The Buckeyes will have to wait another day for their chance to claim their first road-series win in Ann Arbor since 1999.
Ohio State (13-8) was shut out by Michigan (14-7) on Saturday 7-0 after Wolverines sophomore right-hander Cameron Weston threw 6.2 scoreless innings while allowing five hits and three walks, striking out five.
“We had great momentum and brought that momentum into today and just didn't have a great game today,” head coach Greg Beals said. “But, you know, the opportunity to win the series is still in hand. The bullpen is intact and ready to go, along with [junior right-hander] Jack Neely on the start, so we are quickly looking forward to tomorrow's ballgame."
Junior second baseman and Wolverines No. 9 hitter in the lineup Riley Bertram led the way with three hits in four at-bats, including two doubles and driving in three runs while scoring two himself.
Fifth-year shortstop Benjamin Sems also recorded a multi-hit game for the Wolverines while crossing home plate twice as well. Six different Michigan hitters found a base hit, while five scored.
Redshirt-junior left-hander Seth Lonsway took the loss Saturday after allowing four runs in 4.2 innings. Following up on his 17-strikeout performance a week ago, Lonsway recorded double-digits again with 10. He walked five while throwing one wild pitch and an errant pickoff to second base.
“I thought he controlled the tempo of the game. As a starter, you give us the chance to win the game, your job is done there,” senior catcher Archer Brookman said. “I definitely thought he gave us a chance to win. I mean, he gave up a couple runs here and there but, you know what, so be it. We didn't help him out a lot on offense, but Seth’s our guy. We're going to ride with Seth, and he knows that we know that.”
Ohio State scattered six base hits and left eight runners on base, just one fewer than Michigan’s nine. Redshirt-senior first baseman Conner Pohl went 2-4 at the plate.
FRIDAY'S RECAP: Ohio State overcomes two 2-run deficits to down Michigan 7-4 Friday
ICYMI: Rivalry renews on the road as Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor for three
The Buckeyes began the game by applying pressure early as sophomore right fielder Mitchell Okuley worked a full-count walk and moved into scoring position on junior shortstop Zach Dezenzo’s single two pitches later. The Wolverines turned a 4-3 double play to quickly stunt the early threat.
“I thought we hit a lot of balls hard. Credit to our offense, I thought we had a lot of barrels today, they were just caught,” Brookman said. “We had a couple of untimely double plays where we kind of shot ourselves out of the inning. We had a lot of barrels. I thought it showed we have a lot of fight with our offense. We just got to bounce back tomorrow. We're going to put up some runs tomorrow.”
After allowing a leadoff single to redshirt-sophomore center fielder Jordan Rogers, Lonsway picked up immediately where he left off last weekend by striking out the next three Wolverines hitters in the bottom of the first inning.
Sems hit a one-out single in the bottom of the second, then came around to score three batters later on Bertram’s RBI single. The Wolverines loaded the bases with two outs by way of a stolen base and walk, but Lonsway returned to his specialty and struck out fifth-year third baseman Christian Molfetta to end the frame.
Sems reached again with a leadoff walk in the bottom half of the fourth inning, and stole his second base of the game before sophomore right fielder Tito Flores did the same thing - draw a four-pitch walk, then steal second.
Bertram came through with another run-producing hit, this time a double to left-center field, scoring Sems and Flores. The Indiana native scored on a passed ball two batters later, extending the lead to 4-0 after as many innings.
Bertram wasn’t finished, leading off the sixth with a double. Mofletta crushed a two-run homer to the opposite-field in left-center.
FEATURE: Working behind scenes, walk-off latest in Zach Dezenzo’s chase to be great
The Wolverines tacked on their seventh and final run via RBI single from Flores in the seventh inning. Sophomore right-handers Wyatt Loncar and Ethan Hammerberg combined to pitch the last two innings for Ohio State, limiting Michigan to two hits, two walks and one run.
Ohio State had opportunities, with 13 at-bats with runners on base and five with them in scoring position. But, just two hits fell with runners on, and none with runners in scoring position versus Michigan’s four hits for each category.
Michigan also cinched rallies with three double plays in the ballgame, and extended its own momentum by swinging seven bases.
Neely, who owns a 1-0 record with 31 strikeouts in 22.1 innings this season, will start the rubber game on Sunday for Ohio State. Michigan will offer sophomore left-hander Jacob Denner, who is also 1-0 with a 3.98 ERA.
“We're ready to go with it with a pitching staff tomorrow, so I need Jack to put up zeros and one zero at a time,” Beals said. “His key’s going to be getting that fastball ahead in the count and spinning that breaking ball for strikes. I think he's a pretty good matchup against these guys if he executes his pitches.”
The 2021 regular-season series of ‘The Rivalry’ will wrap Sunday at 4 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
