Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team handed first-year coach Bill Mosiello a huge early season win Friday night, 8-3, over 2021 College World Series champion Mississippi State in the second game of the Frisco Classic, being played in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. The win improved Ohio State’s record to 4-5 on the year and dropped the Bulldogs to 6-4.
Ohio State broke a 1-1 game open with four runs in the sixth inning with the big blow a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double by Tyler Pettorini. The Buckeyes added three more runs in the seventh to build a commanding 8-1 lead.
Ohio State only managed five hits (Mississippi State had just three), but the Buckeyes were opportunistic drawing eight walks and with aggressive play that helped force four Bulldog errors. Henry Kaczmar had two hits, including a double, and scored two runs with Josh McAlister and Kade Kern also scoring twice for the Buckeyes. Pettorini led with those three big RBI.
Isaiah Coupet improved to 3-0 on the season with 5.0 innings of one-hit work. He walked six, but he struck out nine and allowed just one run. Mississippi State starter Jurrangelo Cijntje went 4.0 innings and allowed one hit, one unearned run, two walks and he struck out four.
Ohio State’s four combined innings of work from its bullpen of Blayne Robinson, Nolan Clegg, Landon Beidelschies and Jonah Jenkins included just two runs allowed and two hits, to go along with six walks and four hit batters. Jenkins earned the save, his first of the season after getting the final out with the bases loaded.
How This Win Happened
- Mississippi State had two runners on in the bottom of the first, but Ohio State starter Isaiah Coupet negotiated himself out of the inning unharmed by coaxing a strikeout and a fly out with runners on second and third.
- Mississippi State RHP/LHP – yes, he pitches from both sides – Jurrangelo Cijntje faced the minimum number of Buckeye batters through the first two innings, getting a double play ball in the second after hitting the leadoff batter, Hank Thomas.
- Coupet struck out the side in the second inning to keep the game scoreless.
- A second double play behind Cijntje kept the freshman at the minimum number of batters through the third inning.
- Mississippi State once again had two men on in the bottom of the third, but Coupet registered his fourth strikeout of the game and threw a fielder’s choice groundout to get out of the inning.
- Buckeye leadoff hitter and freshman Henry Kacsmar singled to open the top of the fourth inning, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error … all before the first out of the inning. One out later he came home to score the first run of the game on a Cijntje wild pitch. This was the first run allowed by Cijntje this season, albeit unearned.
- It was a clean fourth for Coupet: two groundouts and a strikeout and the teams’ moved to the fifth inning with Ohio State still on top, 1-0.
- Freshman RHP Evan Siary replaced Cijntje to open the fifth and he shut the Buckeyes down in order.
- Three one-out Bulldog walks off Coupet loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning. Coupet recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning but Mississippi State tied the game at 1-all off a fielder’s choice and an error.
- Ohio State broke the game open in the top of the sixth inning, scoring four runs off two hits and four walks to take a 5-1 lead. Kacsmar had a double and scored in the inning and Tyler Pettorini came through with the big hit, a bases-loaded double off Siary to score all three runners. Cole Andrews drew a bases loaded walk to score a run just before Pettorini’s big hit.
- Blayne Robinson came in to pitch for Coupet in the bottom of the sixth. After two quick groundouts, Robinson hit two batters in between giving up a walk, but he got out of the bases-loaded jam unscathed, striking out .400 hitter Colton Ledbetter, the Bulldogs leader with three home runs and 19 RBI so far on the season.
- Ohio State chipped away for three more runs in the seventh. Josh McAlister walked for the second time in the game, stole second and scored on a fielder’s choice by Kade Kern that turned into an error with Kern ending up at second. A single by Hank Thomas scored two more runs, one of them unearned on the Bulldogs’ third error of the inning.
- Nolan Clegg relieved Robinson in the seventh and he retired the side in order off 10 pitches.
- Clegg gave up a walk, a single, a hit batter and subsequently one run in the eighth inning before being replaced by freshman Landon Beidelschies. After giving up a single to Ledbetter to load the bases, Beidelschies sent the Buckeyes into the ninth with an 8-2 lead with an inning-ending strikeout.
- The bottom of the ninth wasn’t pretty, with the Bulldogs drawing four walks and a hit batter around a double play ball to make the score, 8-3, and prompt a pitching change of Jonah Jenkins for Beidelschies. Jenkins faced just one batter, got him to fly out to left and the Buckeyes had a big, big victory.
Game/Season Notes
- Attendance at the game was 5,175.
- Mississippi State left 16 runners on base.
- The teams combined for 27 strikeouts and 20 walks.
- Ohio State continues its southwestern swing with a game against the 6-2 California Golden Bears at 6 p.m. Saturday.
- The ballpark where this tournament is being played is home to the Frisco Roughriders, the Double A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
- The finale of the Frisco Classic will match the Buckeyes against 2022 College World Series participant Oklahoma (5-4) at 4 p.m.
- All games are being streamed on D1Baseball.com.
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