Buckeyes Overcome TTUN Over Three-Game Series Rivalry
By: Alex Mason
The Ohio State’s baseball teams’ doubleheader on Saturday was one for the books. After Friday night’s win 10–5 over the Wolverines, Buckeye fans filled the stadium to support the scarlet and grey against their conference rival. The Bill Davis Stadium hosted its second-largest crowd of 5,280 fans during the Buckeyes doubleheader Saturday against the Michigan Wolverines.
As the Buckeyes approached rivalry week they came off the weekend after a tough three-game series loss against Northwestern. Throughout the week the Buckeyes were able to gain two wins over the Ohio Bobcats as well as the Dayton Flyers. Thursday night head coach Greg Beals spoke out about his thoughts going into the big weekend against the Wolverines, “After the tough weekend with Northwestern, obviously we didn’t play as well as we expected. There is no better time for rivalry week to come than after that, if that can’t bounce you up and get you going, we’re in trouble. But its a whole different animal, one thing I can guarantee you is that our guys are going to be ready tomorrow night”.
Indeed the Buckeyes were ready to go as they clinched game one on Friday, April 12, 10–5, as well as game two on Saturday 10–4. Unfortunately, the second game on Saturday, April 13 the Wolverines walked away outscoring the Buckeyes 2–6. The Buckeyes clinched the series win over the Wolverines which was lead by Junior outfielder Dominic Canzone. According to ohiostatebuckeyes.com the team captain ended the series hitting .643, with a triple, double, two homers, four runs scored, and four RBI to overcome the 24 seed Michigan Wolverines. Canzone spoke on how he helped lead younger teammates for the rivalry game, “The big thing for me is just honestly leading through action on the field, with their mindset, just don’t get too pumped. I know its a big series but you have to stay level headed and be able to do your thing I mean we come to OSU for a reason and that’s to beat Michigan”.
Even though the Buckeyes lost the final game of the series, they were still able to enjoy the 2–1 game series win over the Michigan Wolverines. Senior Brady Cherry shared his thoughts on the weekend after the final game on Saturday. “It’s my last time around so I’m obviously going to enjoy this, you know it doesn’t happen every year so I’m definitely going to enjoy this one”. Last years season the Buckeyes weren’t able to face off against the Wolverines during the regular season, which made this series win even sweeter.
