Riding strength on the mound and at the plate, the Buckeyes battled for their second-straight win to split both two-game sets against their opponents in Minneapolis.
Ohio State (5-3) used a go-ahead, two-run home run from senior second baseman Colton Bauer to propel itself to a 6-4 win over Nebraska (5-2) on Sunday afternoon.
Junior right-handed pitcher Will Pfennig shook off a four-hit, two-run first inning and cruised through 6.2 innings for one of the best Buckeyes starting-pitching performances of the season to date. The righty allowed three runs across five hits and walked none while striking out seven.
"I think the thing I was most proud of today was no walks," Pfennig said. "We put an emphasis on that. We’ve had a decent amount of free bases over the past couple games and we really wanted to clean it up."
Buckeyes bats mashed nine hits and were keyed by multi-hit games by juniors shortstop Zach Dezenzo, left fielder Marcus Ernst and third baseman Nick Erwin.
“We just had a really good weekend at the plate," Bauer said. "Putting good swings on it, ball kind of flies here. It was a nice weekend to have for us."
Nebraska junior RHP Shay Schanaman retired the first six Buckeyes batters before allowing a leadoff single to Ernst at the start of the third inning. Freshman center fielder Kade Kern blasted a two-run home run for the first time in his young Ohio State career to tie the game at two in the top of the fourth frame.
The tie lasted just one half-inning as senior designated hitter Sam Wilson drove a go-ahead, two-run shot to left field and give the Buckeyes a 4-2 lead.
Pfennig retired 16-straight Huskers hitters before sophomore designated hitter Leighton Banjoff led off the seventh inning with a single. Pfennig was lifted for junior right-hander Bayden Root after recording the inning’s second out.
“Kudos to Will Pfennig," head coach Greg Beals said. "Really happy with Will’s competitiveness and what he did for our ball club. The key to Will is he commanded his fastball. He was in control of what he was doing."
Banjoff scored on a passed ball, and the Huskers tied the game at four when senior right fielder Logan Foster hit a solo home run to left.
Nebraska got the first two outs of the eighth inning on 13 pitches It took Nebraska 13 pitches to record the first two outs of the eighth inning. Sophomore RHP Braxton Bragg walked Kern on five pitches, then jumped out to an 0-1 count on Bauer before the second baseman hit his first four-bagger of the season, pushing Ohio State back ahead.
"He started off with a fastball and I took it just like I did today," Bauer said. "I just got under another fastball the pitch after that on Friday night. He came back with the same sequence today, and I didn’t want to miss that second fastball."
Senior left-handed pitcher Griffan Smith struck out two in the bottom half of the eighth and junior RHP T.J. Brock closed the win with a strikeout in the ninth. Ohio State pitchers combined to allow six hits while striking out 10 and walking none over the course of Sunday's contest.
“It’s just fun to be out competing again," Beals said. "We have a lot of belief factor in this ball club. We think we got a chance to be pretty good. It’s been fun to watch them compete and go out and do what they know how to do."
Ohio State will hit the road next weekend for Piscataway, New Jersey, to play three games against Rutgers. First pitch will be thrown at 2 p.m. Friday.
