COLUMBUS, Ohio — As the baseball flew around a yard in which the air was brisk and thin, two teams on lengthy losing streaks were deadlocked after five innings.
It was the team that fought for all nine innings that prevailed.
Ohio State (14-12) scored in each of the first six innings to hold off Penn State (8-17) by a score of 11-6 Friday evening. Junior right-hander Garrett Burhenn was on line for the victory after throwing seven innings, piling as many strikeouts while on the hook for all six Nittany Lion runs.
“We had a really great practice as a team leading up to Penn State. I just wanted to get that one each inning for my team," Burhenn said. "We kept responding and responding and I saw it, and I think they saw that I was trying to fight for them and do the best that I could. I fed off the rest of the hitters tonight on the team."
Each Buckeye in the batting order reached base at least twice, and four had multi-hit ballgames. Senior designated-hitter Sam Wilson went 2-3 with a home run and drew two more walks alongside scoring a pair of runs himself.
Burhenn combined with senior left-hander Griffan Smith and junior right-hander TJ Brock to hold onto the victory. Smith tossed a scoreless eighth inning, and Brock recorded all three outs via punch out after the Nittany Lions loaded the bases using two walks and a one-out single.
"I liked the character of our ballclub," head coach Greg Beals said. "The character of struggling over the last five and kind of being on a rollercoaster ride. We had a great week of preparation this week. We come out and get a couple big home runs to get a lead, then we give up that grand slam and we find ourselves down 4-2. Instead of going in the ‘Oh no’ mode, we got right back in the saddle offensively and clawed our way back into the ballgame."
Junior shortstop Zach Dezenzo took things the opposite way in his first at-bat of the weekend, smacking his fourth home run of the season with one out in the bottom of the first inning. The shortstop went 2-5 with two runs scored on the day.
Just like in that first inning, Ohio State took advantage of a one-out solo shot to extend its lead to two just one frame later. Wilson uncorked his third homer of the season to left-center field, putting the lead at 2-0 after as many innings.
Issues with free passes have haunted the Buckeyes before, and two hit batsmen loaded the bases after a leadoff single in the top of the third. Burhenn struck out freshman designated hitter Matt Wood and forced sophomore third baseman Justin Williams to fly out to bring up Nittany Lions home-run leader Johnny Piacentino.
The right-handed center fielder drove a grand slam just over the wall in left-center field as freshman center fielder Kade Kern made a jumping grab at the ball, giving Penn State a 4-2 lead.
Kern came up in the bottom half of the third and went yard himself, marking three Buckeyes home runs through as many innings. Kern finished 2-4 with a walk and two runs scored.
“The hits and the bats were alive today, and so was the defense making great plays behind me," Burhenn said. "Just had to lock it back in whenever something happened and get through it."
The first run not via the long ball came as Ohio State tied the game at four, marking the fourth-straight inning in which it plated one run. Junior third baseman Nick Erwin collected an RBI single with two outs, driving a pitch into the right-center gap to score Wilson from first base.
Erwin finished his night 2-4 with two RBIs, legging out a triple and also making a diving play at third base.
“It definitely felt good," Erwin said. "I put in a good amount of work this week trying to get back right. It was nice to see some of the results pay off. It lets you step back, take a deep breath and kind of trust what you’re doing and know that it’s working."
Penn State returned to powering its way through the scoreboard as it retook the lead 5-4 in the fifth inning. Wood hit a wall-scraping homer to left-center field as Kern gave another leaping effort.
In the bottom half, redshirt-senior first baseman Conner Pohl tied the game for the second time after doubling with one out and scoring on a wild pitch.
For the sixth-straight trip to the plate, the Buckeyes got a runner to cross home. But, for the first time of the game, Ohio State scored twice: Pohl and redshirt-senior catcher Brent Todys drew bases-loaded walks as part of four free passes issued by Penn State reliever sophomore lefty Tyler Shingledecker.
Four more runs of insurance came across for Ohio State in the eighth inning. Pohl drove a deep flyball to the warning track in left field, where it was misplayed by freshman Tayven Kelley to allow two runs to score.
Junior second baseman Marcus Ernst and Erwin each drew walks that plated another run in that inning, helping the Buckeyes draw 10 total free passes — surpassing the total they drew last weekend at Maryland.
“We did a good job today, no doubt about it," Beals said. "There’s still a lot of baseball to be played to be satisfied, but today was a good day. We need to repeat that and bring the same character, the same energy to the ballpark tomorrow."
Redshirt-junior left-hander Seth Lonsway will get the ball for the second game of the series on Saturday. Penn State will offer junior righty Conor Larkin, who is 1-4 with a 3.99 ERA.
