Ohio State baseball dominated No. 16 Nebraska in weekend series sweep, as Justin Haire’s Buckeyes continue Year 2 surge.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – History was made at Bill Davis Stadium this weekend. Ohio State baseball swept No. 16 Nebraska in a three-game series for the first time in program history, outscoring the Cornhuskers 19-5 across three games and handing one of the Big Ten’s hottest teams their most complete series loss of the season.

Ohio State baseball is now 24-21 overall and 13-11 in conference play. However, to appreciate what this weekend means for Justin Haire and the Buckeyes, you have to know where this program was a year ago.

Justin Haire’s first season in Columbus was rough as the Buckeyes went 13-37 in 2025, finished last in the Big Ten, and watched key pieces walk out the door through the transfer portal before he’d coached a single game. He inherited a program that needed a full teardown and rebuild. Haire responded by overhauling the roster entirely, bringing in 23 new players, 16 of whom were transfers.

His message from day one set the tone: “It starts with having the right people in the room. The guys that we have in the locker room, the coaches and staff that we surround our guys with, I just think they are committed to working and doing whatever they have to do to put Ohio State baseball back on the map.”

The Buckeyes have already surpassed the win total for the entire 2025 season, and this weekend’s win over Nebraska confirmed this isn’t a flash of good fortune. Five series sweeps on the season, with three of them against Big Ten opponents: Minnesota, Maryland, and now Nebraska, which ranked 16th in the country, sitting at 34-12 before they set foot in Columbus.

Friday: Kuzniewski Carries the Load (W 2-1)

Sophomore right-hander Gavin Kuzniewski wasn’t supposed to be the story of the weekend, but he made himself one. Kuzniewski turned in a career-high 8.0 innings in a 2-1 victory over the Cornhuskers, surrendering just one run on four hits while striking out four. He was methodical, efficient, and in command from the first pitch. Ryan Zamora closed it out with a strikeout in the ninth, earning his third save of the season.

Offensively, Ohio State did just enough as Dane Harvey scored on a Grant Mangrum sacrifice fly in the second. Lee Ellis drove in Maddix Simpson the same way in the sixth. Two runs manufactured in two critical moments, in a 2-1 game, that’s what winning looks like.

Kuzniewski improved to 4-2 on the season. More importantly, he gave the Buckeyes confidence going into the weekend.

Saturday: Eckelman Nearly Hits for the Cycle (W 7-3)

If Friday belonged to Kuzniewski, Saturday belonged to Mason Eckelman. Ohio State baseball won 7-3 to clinch the series, and Eckelman was the engine behind all of it, finishing with three hits and five RBIs, coming one single shy of hitting for the cycle. He cleared the bases with a triple in the first inning to give the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead they never relinquished. He plated another run with a double in the seventh. Then, with two outs in the eighth, he put it away with a two-run home run.

Chris Domke earned the win on the mound, going 7.0 innings and giving up just two runs on four hits. He was sharp, confident, and in control. The pitching staff delivered what Ohio State needed to secure the series. Domke is one of Haire’s transfer reclamation projects, who has become a reliable piece of a pitching staff that looked nothing like this twelve months ago.

Dane Harvey added a solo home run in the third. Nick Sawyer handled the eighth inning. It was a complete, professional performance from a team that has been building toward exactly this kind of weekend.

Sunday: The Exclamation Point (W 10-1)

Ohio State put an exclamation point on the weekend with seven home runs en route to getting out the brooms. The Buckeyes beat Nebraska 10-1 behind offensive firepower. Noah Furcht and Mason Eckelman hit two home runs each. Maddix Simpson went yard for three RBIs, and Dane Harvey put the finishing touch on it with a two-run bomb in the seventh that made it 10-1.

The seven home runs were the most in a single game for the program since a 2009 contest against UConn. Pierce Herrenbruck earned the win, tossing 7.0 innings and giving up one run. Jake Michalak struck out the side in the ninth to slam the door. It was the fifth series sweep of the season for Ohio State, and the third against a Big Ten opponent, joining Minnesota and Maryland on a list that now includes a nationally ranked Nebraska program that came to Columbus at 34-12.

A year after finishing last in the Big Ten, Ohio State is 13-11 in conference play, sitting inside the top half of the standings and playing its best baseball of the Haire era. The Buckeyes host Miami (OH) on Tuesday at Bill Davis Stadium.

NEXT: Read How Justin Haire is Rebuilding Ohio State Baseball