After winning a wild one on Friday 13-10, the Ohio State baseball team backed it up by winning a lower scoring affair 4-1 against Northwestern on Saturday evening.
It all started on the mound for the Buckeyes with junior right-hander Garrett Burhenn. He went six innings, allowing just one run on five hits, and struck out 11 batters. It was Burhenn’s second-straight brilliant performance on the mound for the scarlet and gray.
There wasn’t much offense, but the Buckeyes jumped on the board first when Marcus Ernst was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first to give OSU a 1-0 lead. Ohio State struck again in the bottom of the third inning when Zach Dezenzo hit his third homer of the weekend, a solo shot to extend the lead to 2-0.
Northwestern would get its lone run in the fourth inning on a single and a double, but that was all the offense the Wildcats would be able to muster, as the OSU bullpen nailed things down for the final three innings. Colton Bauer delivered the remaining two runs with a clutch two-run single in the bottom of the sixth to score Marcus Ernst and Brent Todys. That would result in the final 4-1 score.
The win boosts the Buckeyes record to 21-19 and assures a winning record for the season. Ohio State and Northwestern will finish up the three-game series at 2:05 p.m. Sunday.
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