Behind Weston’s pitching, timely hitting, Michigan cruises past Ohio State, 7-0.

No. 25 Michigan (14-7 Big Ten) rolled over rival Ohio State (13-8, Big Ten) on Saturday, 7-0. In doing so, they regained the Wolverines’ stronghold on second place in the conference. They rebounded from a disappointing game one loss and set the stage for a rubber match on Sunday.

Sophomore right-hander Cameron Weston was dominant from start to finish on the mound. He went for six and two-thirds innings allowing zero runs and striking out five. Of his 101 pitches, only 57 of them were strikes. However, whenever Ohio State had an opportunity to score, Weston shut them down. He also benefited from some great defense, most notably from his middle infield. Fifth-year shortstop Benjamin Sems and junior second baseman Riley Bertram turned multiple double plays and minimized any Buckeye baserunners.

In the bottom of the second, Sems lined a single into left field. After stealing second base and a walk from redshirt junior outfielder Danny Zimmerman, the Wolverines found themselves with an early scoring chance. Bertram then got Michigan on the board with an RBI single up the middle. He has struggled at the plate during this season, but on Saturday he was a pitcher’s nightmare.

The score stayed at 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth when the Wolverines went back to work. Once again, Sems got it started with a leadoff walk. He then made his way to third after a Buckeyes pickoff attempt went into right field. 

Additionally, sophomore outfielder Tito Flores continued an already strong weekend and worked a walk. Bertram stayed hot and drove a ball into the left-center gap, driving home two runs. He then swiped third base and scored on a wild pitch. Unlike the first game of the series, Michigan did an excellent job of capitalizing on Ohio State’s mistakes. They turned sloppy errors into runs and made life easy for Weston.

The Wolverines’ offense stayed hot in the sixth inning, too. With one out, Bertram roped a ball down the right-field line for his third hit and second double of the afternoon. Fifth-year infielder Christian Molfetta then crushed an opposite-field home run, emphatically extending the lead to 6-0.