After Friday night’s series-opening loss to Iowa, Ohio State head coach Greg Beals lamented a host of wounds the team inflicted upon itself. “You would think we would be beyond this at this point in the season, and we should be,” Beals told Press Pros Magazine. “But I think what’s happening with our ballclub is that (the mistakes and failures) are building instead of getting better. It’s compounding. We’re playing with the fear of failure instead of just trying to win, putting ourselves in a position to win.”
On a sun-drenched Saturday at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, the Buckeyes put that fear of failure squarely out of mind for five and a half innings before the old familiar issues crept back up.