For a Monday, the Buckeyes sure were given a pop quiz and tested in their clutch department, and they delivered.
Ohio State (6-5) defeated Rutgers (6-5) after its bullpen worked out of two different innings with bases loaded and one-out situations. Graduate left-hander Patrick Murphy earned the win after tossing 2.2 scoreless innings, and junior righty T.J. Brock earned his third save of the season with a clean bottom of the ninth.
Redshirt-senior RHP Joe Gahm issued a four-pitch walk to redshirt-sophomore third baseman Chris Brito - who hit two home runs this series - to load the bases with one down in the bottom half of the fifth. Murphy relieved Gahm and went straight to work, striking out his first batter on three sliders and getting the final out to work out of the jam on a fielder’s choice.
"Brito was not gonna beat us, so we were managing that," head coach Greg Beals said. "We ran Joe, our good bullpen curveball, at Brito and knowing that Patrick was gonna come in on the backside. I was hoping it wasn’t going to be based loaded when Pat came in, but that’s how it worked out and he got a big strikeout."
Junior RHP Bayden Root worked himself into a similar situation in the eighth inning. A leadoff single by freshman right fielder Ryan Lasko was followed with another single from redshirt-sophomore catcher Peter Serruto. Root hit pinch-hitter redshirt-junior Mike Nyisztor to load the bases, then settled with back-to-back strikeouts to hold onto Ohio State’s 4-1 lead.
"Trusting the pitch calling, trusting the execution, just all the preparation we put in each week," Murphy said. "I just knew we had a good game plan going in. Executed my pitches. I knew I was trying to get a strikeout or a double-play ball to get out of the inning. I just had to execute the pitches that were called and it ended up working out."
The Scarlet Knights took to the basepaths early. Redshirt-freshman left fielder Evan Sleight hit an opposite-field, one out single to begin the Rutgers rally in the first inning, and was followed with a four-pitch walk to Brito.
A fielder’s choice moved the runners to second and third base, then an RBI single from Lasko scored Brito for an early 1-0 lead. Rutgers recorded two singles, two walks and one stolen base in the opening frame against Buckeyes starting pitcher junior RHP Jack Neely.
Neely settled thereafter, retiring the next seven batters and nine of 12 until he got the first out in the fifth inning. The 6-foot-8 pitcher hit the next two batters, and was lifted for Gahm, who walked Brito to fill the bases.
Murphy relieved Gahm, and Beals said the latter was only going to pitch against one batter regardless of the at-bat's result. Murphy struck out the first batter he saw on three pitches and forced a fielder’s choice to work out of the sixth untouched.
Freshman center fielder Kade Kern poked the Buckeyes’ first hit of the game into shallow right field with one out in the fourth inning.
Two innings later, five-straight Buckeyes batters reached base with one down in the sixth, and junior shortstop Zach Dezezno tied the game at one with an RBI double that scored senior second baseman Colton Bauer. Kern followed two batters later with a go-ahead, two-run single up the middle into center field.
“It’s fun to watch Kade grow up," Beals said. "The biggest grown-up factor today was the diving catch in left-center field. He called that ball and called our left fielder off. The freshman wasn’t afraid to take charge and make a play."
Ohio State added one more in the eighth inning to go up 4-1 via fielder’s choice when sophomore right fielder Mitchell Okuley grounded one to the third baseman.
Root came on in the bottom half of the inning and allowed three of his first four batters to reach before locking in with a pair of strikeouts to stop any Rutgers rally.
Rutgers starting pitcher graduate RHP Brent Teller tossed 5.1+ innings, allowing just three hits but as many runs. Teller added five strikeouts, walking one, but hit two more. His counterpart, Neely, recorded five strikeouts across three hits as well, but walk two and hit two.
The Scarlet Knights saw multi-hit games from Lasko and Serruto, and Brito finished with a trio of walks and scored one run.
"I thought we pitched the ball and played good defense all weekend long," Beals said. "Our offense needs to do a little more to help us out, and I certainly foresee that being the case, I think, coming home to the friendly confines, not because of the ballpark, but because of the training facilities really going to help our offense."
Ohio State will return to Bill Davis Stadium on Friday and play its first home game in what will be 685 days. Iowa and Maryland will contest the Buckeyes in a three-team round robin beginning Friday at 5:05 p.m.
