Ohio State’s baseball team will be looking to shake off their recent struggles when they return home for three games this weekend.
The Buckeyes are currently 21-21 on the season, but have lost six of their last eight games. After dropping all three games at Purdue two weeks ago, last weekend Ohio State lost two of their three games against Rutgers.
The Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights played a doubleheader on Friday in New Jersey. Ohio State shutout Rutgers 8-0 in the first game behind six scoreless innings from Gavin Kuzniewski, followed by Jake Michalak holding the Scarlet Knights scoreless over the final three innings of the game.
Michalak earned his first save of the season, and the fifth overall by the Buckeye pitching staff this year.
Mason Eckelman opened up the scoring for Ohio State with an RBI single in the fifth inning. Lee Ellis mashed a two-run homer later in the inning, which was his sixth home run of the season. Alex Bemis also homered for the Buckeyes, with his eighth long ball of the season in the seventh inning pushing Ohio State’s lead to 7-0. Rutgers was only able to muster four hits in game one of the doubleheader.
Game two saw Ohio State fail to push any runs across the plate, as the Scarlet Knights evened the series with a 3-0 victory. Starting pitcher Chris Domke had one of his best performances in the scarlet and gray, registering his first complete game by pitching eight innings of six-hit ball.
The Buckeyes had six hits in the game, with the loudest of them being a triple by Mason Eckelman in the ninth inning, which was the 100th hit of his career.
In Sunday’s rubber match, Ohio State took a 2-0 lead after scoring runs in the second and third innings. The lead wouldn’t last long for the Buckeyes, as Rutgers put up 10 unanswered runs, which included two solo home runs from Ryan Jaros.
Pierce Herrenbruck started on the bump for Ohio State, allowing six earned runs over the 5.1 innings he pitched. Despite his performance on Sunday, Herrenbruck’s 4.72 ERA is the lowest this season among pitchers on Ohio State’s staff with multiple starts.
While the Buckeye offense wasn’t able to keep up with Rutgers on Sunday, the bottom of the lineup can’t be blamed. Lee Ellis, Grant Mangrum, and Miles Vandenheuvel combined for 7 hits. Noah Furcht was the only other Ohio State batter who recorded a hit in the final game of the series against the Scarlet Knights.
Over the final two games against Rutgers, the Buckeyes had just 14 hits.
Despite the quiet final two games in New Jersey, Ohio State has two batters with averages over .300 on the season. Henry Kaczmar leads the team with a .333 average, 20 points higher than Dane Harvey. Kaczmar is the only Buckeye hitter with over 100 total bases this season, as he enters this weekend’s games with 102 total bases.
Harvey’s 13 home runs and 47 runs batted in are top marks on the team. Harvey’s numbers are even more impressive considering he has started 33 games and appeared in 36 games, while Kaczmar has started all 42 games.
Joining Kaczmar and Harvey as Ohio State hitters with at least 70 total bases this season are Mason Eckelman, Noah Furcht, Alex Bemis, and Lee Ellis. Kaczmar’s 20 doubles are the high mark on the team, and Ellis has hit four triples, which is one more than Eckelman has registered. Kaczmar, Eckelman, and Bemis have all drove in at least 30 runs in 2026.
With the Rutgers series now behind them, Ohio State will now host 16th-ranked Nebraska for three games this weekend. The Cornhuskers are 34-11 this season, and have gone 17-4 in Big Ten play. After closing out a series last weekend at Illinois with a 12-5 win on Saturday, followed by a 3-0 win on Sunday, Nebraska topped Kansas State 7-6 on Tuesday.
Ohio State might have a tough time keeping with the offense of the Cornhuskers, as Nebraska is hitting .318 as a team this season. Seven of their hitters with at least 100 at-bats this year enter this weekend’s series with an average of at least .300.
Max Moyer has the high mark on the team with a .399 average, and his 97 total bases are second on the team behind Dylan Carey, who has 122 total bases. The 12 home runs and 55 RBIs this season from Carey also lead the team.
Two other Cornhuskers have recorded at least 80 total bases this year. Case Sanderson has 91 total bases to go along with a .363 average, five homers, and 38 runs batted in. Jett Buck has added 88 total bases, seven home runs, and 41 RBIs. Nebraska is outscoring their opponents 344-222.
To compliment their potent offense, Nebraska also has a strong pitching staff. Gavin Blachowicz is 4-1 with a 2.62 ERA and 54 strikeouts over 48.1 innings pitched. Carson Jara has been the most impressive pitcher on the team, striking out 82 batters across 57.2 innings, tossing two complete games on his way to an 8-1 record.
Ty Horn and Coopeer Katskee both have more than 50 punch outs so far this season, while J’Shawn Unger has closed out numerous games for the Cornhuskers, recording nine saves.
Friday’s game between Ohio State and Nebraska starts at 6:00 P.M. ET and can be seen on B1G+. Saturday’s 7:00 P.M. ET game will be shown on Big Ten Network. The series will conclude on Sunday at 2:00 P.M. ET and will be back on B1G+.
This weekend’s game kick off the final eight games of the regular season in Columbus for the Buckeyes, with seven being played at Bill Davis Stadium. The only one not played there will be next Friday’s game against Michigan State, which will be at Huntington Park.
