Baseball: Ohio State Falls To Xavier 13-4 In Home Opener
Ohio State (5-6) opened its five-game home stand with a crushing 13-4 loss over Xavier (5-7), as the Buckeyes left 13 runners on base, while failing to bring in a run after the fourth inning.
When asked about the Buckeyes’ performance as a whole, Ohio State head coach Justin Haire didn’t mince words.
“Pretty terrible. It was just really embarrassing,” Haire said. “Credit Billy O’Connor and Xavier. They kicked our butts. They beat us in every facet of the game. We left 13 guys on. We couldn’t get off the field when we had two outs. We couldn’t punch them out with two strikes. We created innings for them. We didn’t play clean on defense. We couldn’t get a shutdown inning after we scored. So it was just pretty disappointing and embarrassing.”
Ohio State started freshman Jude Fisher on the mound and the right-hander opened the game with a three-up, three-down top of the first inning for the Buckeyes.
Centerfielder Miles Vandenheuvel led off for Ohio State, walking on four pitches before fly-outs from shortstop Lee Ellis and catcher Mason Eckelman, followed by a groundout from outfielder Noah Furcht, ended the opening inning.
Xavier went three-up, three-down again in the second inning, as after two strikeouts from Fisher, Vandenhuevel raced to the back wall to track down a deep shot hit by Musketeers designated hitter Peter Johnson that nearly soared over the outfield fence.
Ohio State second baseman Henry Kaczmar opened the second inning with a double to right-center field, leading the Musketeers to replace starting left-hander Ashton Chronister with right-hander Jack DeTienne. Kaczmar then stole third base on the second pitch of Maddix Simpson’s next at-bat, and scored when the third baseman lined a hit between first and second, giving the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead.
Kaczmar emphasized the importance of being aggressive and active early at the plate.
“It’s great to get good at-bat under your belt,” Kaczmar said. “To be able to get going on the base, fast early is really important as well. I feel like that just gives you a little bit more confidence throughout the game, getting that first one out of the way.”
Simpson was then picked off between first and second on first baseman Steven Cavaco’s ensuing at-bat with a 1-3 count. Cavaco reached base on a single to center field, prior to a balk that advanced him to second. The freshman then scored on a single to right field by outfielder Alex Bemis, extending Ohio State’s lead to two.
Xavier right-hander Jon Wylie then replaced DeTienne, immediately hitting first baseman Dane Harvey. Bemis attempted to steal third, but was picked off simultaneously as Vandenheuvel struck out to end the inning on a double play.
With two outs in the top of the third, Xavier centerfielder JD Crisp advanced on a walk before a double down the left field line by Jonathan Fitz scored Crisp and cut the Buckeyes lead to 1. Xavier shortstop Eddie Peters advanced to first on a hit by pitch, then Fisher let up a three-run homer from right fielder Clay Burdette to put the Musketeers ahead, 4-2.
In the bottom of the third, Xavier replaced Wylie with junior right-hander Joey Young, but Ohio State responded as Furcht hit an RBI double, driving in Eckelman, who had reached first base on a walk in the prior at-bat.
Fisher secured an out and a 3-2 count in the top of the fourth inning, but appeared to be shaken up with an injury to his throwing arm. Ohio State then replaced Fisher with right-hander Zak Sigman, who walked Johnson, though Fisher was credited with the walk. A single from first baseman Donavan Canterberry, followed by an RBI-single by Crisp, scored Johnson and extended the Musketeers’ lead back to two.
A walk from Bemis followed by a double from Harvey and another walk from Vandenheuvel left the bases loaded for the Buckeyes with just one out. After Xavier’s fifth pitching change in four innings, bringing in Owen Poole, the junior right-hander walked Ellis as Ohio State cut into the lead at 5-4.
However, that was the extent of Ohio State’s success.
With one out in the top of the fifth, Sigman walked Burdette, before Xavier first baseman Josh Stonehouse hit a two-run bomb to center field to give the Musketeers a 7-4 advantage.
After another single by Xavier third baseman Luke Hammond, Ohio State pulled Sigman for junior Ryan Zamora. After giving up a walk to Johnson, Canterberry singled to right field to load the bases. However, a throwing error from Furcht that sailed away from Zamora allowed Johnson to race home and extend the Xavier lead to four.
Following a scoreless bottom of the fifth inning, Zamora walked Fitz before a Peters single ended his day in favor of Buckeye junior Nick Sawyer. The former Sacramento City College transfer gave up a short chopper to the right infield to score the Musketeers’ Fitz, then a sacrifice fly from Hammond increased the Xavier lead to 10-4.
Xavier pitcher Michael Murphy cleaned up Ohio State with a three-up, three-down bottom of the sixth inning as the Musketeers added another run on a ground-out from Fitz that scored pinch runner Joseph Arend in the seventh, increasing the advantage to seven.
Ohio State right-handed pitcher Luke Carrell opened the eighth, and Stonehouse walked following Burdette’s flyout in the eighth. He then stole second and moved to third on Hammond’s single to left. Johnson then singled to right-center, driving in Stonehouse while Hammond advanced to second base. Carrell was then taken out for junior Lincoln McVicker.
Canterberry reached first on a high bouncer to the infield, where McVicker tossed an errant throw to first base, allowing Hammond to score from third, as Xavier added to its advantage at 13-4.
After a three-up, three-down top of the ninth, Xavier’s Roger Niedermaier walked Furcht and Kaczmar to open the bottom of the ninth. However, fly-outs from Simpson and Cavaco and a strikeout from Bemis secured the Musketeers 13-4 victory over the Buckeyes.
Simpson was the only Buckeye with multiple hits in the loss, finishing 2-4 overall.
Haire said the loss came down to Ohio State’s inability to bring runners home and emphasized the need for a better approach in key moments at the plate.
“We’ve got to do a better job with our sense of urgency and our focus on on being able to execute with runners in scoring position,” Haire said. “It’s something that has really challenged us through the first 11.”
Three Xavier batters recorded two hits in the win (Burdette, Canterberry, and Hammond). Burdette, who spent his freshman season at Ohio State in 2024, added a game-high four RBIs for the Musketeers.
Wylie (1-0) earned the win for Xavier, striking out one batter in one inning pitched. Fisher (1-2) recorded his second-straight loss, pitching 3.1 innings and giving up five earned runs.
Ohio State will return to Bill Davis Stadium for a home series against No. 1 UCLA (9-2) on Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m.
Image courtesy of Ohio State Athletics