A homecoming of sorts that has been nearly two years in the making will unfold Friday evening when Ohio State retakes the field Bill Davis Stadium.

There will be plenty more on that later, but the Buckeyes baseball team will come home with just one win after going 1-2 in Piscataway, New Jersey, against a now-6-5 Rutgers ballclub.

After allowing 13 hits and six runs in 11 innings during Saturday's loss, Ohio State buckled down and held the Scarlet Knights, who came into the weekend with the Big Ten Conference's highest-scoring offense, to just seven hits and three runs over the next two games.

There were more encouraging signs on the mound than at the plate, however. Five different Buckeyes knocked base hits during Sunday's shutout, and their offense was capped to eight hits and five runs maximum in any of the three games.

MONDAY'S RECAP: Kern's 3 hits, bullpen helps Ohio State beat Rutgers 4-1 to avoid sweep

Sitting at 6-5 themselves, head coach Greg Beals said the Buckeyes are capable of more.

“Sky is the limit," Beals said. Monday. "I mean, really the talent on our club, we’ve been executing at a pretty high level. I think if we get this offense going, we got a chance to be pretty good."

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

Last weekend in Minneapolis, all four Ohio State starting pitchers pitched into the fifth inning. This weekend, they did just that - and more.

Junior right-handers Garrett Burhenn and Jack Neely each worked into the fifth frame in their starts on Saturday and Monday, respectively. Neither reached the sixth, but they both allowed two earned runs or less and struck out at least five, with Burhenn ringing up eight batters. Neely was touched up for two hits and two walks in the first inning, but the Texas transfer battled back and retired nine straight to keep the Buckeyes in the ballgame.

“Jack just needs to continue to pitch to his strengths," Beals said Sunday. "Jack’s got a good fastball, and I think we can ride that fastball up above their hands a little bit and then tilt the breaking ball off that same plane. That’s really going to be Jack’s game plan."

SUNDAY'S RECAP: Late-inning rally not enough as Buckeyes shutout 2-0 by Scarlet Knights

Redshirt-junior lefty Seth Lonsway tossed seven strong innings Saturday, and the only hit he allowed was a two-run homer to Big Ten home run leader Chris Brito in the bottom of the first inning. The 6-foot-3 hurler has allowed just seven hits throughout his 15.2 IP, tying him for second-best in the conference; his 23 strikeouts tie for fifth-most.

Lonsway said he's seen his confidence in his fastball improve, so he's attacking hitters with that pitch more.

“I think in years prior I was kind of heavy offspeed," Lonsway said Sunday. "When I got into trouble, I relied on that to get me out, but now I think I’m commanding the fastball a little bit better since last year."

Lonsway added that the Buckeyes starters are learning what pitches are working and how they'll attack hitters with what's shown well. For himself, Lonsway said he has his own mental approach when he takes the mound.

"I try to treat every game like it’s a nothing-nothing ballgame," Lonsway said. "Whether we’re up by five or down by five, I think my mentality tries to stay the same. I don’t really pay attention too much to the scoreboard during a game."

AND: 'Silent Assassin:' Mitchell Okuley carries loud bat in 2 HR game

Nine Buckeyes pitchers threw over the weekend at Rutgers, and 16 have thrown this season. Over the weekend, the bullpen tossed 11 innings and held the Scarlet Knights to three earned-runs on 10 hits, striking out eight and walking three.

“This is the deepest staff I’ve ever played on with the team," graduate LHP Patrick Murphy said Monday. "We had Will Pfennig, who had a really good start last weekend, didn’t get to pitch this weekend just because of the depth. Guys like [Wyatt] Loncar, [Nate] Haberthier, [Isaiah] Coupet. We got a lot of good guys that didn’t get any innings this weekend. It just shows we got a lot of guys we can trust and it just shows how much depth we have in our bullpen."