Baseball: Ohio Northern (26-13 Overall) at OAC Tournament
Thursday-Saturday, May 11-13, 2023 – Fisher Field, Berea, Ohio
| Baldwin Wallace OAC Tournament site | ONU OAC Tournament site |
Tournament Preview: Ohio Northern is set to play in the four-team, double-elimination Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament held at Baldwin Wallace's Fisher Field from May 11-13 … The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament … The Polar Bears are the No. 3 seed and open against No. 2 seed Marietta on Thursday at 3 p.m. following the completion of Game 1 between top-seeded Baldwin Wallace and No. 4 seed John Carroll … Three games are scheduled for Friday with start times of 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. … The championship game is set for Saturday at 12 p.m. with an if-needed game set for 3 p.m. … This marks ONU's 20th OAC Tournament appearance … The Polar Bears are seeking their fifth OAC Tournament title and first since 1983 … Northern is seeking its ninth NCAA Tournament berth … ONU is coming off falling 6-3 and 1-0 to Heidelberg in a doubleheader on Saturday … Through 39 games, freshman Chase Armstrong leads ONU with a .380 batting average, followed by junior Logan Stevens (.306) and fifth-year senior Corey McMann (.296) … Armstrong has a team-high 34 runs, ranks 10th in the OAC in batting average and is tied for third in the OAC in home runs (9) … Stevens has a team-high 48 hits and 34 RBIs … Sophomore Joey Kennedy is tied for ninth in the OAC with 15 steals …Sophomore Blake Altaffer leads the OAC with a 1.33 ERA, and senior Jack Hutchins (2.12) ranks third … Altaffer is 8-0 and ranks second in the OAC in wins … Senior Tim Knapschaefer is tied for second in the OAC in strikeouts (69) … Sophomore Vaughn Duncan has an OAC-best seven saves … ONU has an OAC-best 3.69 team ERA and ranks second in the OAC in team strikeouts (306) … McMann is ONU's all-time career leader in hits (204) and doubles (49), and he ranks fourth in RBIs (119) and 10th in home runs (18) … Senior Jacob Wenning is tied for 25th all-time at ONU with 146 career hits … Senior Nate Webb has 109 career hits and is tied for eighth all-time in home runs (19) … Stevens has 101 career hits … Knapschaefer has 166 career strikeouts, which ranks 12th in program history … Marietta is the defending OAC Tournament champion and advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series in 2022 … MU is 31-9 overall coming off Sunday's 17-6 win over Otterbein and is ranked No. 12 nationally in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 Poll … The Pioneers lead the OAC in batting average and runs scored … Brett Carson (.414) and Alex Richter (.398) lead MC in batting average … Carson leads the OAC in RBIs (53), ranks second in hits (70), doubles (20) and home runs (12) and third in batting average … On the mound, the Pioneers are led by Kail Hill (9-2, 2.40 ERA, 62 strikeouts) and Trent Valentine (6-0, 3.10 ERA, 55 strikeouts) … Hill ranks fourth in the OAC in strikeouts … Baldwin Wallace is ranked No. 9 nationally in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 Poll and played in the NCAA Tournament in 2022, advancing to the Division III World Series … The Yellow Jackets are 31-8 overall coming off Sunday's 18-9 win over Wooster … BWU leads the OAC in hits (491) and doubles (101), and its pitching staff has an OAC-best 324 strikeouts … Sean Kolenich (.404) and Alexis Castillo (.395) lead BWU in batting average, which rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in the OAC … Kolenich leads the OAC in hits (72) … Luke Vonderhaar is tied for fourth in the OAC in doubles (17) … Castillo and Vonderhaar are tied for eighth in the OAC in RBIs (42), and Castillo is tied for eighth in the OAC in home runs (7) … On the mound, the Yellow Jackets are led by Garrett Miller (8-0, 3.49 ERA, 57 strikeouts), Nik Baldis (6-2, 3.44 ERA, 45 strikeouts) and Dawson Gabe (5-0, 4.07 ERA, 59 strikeouts) … Gabe and Miller rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the OAC in strikeouts … John Carroll is 25-13 overall coming off splitting a doubleheader with Baldwin Wallace on Friday, winning 4-1 in Game 1 before falling 6-5 in Game 2 … Sean Connolly (.373) and Connor Mayle (.320) lead the Blue Streaks in batting average … Joe Olsavsky has a team-high 54 hits and ranks fourth in the OAC in steals (19) … Mayle and Justin Hanley are tied for third in the OAC in home runs (9) … Connolly is tied for eighth in the OAC in doubles (14) … Hanley is tied for 10th in the OAC in RBIs (41) … On the mound, the Blue Streaks are led by Matthew Aukerman (7-0, 1.98 ERA, 69 strikeouts) and Jon Ambro (4-3, 7.79 ERA, 32 strikeouts) … Aukerman ranks second in the OAC in ERA, is tied for second in strikeouts and is tied for fourth in wins.
Ohio Northern Batting Leaders
Batting Avg. | Hits | Runs | RBI | |||||||||||
1. | Armstrong | .380 | 1. | Stevens | 48 | 1. | Armstrong | 34 | 1. | Stevens | 34 | |||
2. | Stevens | .306 | 2. | Wenning | 44 | 2. | Kennedy | 27 | 2. | Webb | 28 | |||
McMann | .296 | 3. | McMann | 40 | 3. | Stevens | 26 | 3. | Reed | 27 | ||||
Wenning | 26 |
Ohio Northern Pitching Leaders
Wins | ERA | Strikeouts | ||||||||
1. | Altaffer | 8 | 1. | Altaffer | 1.33 | 1. | Knapschaefer | 69 | ||
2. | Hutchins | 6 | 2. | Hutchins | 2.12 | 2. | Hutchins | 53 | ||
3. | Knapschaefer | 3 | 3. | Duncan | 2.66 | 3. | Altaffer | 35 | ||
Peterson | 3 |
All-Time Series: Marietta leads the all-time series with Ohio Northern by a 24-86 margin, including a 19-4 mark in the OAC Tournament … MC swept a doubleheader with ONU this season, winning both games by the score of 11-2 … Baldwin Wallace leads the all-time series with ONU by a 56-52 margin, including a 2-3 mark in the OAC Tournament … The teams split a doubleheader this season, with ONU winning 9-6 in Game 1 and BWU winning 11-6 in Game 2 … John Carroll leads the all-time series with ONU by a 38-30-1 margin, including a 1-1 mark in the OAC Tournament … ONU swept a doubleheader with JCU this season, winning 6-5 in Game 1 and 10-7 in 13 innings in Game 2.
Head Coach Gene Stechschulte: Stechschulte is in his 12th season at the helm of the Ohio Northern baseball team … He has a 253-187 record, a winning percentage of .575.