Baseball: Buckeyes gearing up for 3-game set in Frisco Classic

Tyler Danburg
Fri, 03 Mar 2023 02:42:22 +0000
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Ohio State travels to Frisco, Texa,s this weekend as it continues its season against Mississippi State, the University of California, Berkeley, and Oklahoma. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor

Ohio State will play in its third region of the country for a weekend showdown in the Lone Star State.

The Buckeyes head deep into the heart of Texas for the Frisco Classic against Mississippi State, California-Berkeley and Oklahoma, looking to continue their momentum after an 8-2 win Sunday versus Gonzaga.

“I think it shows you the kind of kids we have and that they’re playing nine innings every day,” head coach Bill Mosiello said.

Ohio State (3-5) won one of four games last weekend against Grand Canyon and Gonzaga, losing first in a pitcher’s duel against the Antelopes, then in extra innings to the Bulldogs and again to Grand Canyon on a walk-off home run before its commanding win in the series finale.

“In the eight games, even being 3-5, we really haven’t played one bad game yet,” Mosiello said. “The three games we won, we won outright, flat-out beat them, and the five losses we might have had a lead in every five games.”

Graduate catcher and Miami (Ohio) transfer Cole Andrews was a major contributor last weekend, hitting his 20th-career home run and three hits Saturday versus Grand Canyon.?

In his fifth year of college baseball, Andrews said Ohio State’s resiliency has stood out among the rest.

“We’ve been down a lot in a couple games, and we’ve been up a lot, but it’s just staying the course,” Andrews said. “I think it’s really easy once you lose a couple games to start wondering what you need to do different. But we’re all super confident that we just need to keep doing the same thing and trust what the coaches have put forward.”

The Buckeyes open Friday against a Mississippi State team coming off a series win last weekend versus Arizona State and a 10-9 victory over No. 25 Southern Mississippi Tuesday.?

Under fourth-year head coach Chris Lemonis, the Bulldogs made three College World Series appearances and won the National Championship in 2021.

Junior outfielder and Samford transfer Colton Ledbetter leads Mississippi State’s offense, batting .400 with three home runs and 19 RBIs, driving in nine over the last three games.

On the mound, Bulldogs senior right-hander Landon Gartman paces the pitching staff, going 1-0 in two starts with five earned runs and 15 strikeouts, and is holding batters to a .238 batting average.

UC Berkeley (6-1) is off to a strong start, winning six of its first seven games including an 8-4 upset over No. 2 Stanford Feb. 21. The Golden Bears swept Cal Poly and UConn in three games before their next two were postponed due to rain.

Sophomore outfielder Rodney Green Jr. helped engineer UC Berkeley’s hot start to the season, going 11-for-30 with two home runs, 6 RBIs and two stolen bases in seven games.?

The Golden Bears pitching staff currently ranks second in the Pac-12 with a 2.76 team ERA, anchored by sophomore left-hander Ian May, who is one of three pitchers in the conference yet to give up a run.

Mosiello will face former Big 12 foe Oklahoma for the first time as a head coach. In his nine years as associate head coach at TCU, Mosiello went 19-9 against the Sooners.

Oklahoma (4-4) enters the Frisco Classic after winning two of three games last weekend against Rider. Led by sixth-year head coach Skip Johnson, the Sooners look to follow a 2022 season where they won the Big 12 Tournament and made the College World Series.

Sooners junior infielder Anthony Mackenzie fuels the Big 12’s third-best offense with a .548 batting average and has a 10-game hitting streak that dates back to his 2022 season at Sam Houston State.?

Junior right-hander Will Carsten is one of three Sooners pitchers to throw at least 10 innings. Carsten leads the starting rotation with a 1-0 record and 2.70 ERA in two starts.

Ohio State’s freshman trio of shortstop Henry Kaczmar, catcher Matthew Graveline and left-handed pitcher Landon Beidelschies have made an immediate impact through eight games.

Graveline started four of his five games played and is 5-for-16 with seven RBIs and one home run, which came in the form of a grand slam Friday versus Gonzaga. Kaczmar started in all eight games and has eight hits and six RBIs.

Kaczmar, a Bath, Ohio, native, said his experience as a Buckeye so far has been “surreal.”

“Playing for Ohio State, I mean, this is where I always wanted to go,” Kaczmar said. “I’m just going to go out there having fun, playing a kids game and competing the best I can.”

Beidelschies is tied for the team lead with four appearances and has struck out seven batters in five innings. In his collegiate debut, Beidelschies earned a six-out save to beat UConn Feb. 17.

“I like to be in tough spots,” Beidelschies said. “I just try to execute, and that’s a big thing for our pitching staff, and if we execute, we have the best chance to win.”

Beidelschies is part of a bullpen that has thrown a combined 32 innings, but will play one less game this weekend after beginning the season with two four-game series.?

“That’s super taxing on a bullpen and the way you use it,” Mosiello said. “We’re excited to have three games and not overuse guys.”

The Buckeyes offense ranks second in the Big Ten in walks with 42, third in stolen bases with 12, sixth in home runs at six and eighth in RBIs with 44, and they’re striving to be “relentless,” Mosiello said.

“Every run you score is huge,” Mosiello said. “You can’t ever stop, and you need to understand every run is humongous.”

Despite another quick turnaround, Mosiello said his team is looking forward to competing this weekend in its first appearance at the Frisco Classic.

“We’re coming to play every single day, and we have not taken a day off yet,” Mosiello said. “We’re just excited to get this thing going this weekend.”

Ohio State opens the series against Mississippi State Friday at 7 p.m., UC Berkeley Saturday at 6 p.m. and Oklahoma Sunday at 4 p.m. Each game will be broadcast on D1Baseball.com.