Ohio State Shuts Out Wildcats, 6-0, Saturday Night in Daytona

Saturday, March 2

Daytona Beach, Fla.

Ohio State

6-4

Bethune-Cookman

4-5

Ohio State

Bethune-Cookman

Ohio State Shuts Out Wildcats, 6-0, Saturday Night in Daytona

3/2/2019 9:45:18 PM | Baseball

Box Score

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Ohio State baseball team evened the series Saturday night with a 6-0 win at Bethune-Cookman at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Freshman right-handed pitcher Garrett Burhenn improved to 2-0 throwing 6.1 scoreless innings, while junior right fielder Dominic Canzone was 3-for-5 with two runs scored, one RBI and two stolen bases. With their third shutout win of the year, the Buckeyes improve to 6-4, while the Wildcats drop to 4-5.

QUOTE FROM COACH
“We did a lot of good things tonight,” head coach Greg Beals said. “Our guys responded very well and that’s the ball club I’m fighting for. That’s what I know we are capable of and that’s what I’ve seen us do. We did it during opening weekend. You got to be locked in mentally in order to do all the necessary little things well. Our defense was very solid. Dom Canzone with a big throw in right tonight and Carpenter dove and kept the ball in the infield to allow us to roll another double play ball. We don’t throw a shutout without some big plays defensively. We were able to score early for our rookie pitcher and Garrett commanded his fastball well.”

STARTER TALK
Burhenn, from Indianapolis, Ind., kept the BCU bats off the board for 6.1 innings behind a strong defensive performance. He ran into trouble in the sixth inning as the bases were loaded, but fired back-to-back strikeouts to put another zero on the board. He recorded the first out of the bottom of the seventh and struck out five on six hits with two walks. He tallied seven groundball outs, including two double plays, in his second shutout performance of the season.

Cred: Press Pros Magazine

BATS START HOT
Noah West set the tone in the top of the first when he led off with a double down the left field line. He scored the first run of the game on a RBI single by Canzone. Cherry plated Canzone on a sac fly to make it 2-0. The Buckeyes loaded the bases in the fourth before Nate Romans hit a sac fly to deep center to push the lead to 3-0.

SOLID DEFENSE
Burhenn was fielding his position at a high level tonight. He made a diving grab on a pop-up bunt in the third and also turned double plays to West in the third and fourth innings. Canzone picked up his first outfield assist of the year in the bottom of the fourth to record the first out. He came up firing from right field on a single and threw a strike to third baseman Zach Dezenzo who applied the tag on Nate Sterijevski. Ohio State turned a third double play to end the sixth.

BUCKEYES ADD ON
Ohio State added a fourth run in the sixth when Malik Jones pushed home Brent Todys with a sac bunt. In the seventh, Marcus Ernst drove in Matt Carpenter with a one-out RBI single through the left side. A double steal and wild pitch allowed Canzone to cross the dish on a heads-up play to put it at a 6-0 advantage.

TO THE BULLPEN
Freshman left-handed reliever Mitch Milheim ended the sixth inning when he induced a ground ball double play. He worked 2.0 innings with three hits, three walks and two strikeouts. Fifth-year senior right-handed reliever Thomas Waning finished the game recording the final two outs with one strikeout.

UP NEXT
Ohio State and Bethune-Cookman meet at 4 p.m. Sunday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Griffan Smith (2-0, 1.50) is on the mound for the Scarlet and Gray

GAME NOTES

The Buckeyes turned a game-high three double plays and had a season-best four steals.
Matt Carpenter made his first start of the season at second base.
Marcus Ernst started for the first time at first base.
Canzone drove in his team-best ninth RBI of the year.
Canzone recorded his first outfield assist of the season and 12th of his career.
Multi-hit games: Canzone (2) and Carpenter (1)
Reached base streaks extended: Canzone (6), West (5), Dezenzo (5), Ernst (3) and Cherry (3).
Hit streaks extended: Dezenzo (5), Cherry (3) and Ernst (3).

RANDOM NOTES FROM AROUND THE BALLPARK

It’s been a sunny couple of days in Daytona. Let’s get you up to speed on random notes.
Third week on the road for the beach boys. This team is staying at an oceanside hotel right in the middle of Daytona Beach, “The Most Famous Beach in the World.” The smell of the salty air, so refreshing. Hearing the waves crash on the white sand for the first time, so nice. There really isn’t a better place to stay for a college baseball team than right on the beach. Life is good.
The Baseball Buckeyes took a quick flight down to Florida on Thursday and landed into Orlando. The team was greeted by a familiar face, Perry, their bus driver. He was with the boys during the practice trip and first week of the regular season in Port Charlotte. One of the best. Everyone was pumped up to have him back with the squad. On the one-hour ride into Daytona, the team drove by something spectacular. Daytona International Speedway. It’s colossal. I mean HUGE. It felt like twice the length of The Shoe in Columbus on the drive by. It’s about a mile-long structure. That’s gigantic.
Friday morning before the series opener vs. the Wildcats. The team had most of the afternoon to enjoy the beach life. Associate head coach Mike Stafford and quality control coordinator Kirby Pellant were spotted in the blue waves of the Atlantic. Temperature was about 64 degrees in the water they said. You could spot Staff from a mile away with those tan lines. Like the easiest puzzle in a Where’s Waldo book.
Here’s a little lesson on bro-science. The Ohio State SID spent about four hours poolside Friday. If you didn’t know, he’s a big pool guy. Peak hours of sun are between 10 am-2 p.m. 20 minutes laying out, 10 minutes in the pool and five minutes in the hot tub. Repeat. Sun. Pool. Hot Tub. Repeat. Sun. Pool. Hot Tub. Repeat. He did this about eight times. It may sound like a tough job, but trust me, someone has to do it.
Saturday update on the SID: He might’ve gotten too much sun on Friday. So did Kirby. Saturday was a day for the shade for both of them.
Jackie Robinson Ballpark. You can feel the history when you walk into the confines. The park was renamed Jackie Robinson Ballpark in 1989 as the stadium served as host to the first racially integrated game in baseball history. Walking in you see the old school box seats surrounding home plate and down the first base line. Old school dugouts with four stone steps on each end. The park has a large LED scoreboard in left center, but also an old-time scoreboard to the left of it. You know the one you see at Fenway Park or Wrigley Field. It definitely adds character to the park. After all, it is the old ball game. The facility also is the home for the Daytona Tortugas, the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Head coach Greg Beals, associate head coach Mike Stafford and volunteer coach Dan Delucia each played here during their professional careers.

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