COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio’s weather warmed up this week, bringing consistent 60-70 degree highs for the first time since September.

If Ohio State’s bats dictated the heat Tuesday night in Bill Davis Stadium, fans may have been advised to stay indoors.

The Buckeyes (21-17, 4-5 Big Ten) sizzled their way past Xavier (14-23, 5-1 Big East) 8-5, in a game not nearly as close as the score indicates.

It did this on the back of junior right fielder Dominic Canzone (three-for-five, one RBI, two runs), 13 hits and multiple diving plays in the field. Those things, and a pleasantly surprising outing from redshirt senior pitcher Thomas Waning.

"Between Waning and the five runs in the first two innings, [we] pretty much set the tempo for the ballgame," head coach Greg Beals said. "Allowed us to have some breathing room and gave the other guys that came in and pitched some breathing room."

After surrendering two runs two outs into his first career start, Xavier freshman pitcher Nathan Berg finally seemed to settle in, retiring three consecutive Ohio State hitters.

Then Canzone catapulted a first-pitch slider deep into the twilight, a ball that soared at least 50 feet beyond the right field wall before bouncing on a parking lot's asphalt well behind the stadium.

"I was sitting first pitch slider, curveball and got it right in my wheelhouse," Canzone said. "Just kind of let it fly."

It didn’t stop there. Ohio State senior second baseman Kobie Foppe hit a double immediately after, then senior left fielder Brady Cherry punched one out over the left-center field wall. The score already stood 5-0 Buckeyes after two innings.

Meanwhile, Waning, making his first career start and surpassing 2.2 innings for the first time, held things down on the hill.

"I tried to treat it as the same mindset as I would coming out of the bullpen," Waning said. "Didn't take long to warm up as usual, and just went in the ballgame and did what I could."

Pitching four shutout innings, Waning allowed no runs on one hit and struck out two Musketeer batters.

All against a Xavier offense that averages 5.4 runs per game on the season.

Canzone provided crucial assistance in the field, securing a pair of diving catches to prevent base hits.

"Those are big outs," Beals said. "Balls that are hit well, line drives, and Dom tracks them down. Those were huge for Thomas to settle in."

The offense continued to pour it on in the fourth, mounting a two-out rally against Xavier senior pitcher Matt Kent.

Canzone started things off with a single, later scoring on a triple by junior first baseman Conner Pohl.

Sophomore catcher Dillon Dingler brought Pohl home with a single, then scored on another single by freshman shortstop Nick Dezenzo. 8-0 Buckeyes after four.

A bevy of pitchers continued what Waning started, each taking a turn pitching an inning. Freshman Brayden Root struck out the side in his appearance.

"I really like how our pitching staff threw in general," Beals said. "The pitching staff all came in, took care of their inning, pitched the ball really well."

Ohio State emptied the bench soon thereafter. Five offensive substitutions entered the lineup in the eighth inning.

Cherry even took the mound for a few outs, which allowed Xavier to score all five of its runs. Three walks were issued and Xavier senior shortstop Chris Givin belted a grand slam.

"We thought 30 was the max for him, his 31st pitch was the home run," Beals said. "So that's on me a little bit."

Ohio State junior pitcher Andrew Magno closed it out with his sixth save of the season.

The win keeps momentum for the Buckeyes after a huge series victory against Big Ten-leading Michigan. They'll look to keep the bats hot during a three-game road trip against Maryland this weekend.