The durable left arms of Griffan Smith and Andrew Magno carried Ohio State to an improbable Big Ten Tournament title.
The two combined to hold down Nebraska’s offense, and the seventh-seeded Buckeyes mustered just enough of its own to beat the Cornhuskers 3-1 in the championship game Sunday.
Smith, coming off two days’ rest following a 110-pitch outing, threw 89 in 5 2/3 innings. Magno, who threw 32 pitches in a 2 1/3-inning save against Minnesota in the semifinals, returned less than three hours later and threw 59 in a 3 1/3-inning save.
The Buckeyes (35-25), who had to scramble to make the eight-team tournament field after sitting three games under .500 in conference play May 5, claimed the Big Ten’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid with their 11th win in 13 games.
An overwhelmingly pro-Huskers crowd of 17,503 watched at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.
The Huskers (31-22) are in line for an at-large NCAA bid.
