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Ohio State picked up its sixth straight victory on Tuesday night, 2-0 over Eastern Michigan, in the final home game of the season. A two-run first inning is all it took for the Buckeyes to close their home slate with a 23-4 record at Bill Davis Stadium.
Senior co-captain Nick Sergakis reached base safely three times on a night when neither side got much of anything going offensively. Craig Nennig and Troy Montgomery each drove in a run in the winning effort.
As has become standard protocol for Ohio State during midweek games the past month, several pitchers were cycled through, beginning with senior Daulton Mosbarger. The lefty tossed four shutout innings, giving up just two hits and striking out three, before giving way to redshirt sophomore Austin Woodby.
Woodby, redshirt sophomore Kyle Michalik, freshman Ryan Feltner, sophomore Seth Kinker, and redshirt sophomore Yianni Pavlopoulos each threw an inning of shutout relief, with Pavlopoulos picking up his 12th save of the season.
EMU countered with right-hander Brent Mattson, who threw 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking four and striking out three in the loss.
Reversing the trend from last weekend that saw Michigan score first in all three games, Ohio State was first on the board in this one. Sergakis singled to lead off the bottom of the first, stole second, and moved to third on a passed ball. A groundout off the bat of Nennig brought him home for the quick 1-0 lead.
A pair of infield hits extended the lead to 2-0 later in the inning. Ronnie Dawson got the first one, advanced to second on a fielder's choice, and stole third. Montgomery followed that up with a cue shot of his own to score Dawson.
After that, the two sides only combined for a total of four hits as the pitching on both sides clamped down. Ohio State picked up its fifth shutout of the season.
Up next for the Buckeyes is the final Big Ten series of the regular season on the road at Minnesota, and it will have conference tournament implications for every Big Ten team in contention. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.