BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Ohio State junior Garrett Burhenn delivered his best performance of the season, and maybe his career, just when the Buckeyes needed it. After a game one loss to Nebraska, Burhenn shut Indiana down in a 3-1 complete game victory to give the Buckeyes a split on Saturday in Bloomington.
OSU (20-18) lost 9-0 in game one and needed some sort of shot in the arm. Burhenn certainly gave them that, and then some. The Indianapolis native turned in his first career complete game, going all nine innings and allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out a season-high 10 batters. What was perhaps the most eye-popping stat of the game was that Burhenn never got to a three-ball count on any hitter.
Indiana – TBA
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State heads to Bloomington this weekend to face the top two teams in the conference in host Indiana and Nebraska. The Buckeyes have played both teams already this season. Ohio State and Nebraska split a pair of games in Minneapolis in March and Ohio State swept Indiana in a four-game series in Columbus at the beginning of April.
Nebraska holds a one-game lead over Indiana for the top spot in the conference. The Buckeyes are in sixth place, 5.5 games back.
The Opponents
Nebraska comes into the weekend at 25-11 and lead the conference by one game.
Purdue – Cory Brooks (R-Jr. | RHP | 2-1 | 6.06 ERA | 32.2 IP | 25 K | 12 BB)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State heads to West Lafayette on Tuesday evening for an added game vs. Purdue. Both teams were idle this weekend because each team’s opponents were on pause due to Covid related issues. First pitch Tuesday evening is set for 4 p.m.
The Buckeyes and Boilermakers are coming off a series against each other on April 30-May 2. Ohio State took two of the three games, winning 11-3 on Friday, 12-2 on Saturday and then falling in a wild 16-15 battle on Sunday.
Ohio State enters the game at 17-14 overall while Purdue is 11-20.
The Opponent
Purdue had a great weekend two weeks ago in Champaign, sweeping all four games against Michigan State and Illinois. But last weekend at home, the Boilermakers were swept by the Illini in a three-game series.
The Boilermakers are 10-18 on the season but do have a winning record on the road at 4-3.
Purdue is hitting just .242 as a team but has the third-fewest strikeouts in the league.
Miles Simington leads the team in hitting at .340 and is tops in the conference with 12 doubles.
On the mound, the Boilermakers have allowed the third-most runs in the league and have the second-most walks of any Big Ten team.