Ohio State has had a historically rough baseball season in 2025. They reached historic program highs in both Big Ten and overall losses. Their 13-37 overall record and 5-25 Big Ten record are the program's worst of all time. They had secured last place in the Big Ten before they even began their final series of the season against Illinois this week.
Things were more of the same for Ohio State in game one against the Illini on Thursday. It was a low-scoring affair, but Ohio State ultimately lost, 4-3. One lone bright spot was a bomb hit by senior right fielder Trey Lipsey.
Game two of the series had more fireworks for both teams. DH Nick Giamarusti hit his third home run of the year to put Ohio State on the board, but Ohio State dug itself too deep of a hole early. The Buckeyes would trail by 12 at one point before Lipsey hit a three-run home run, but the Buckeyes were too far gone, and Illinois would win 18-9.
The final game of the season for Ohio State was on Saturday. Lipsey, Giamarusti, Tyler Pettorini, Will Carpenter, Jaylen Jones, Ryan Butler, and Ryan Miller were all honored before their final home game at Nick Swisher Field in Bill Davis Stadium. This maligned team and these seniors gave Ohio State fans a game to remember them by. The shootout between Ohio State and Illinois began with a Miller solo home run in the bottom of the second inning.
Giamarusti would follow that up with a solo shot of his own, and the Buckeyes would lead 2-0 after the second inning. Illinois then erupted in the top of the third inning, and it looked like the final game would be like most games had been for the Buckeyes in 2025. The Illini led 6-2 going into the bottom of the third for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State would strike back in their half of the third when Maddix Simpson hit a double with the bases loaded that brought in three runs and made the game 6-5.
Illinois would add another run in the fourth, and Ohio State would answer with Matthew Graveline hitting a single that, coupled with an error, brought Lipsey home to make the game 7-6. Illinois would get two more runs, but Ohio State would once again keep it a one-run game when Giamarusti hit his third home run of the series to make it a 9-8 ballgame. Pettorini would tie with an unearned run on a Simpson flyout.
That would make it a tie game after nine innings with a score of 9-9. Illinois would score one in the top of the tenth, making the bottom of the tenth do-or-die time for Ohio State. Illinois walked Giamarusti, and then Reggie Bussey struck out. Then, they walked Lipsey, and Graveline struck out.
Given that Giamarusti and Lipsey had combined for five home runs in this series, on the surface, that wasn’t a bad call to give them nothing they could hit. Those two then pulled the double steal, advancing to second and third. Pettorini came to the plate with the tying run on third, the winning run on second, and the Buckeyes down to their final out.
That’s when those three seniors made a small piece of Buckeye history. Pettorini hit a double down the right field line, and Giamarusti would tie the game, and Lipsey would win it as Ohio State walked off with the win and ended their rough season on a positive note with an 11-10 win in 10 innings.
See you in 2026, Buckeye baseball!