Season Preview: Baseball has high hopes entering 2015 campaign

By Tim Glon

| 2015 Schedule |

ADA — Optimism abounds for the Ohio Northern baseball team entering the 2015 season under fourth-year head coach Gene Stechschulte.

The Polar Bears return 19 lettermen, eight position players and six pitchers that threw 23 or more innings from last year's team that went 28-12 and finished tied for fourth in the Ohio Athletic Conference with an 11-7 mark.

"We are excited about the upcoming season," Stechschulte said. "Our guys have been focused on taking the next step this year - getting into the OAC Tournament and hopefully playing beyond that. They were not satisfied with missing the OAC Tournament last season.

"We have quality depth at every position and a deep pitching staff. Even though we return a starter at nearly every position, we will have some fierce competition for playing time at many spots."  

Here is a breakdown of the 2015 Ohio Northern baseball team, by position.

Outfield

The group of outfielders is led by seniors Dan Belliveau and Jack LaMarca.

Belliveau, a First Team All-OAC honoree and a preseason All-American, led the team with a .361 batting average, eight home runs and 43 RBI while starting all 40 games in right field.

LaMarca was second on the team with a .358 batting average and 32 RBI, and led the team with 13 doubles and 23 stolen bases as the team's center fielder.

Senior Derek Lenardos and junior Reed Allen return after splitting time in left field.

Senior Brady Foley and junior Nick Guitar also started 12 games between them in left field during the year.

A group of newcomers also enter into the equation and will compete for playing time in the outfield.

"Our outfield is a strong point," Stechschulte said. "We have a very flexible team with many players that can play either infield or outfield, which is a big bonus. With Belliveau and LaMarca we have two of the best outfielders in the region, but we have several other talented players in the outfield, too."

Infield

The Polar Bears return starters at four of the five infield positions.

In all, seven players return after starting games in the infield in 2014, creating a diverse and intense competition for playing time here.

Junior Andy Lubonovic started 31 games at second base and led the infielders with a .302 batting average.

Senior Brady Foley started 25 games at shortstop and six more at third base and Guitar started 11 games at first base last season.

When not pitching, junior Nick Eltzroth earned starts at first and third base a year ago and could be called upon to play the infield again this spring.

Also returning in the infield are junior Cody Meyer, who played second, short and third, and junior Zach Niekamp.

Junior Clay Small started 29 games behind the plate and is the heir apparent to start at catcher again this season.

A new crew of freshman will also challenge for playing time, giving the Polar Bears depth across the board.

"Our infield is talented," Stechschulte said. "We have many guys that can play multiple positions. We have guys that can play multiple infield positions and guys that can play infield or outfield positions, which gives up a great deal of depth and versatility."

Pitching

The pitching staff is expected to be a strength, with 12 players returning that saw action a year ago.

That group set a school record with 12 saves and had the lowest team ERA since 1975 at 2.89.

Junior Nick Eltzroth was the staff ace last year, earning First Team All-OAC honors with a 5-0 record and a 1.69 ERA in 58.2 innings of work.

Juniors Zach Maier, Ben Glischinski, and Alex Crabtree and sophomore Devin Carr all threw at least 23 innings a year ago.

Maier was 4-3 with a 2.41 ERA, All-OAC honoree Glischinski was 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA, Crabtree was 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA and Carr was 3-2 with a 4.20 ERA.

Junior Ben Eckert, Tyler Batt and Brandon Wilson and sophomore Casey Mulchay combined to throw 28 innings last year and will challenge for more innings this year.

Foley led the team with three saves and a 0.00 ERA in five appearances, while Allen and Belliveau also saw spot action on the mound.

A talented freshman class will push the returners and gives Northern plenty of strong arms on the mound.

"We expect quite a bit from our pitching staff and they delivered last year," Stechschulte said. "We are hopeful that they can step up again this season. We are very excited about this group."

Schedule

Ohio Northern begins the 2015 season with its annual Spring Trip to the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., where ONU will play eight games in a seven day span from March 1-7.

The Polar Bears will travel for games at Trine (Ind.) and Defiance before opening its home schedule March 19 against Albion (Mich.) at Wander Field.

Other non-conference home games feature match ups against Wittenberg, Bluffton, Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan.

The Polar Bears will travel out of conference to face Trine (Ind.), Thomas More (Ky.), Denison and Kalamazoo (Mich.)

The Polar Bears will face Case Western Reserve at the Cleveland Indians' stadium, Progressive Field, at a date to be announced in April.

OAC action begins on Mar. 21, when ONU travels to Wilmington for a doubleheader.

The Polar Bears will host Mount Union, Otterbein, Muskingum and Capital in OAC double headers.

Northern will close out its regular season with a road doubleheader at Heidelberg on May 2.

The OAC Tournament is set for May 7-9, at the home of the OAC Regular Season champion.