcht hit back-to-back singles, and CJ Reid walked to load the bases, but they were stranded.
- Jacob Parr led off the bottom of the second with his first collegiate hit, a single to center field. Maddix Simpson then walked to put two runners on. Parr, however, was caught stealing and Simpson was picked off to put two outs on the board. Miles Vandenheuvel doubled to left field, but he was left on base.
- The Bulldogs got on the board in the top of the fifth inning, taking a 2-0 lead after a lead-off solo home run and an RBI groundout.
- Louisiana Tech extended its lead, 4-0, in the top of the eighth after a two-RBI double and tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth off a solo home run and an RBI triple to get ahead, 6-0.
- After the Bulldogs scored in the top of the fifth, only one Buckeye reached base and Ohio State fell to Louisiana Tech, 6-0.
- Vandenheuvel, Parr, Furcht and Eckelman each had one hit.
- Chris Domke (1-1) took the loss on the mound. Domke struck out a career-high seven and gave up two runs on six hits in 4.1 innings pitched.
- Zak Sigman struck out five and gave up four runs on five hits in a 4.0-inning relief appearance.
Game Recap
- The Tigers got on the board first, taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after a two-RBI double and an RBI single.
- Henry Kaczmar doubled to left field to lead off the second inning. With two outs on the board, a double from Alex Bemis sent Kaczmar home to cut the Memphis lead to two, 3-1.
- In the bottom of the second, starter Gavin Kuzniewski struck out the side, catching two Tigers swinging and one looking.
- Singles from Vandenheuvel and Eckelman in the top of the third inning put two runners on for the Buckeyes. A sacrifice fly from Furcht scored Vandenheuvel and left Ohio State trailing by just one run, 3-2.
- The Tigers got back ahead by two, 4-2, in the bottom of the third after an RBI single.
- With one out in the top of the fifth, Vandenheuvel walked, stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Ellis reached base and Vandenheuvel scored on a Memphis error to cut the lead back to one, 4-3. RBI singles from Furcht and Kaczmar gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the day, 5-4.
- An RBI single from the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth inning tied the score, 5-5.
- In the top of the sixth, Reid and Bemis were both hit by pitches to lead off the inning. With one out, Vandenheuvel walked to load the bases. With two outs, Eckelman stepped up to the plate and came up big with a grand slam, sending the ball over the wall in right field for the Buckeyes' first home run of the 2026 season and to put Ohio State back in the lead, 9-5.
- Owen Graf took over on the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning, relieving Jake Michalak, and he struck out the side, notching two backwards Ks and one swinging strikeout.
- With the bases loaded, two outs and a 2-1 count for the Tigers' current batter in the bottom of the eighth inning, Andrew Edrington took over on the mound. He got the strikeout to strand the runners.
- Simpson led off with a double down the right field line in the top of the eighth. With one out, Ellis singled to right field to send Simpson home. Eckelman once again came up big, this time with a two-run shot to right field to give the Buckeyes a commanding 12-5 lead.
- Nick Sawyer and Zach Weber each fanned three of four batters faced in the bottom of the eighth and ninth, respectively, and the Buckeyes came away with the 12-5 victory.
- The Buckeye pitching staff combined for 21 strikeouts.
- Kuzniewski fanned a career-high nine in a 4.0-inning no-decision. He gave up three runs on four hits.
- Michalak (1-0) earned the win on the mound. He struck out one and allowed one run on two hits in 1.0 inning pitched.
- Graf struck out four, and Sawyer and Weber each had three strikeouts.
- Eckelman had his first career game with two home runs and he batted in a career-high six runs.
- Eckelman and Kaczmar led the team in hits with three each.
- Ellis and Furcht each added two hits and two RBIs.
- The Buckeyes take on Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. ET and Memphis on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. ET.
#GoBucks
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Michalak, Jake (1-0)
L: Smith, Charlie (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Kaczmar, Henry 2 ; Bemis, Alex 1 ; Simpson, Maddix 1
HR: Eckelman, Mason 2
RBI: Ellis, Lee 2 ; Eckelman, Mason 6 ; Kaczmar, Henry 1 ; Bemis, Alex 1 ; Furcht, Noah 2
SF: Furcht, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ellis, Lee 2 ; Vandenheuvel, Miles 3 ; Eckelman, Mason 2 ; Kaczmar, Henry 1 ; Reid, CJ 1 ; Bemis, Alex 1 ; Simpson, Maddix 1 ; Furcht, Noah 1
SB: Ellis, Lee 2 ; Vandenheuvel, Miles 1 ; Kaczmar, Henry 1 ; Furcht, Noah 1 ; Mangrum, Grant 1
HBP: Reid, CJ 1 ; Bemis, Alex 1
Batting:
2B: Rodriguez, Freddy 1 ; Cox, Shane 1
RBI: Rodriguez, Freddy 2 ; Cox, Shane 2 ; Smith IV, James 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Freddy 2 ; Cassidy, Trae 2 ; Hernandez, Javon 1
SB: Rodriguez, Freddy 1 ; Cassidy, Trae 1 ; Hernandez, Javon 1
HBP: Rodriguez, Freddy 1 ; Cox, Shane 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
6
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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