It took extra innings to do so, but Ohio State outlasted the McNeese State Cowboys in an elimination game of the Nashville Regional of the 2019 NCAA Baseball Tournament. Once again, relief pitcher Andrew Magno was the star of the show.
The Buckeyes started with an early run in the 1st inning when Dominic Canzone walked and was brought home on Dillon Dingler’s sacrifice fly to the outfield to put OSU up 1-0. McNeese struck back quickly in the bottom of the inning thanks to an error and wild pitch, and after one inning of work, the score was knotted up 1-1.
Mcneese played add-on by getting a sac fly in the bottom of the 2nd inning and added two more in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a run scoring on a narrow miss on a double play, followed by an RBI ground-rule double. Quickly, the Buckeyes found themselves in a 4-1 hole after just three innings.
Shortstop Zach Dezenzo closed the gap in the top of the 4th inning on a two-run blast, then Brady Cherry followed up with a bases-empty homer to tie the game up at 4-4 in the top of the 5th inning. The Cowboys struck back again though in the bottom of the inning thanks to another fielder’s choice that scored a run. After five, OSU found itself down 5-5, and things were just getting started.
Canzone had another big hit, hit 16th home run of the year in the top of the 6th inning to tie things again, but once again, McNeese answered with three runs of its own during its turn in the bottom of the inning. A throwing error and two-run RBI single put the Cowboys up 8-5 after six innings.
But the Buckeyes wouldn’t go quietly.
OSU again reeled McNeese in by scoring three runs in the top of the 8th inning to tie the game at 8-8. Nick Erwin laced a one-out RBI single, followed by another RBI single by Matt Carpenter before Brady Cherry walked with the bases loaded.
From there, both relievers shut things down all the way until the 13th inning when captain Ridge Winand came up huge with go-ahead RBI single to give Magno as big of a cushion as he would need on this day.
OSU went into the bottom of the 13th inning ahead 9-8. Of course OSU’s star reliever would slam the door shut.
The Big Ten Tournament MVP continued to show a live fastball and angle-breaking curve ball to set the Cowboys down in order and earn the win in an even further extended game than what we saw in Omaha. He went 7.1 innings, allowed just one-earned run and struck out ten batters to give OSU just what it needed to stop the bleeding and allow the offense to do enough for an extend stay in Nashville.
With the win, Ohio State will now head into Sunday to face the loser of Vanderbilt vs. Indiana State set for later tonight. Let’s hope it can keep the magic going.
