Ben Martens
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Ohio State baseball loses on the road against Kent State, 8-3
Ben Martens via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The Buckeyes had a rough day against the Flashes as their winning streak was snapped.
Ohio State's seven-game winning streak was snapped on Tuesday evening thanks to a 8-3 road loss to Kent State. The Buckeyes, who fell to 19-8-1 on the season, also saw their streak of 16 consecutive midweek victories come to an end as a tough Golden Flashes squad banged out 13 hits.
Freshman Ryan Feltner made his sixth start of the season for Ohio State, but lasted just two innings and fell to 1-2. The righty from Walsh Jesuit High School allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits while walking two and striking out three.
Kent State also sent a freshman to the mound in Connor Wollersheim. The lefty was extremely effective in corralling a Buckeye offense that had not scored fewer than five runs in its last nine games. Wollersheim tossed 5.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing three hits, walking one, and striking out four.
One bright spot for the scarlet and gray was a ninth inning home run from freshman Brady Cherry. It was the fifth longball of the season for the Pendleton, Indiana native.
Kent State struck early against Feltner, scoring once in the first and twice in the second. Right fielder Luke Burch led off the first with a double to left-center and came around to score on a single by third baseman Dylan Rosa.
Back-to-back walks to start the second by left fielder Conner Simonetti and shortstop Sam Hurt both came back to bite Feltner as the Flashes took a 3-0 lead. Burch brought Simonetti home with a sacrifice fly and Hurt came around on an errant pickoff attempt.
Joe Stoll relieved Feltner in the third and didn't fare much better. Catcher Pete Schuler led the inning off with a double and scored on a double by Simonetti. Hurt then singled home Simonetti for a 5-0 advantage.
Two more runs came home for Kent State thanks to a two-out, two-run single by first baseman Zarley Zalewski. Stoll allowed four runs on five hits, walking one and striking out two in his only inning of work.
Sophomores Austin Woodby and Seth Kinker and senior Michael Horejsei kept the Flashes off the board for the next four innings, but Ohio State simply could not get anything going at the plate.
Kent State put one last run on the board in the eighth when Schuler doubled home Zalewski off sophomore Yianni Pavlopoulos.
The Buckeyes avoided the shutout thanks to a three-run ninth inning. Left fielder Ronnie Dawson and third baseman Nick Sergakis were both hit by pitches to start the inning and first baseman Troy Kuhn moved them over with a groundball. Catcher Jalen Washington sent a fly ball to right that scored Dawson and Cherry took a 3-1 pitch out to left to cut the lead to 8-3.
Ohio State will be on the road this weekend against Maryland for a three-game Big Ten series. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.
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Ben Martens via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The Buckeyes had a rough day against the Flashes as their winning streak was snapped.
Ohio State's seven-game winning streak was snapped on Tuesday evening thanks to a 8-3 road loss to Kent State. The Buckeyes, who fell to 19-8-1 on the season, also saw their streak of 16 consecutive midweek victories come to an end as a tough Golden Flashes squad banged out 13 hits.
Freshman Ryan Feltner made his sixth start of the season for Ohio State, but lasted just two innings and fell to 1-2. The righty from Walsh Jesuit High School allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits while walking two and striking out three.
Kent State also sent a freshman to the mound in Connor Wollersheim. The lefty was extremely effective in corralling a Buckeye offense that had not scored fewer than five runs in its last nine games. Wollersheim tossed 5.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing three hits, walking one, and striking out four.
One bright spot for the scarlet and gray was a ninth inning home run from freshman Brady Cherry. It was the fifth longball of the season for the Pendleton, Indiana native.
Kent State struck early against Feltner, scoring once in the first and twice in the second. Right fielder Luke Burch led off the first with a double to left-center and came around to score on a single by third baseman Dylan Rosa.
Back-to-back walks to start the second by left fielder Conner Simonetti and shortstop Sam Hurt both came back to bite Feltner as the Flashes took a 3-0 lead. Burch brought Simonetti home with a sacrifice fly and Hurt came around on an errant pickoff attempt.
Joe Stoll relieved Feltner in the third and didn't fare much better. Catcher Pete Schuler led the inning off with a double and scored on a double by Simonetti. Hurt then singled home Simonetti for a 5-0 advantage.
Two more runs came home for Kent State thanks to a two-out, two-run single by first baseman Zarley Zalewski. Stoll allowed four runs on five hits, walking one and striking out two in his only inning of work.
Sophomores Austin Woodby and Seth Kinker and senior Michael Horejsei kept the Flashes off the board for the next four innings, but Ohio State simply could not get anything going at the plate.
Kent State put one last run on the board in the eighth when Schuler doubled home Zalewski off sophomore Yianni Pavlopoulos.
The Buckeyes avoided the shutout thanks to a three-run ninth inning. Left fielder Ronnie Dawson and third baseman Nick Sergakis were both hit by pitches to start the inning and first baseman Troy Kuhn moved them over with a groundball. Catcher Jalen Washington sent a fly ball to right that scored Dawson and Cherry took a 3-1 pitch out to left to cut the lead to 8-3.
Ohio State will be on the road this weekend against Maryland for a three-game Big Ten series. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.
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