A strong finish to a weekend that began unfavorably kept the Buckeyes in prime position to continue down its all-Big Ten schedule in 2021.

Ohio State split both two-game mini-series against Iowa and Nebraska in Minneapolis over the weekend to move its record to 5-3 and will return home on a two-game winning streak. The scarlet and gray ballclub will have a week of practice before traveling to Piscataway, New Jersey, for a true road three-game weekend series at Rutgers.

Head coach Greg Beals said his biggest takeaway of the weekend was seeing the potential of his team in addition to managing the game he loves.

“It’s just fun to be out competing again," Beals said Sunday. "We missed that. We lost time last year and during the fall we had some breaks and slowdowns. 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."

There were 17 runs scored and 29 hits produced by the Ohio State offense. Junior shortstop Zach Dezenzo and sophomore outfielder Mitchell Okuley each led the way with five hits apiece to raise their batting averages up around .280.

The Buckeyes' collective batting average of .237 sits ninth-best in the 13-team conference (Wisconsin does not have a varsity program) while their 87 strikeouts are second-most.

On the mound, Buckeyes pitchers allowed as many earned runs - 20 - as they did during Opening Weekend against Illinois. Three starting pitchers threw at least five innings and all four starters combined to strike out 28 batters as redshirt-junior lefty Seth Lonsway led with nine punchouts.

Here are several bits of news, notes and observations from the latest weekend of Buckeyes baseball.

When the Buckeyes arrived at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, they immediately stood out in the purple decor surrounding them.

Home of the Minnesota Vikings, the 72,000-seat venue looked a bit different compared to its familiar gridiron and end zones. Sidelines and some yard markers were still visible in the chalked-drawn lines that outlined the infield. Aside from the turf mound and home plate areas, the diamond looked nearly all-grass. Teams resided in large storage crates that served as dugouts and on-field bullpens were just outside of fair territory.

Several Buckeyes said it wasn't much different playing on NFL turf versus their familiar dirt basepaths. Junior right-handed pitcher Bayden Root said he pitched on a turf mound in high school and was used to the different setting. Sophomore outfielder Mitchell Okuley said it was challenging at points tracking fly balls with light shining through the roof, but wasn't too difficult or different overall.

What was different, though, was the number of times Ohio State turned on fly balls and extra-base hits when it came to the plate.

The Buckeyes hit nine home runs and eight doubles over the weekend, an increase from two and six, respectively, in the first weekend of the season. Even though the Buckeyes were shutout in Game 1 Friday, they still hit into nine fly ball outs.

Ohio State hit three home runs in Game 2 against the Huskers on Friday and blasted one more against the Hawkeyes Saturday, driving six extra-base hits.

Three more longballs were hit Sunday from three different Buckeyes, and they were all two-run homers to boot.

"We were under the ball, even in our swing and misses we were under the ball," Beals said Friday. "We had too many fly balls in my opinion as well. We need to be a little bit cleaner. From launch position and point of contact, got to be a little bit cleaner so we can stay on top of the ball and drive it."