Ohio State bounced back from a midweek loss to Wright State, with three straight victories over Minnesota (17-11, 2-7 Big Ten), defeating the Golden Gophers 4-3 on Friday, 9-3 on Saturday and 12-9 on Sunday at Siebert Field in Minneapolis.
Ohio State opened game one on a high note, as after right fielder Noah Furcht reached on a Minnesota fielding error, catcher Mason Eckelman whacked a triple to right field, scoring Furcht to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead.
Following three-up, three-down innings for both Minnesota and Ohio State, Golden Gophers third baseman Davis Hamilton crushed a two-run homer to right field, scoring catcher Weber Neels to take a 2-1 advantage on the Buckeyes in the bottom of the second.
After a scoreless third inning, Ohio State tied Minnesota on a home run from Eckelman in the top of the fourth.
In the sixth inning, the Buckeyes retook the lead from the Golden Gophers. After a walk from Ohio State left fielder Alex Bemis, shortstop Henry Kaczmar crushed a two-run homer to right field, giving the Buckeyes a 4-2 lead.
Minnesota shortstop Jack Spanier scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning; however, the Golden Gophers left three runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, as Ohio State narrowly escaped with a 4-3 victory.
Right-hander Gavin Kuzniewski (2-1) earned the win, as the sophomore struck out a career-high 10 batters in five innings pitched. Junior right-hander Ryan Zamora earned his first career save.
Eckelman led the way for Ohio State with two hits and two RBIs.
In game two of the series, Ohio State got on the board early again. After Furcht singled to advance to first base and later stole second, Eckelman singled to left to score the right fielder, giving the Buckeyes an early 1-0 lead. The following at-bat, first baseman Dane Harvey tanked a two-run shot to right field, to give Ohio State a 3-0 advantage at the end of the first inning.
Ohio State got on the board once again after four and a half scoreless innings. Furcht was hit by a pitch and Eckelman doubled to put men on first and third. Harvey then grounded out to second to score Furcht and give the Buckeyes a 4-0 advantage.
Minnesota catcher Sam Hunt homered to left field to cut Ohio State’s lead to three in the seventh, but Ohio State responded at the top of the eighth inning.
Ohio State scored two runs on five walks and a hit by pitch before third baseman Maddix Simpson reached on a fielder’s choice to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 7-1. After infielder CJ Reid struck out, Eckelman scored on a wild pitch to give Ohio State a seven-run advantage.
In the top of the ninth, Ohio State’s Grant Mangrum doubled to left field, advancing to third base on a fly-out from Furcht. A single from Kaczmar then scored Mangrum to increase the Buckeye advantage to 9-1.
Minnesota attempted to rally, scoring two in the bottom of the inning before ultimately failing to complete the comeback with Ohio State taking game two of the series, 9-2.
Junior pitcher Chris Domke (3-3) earned the win, striking out three batters in 5.2 scoreless innings.
Eckelman and Furcht each had two hits, while Harvey had a game-high four RBIs.
Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the final game of the series with runs in the first and second, while holding the Buckeyes scoreless for the first four innings.
In the top of the fifth, Ohio State put two runners on base as second baseman Lee Ellis was hit by a pitch and Simpson followed with a single to center. Centerfielder Miles Vandenhuevel then scored Ellis with a single to left field to cut the Gophers’ lead to one.
Kaczmar and Furcht opened the sixth inning with back-to-back homers, before Ellis added a third home run three batters later, giving Ohio State a 4-2 lead.
Though Minnesota catcher Easton Richter answered in the bottom of the inning with a three-run shot to left field to put the Golden Gophers back ahead at 5-4.
The Buckeyes pulled away late, plating four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, highlighted by a grand slam from Eckelman in the eighth to extend the lead to 12-5.
Minnesota scored four runs of its own in the bottom of the eighth inning, though it wasn’t enough as Ohio State held on, 12-9, with a three-up, three-down inning in the ninth.
Eckelman tied his career high with six RBIs and Simpson tied a career-best four hits in the win, while Kaczmar increased his hit streak to 14 games.
Zamora (1-0) earned the win for the Buckeyes, striking out three batters in two innings pitched. Right-hander Pierce Herrenbruck started the game for Ohio State, earning five strikeouts in 4.2 innings, while giving up just two runs.
Ohio State’s sweep of Minnesota marked the Buckeyes first sweep of a Big Ten foe since they took down Michigan three times in the final series of the 2023 season.
Ohio State (13-13, 4-5 Big Ten) will open its nine-game homestand on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when the Buckeyes take on Toledo (12-14, 8-4 MAC) at Bill Davis Stadium.
