Baseball: Ohio Northern (7-4 Overall, 0-0 OAC) at Heidelberg (10-3 Overall, 0-0 OAC)

Saturday, March 23, 2019, 1/4 p.m. — Peaceful Valley, Tiffin, Ohio

Saturday's Game Preview: The Ohio Northern baseball team opens its 2019 Ohio Athletic Conference slate Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader at league foe Heidelberg ... First pitches are set for 1 and 4 p.m. at Peaceful Valley in Tiffin ... The Polar Bears enter the OAC opener sporting a 7-4 overall record ... Northern is coming off a 4-0 loss to Defiance Thursday evening at Defiance High School ... Seniors Luke Klinehoffer and Caleb Thomas, sophomore Michael Rocco, and freshman Corey McMann each recorded a hit in the nonconference affair ... Junior right-handed pitcher Troy Wagner surrendered just two earned runs and four hits through five innings in his second start this season ... From there, juniors Sean Sweeney and Scott Beaton silenced the Yellow Jacket bats, tossing three hitless innings combined ... Through 11 games this season, Rocco paces the team with a .486 batting average to produce 17 hits, nine RBI, and score 13 runs ... Meanwhile, Klinehoffer ranks second on the team with a .455 batting average and leads the team with 20 hits, 13 runs scored, four doubles, and five stolen bases ... Thomas tops the team with two home runs and 13 RBI ... On the mound, juniors Jack Schaller and Nate Bye lead the pitching unit ... Schaller owns a 2-0 overall record and a 0.00 ERA, conceding just three hits in 10 innings ... Bye has tossed 13 total innings, including one complete game, to register a 1-0 record, a 1.38 ERA, and a team-high 14 strikeouts ... On the OAC leaderboards, Rocco and Klinehoffer rank second and fifth in batting average, respectively ... Thomas is tied for fifth in home runs and tied for ninth in RBI ... Additionally, Schaller is tied for fourth in wins while Bye ranks second in ERA among qualifying pitchers ... Klinehoffer's 38 career doubles and .361 career batting average ranks third and ninth all-time at Ohio Northern, respectively ... Heidelberg enters Saturday's twinbill owning a 10-3 overall record and having received votes in the latest D3baseball.com/NCBWA national poll ... The Student Princes are coming off an 8-7 nonconference victory at Manchester (Ind.) Thursday evening ... Offensively, junior Marc Ochoa leads the team with a .434 batting average and sits tied for first on the team with five doubles and three home runs ... Meanwhile, junior infielder Kyle Jenkins leads the team with 20 RBI on a .377 batting average ... On the mound, Heidelberg has posted a 3.96 team ERA and 84 strikeouts this season.

Ohio Northern Batting Leaders:

Ohio Northern Pitching Leaders:

Series Notes: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series 70-50 over the Student Princes ... Last season, Heidelberg swept the two-game series with 8-6 and 10-3 victories.

ONU Head Coach Gene Stechschulte: Stechschulte is in his eighth season leading the Ohio Northern baseball program with a 166-119 record, a .582 win percentage.