Baseball Preview: Defiance (7-4 Overall) at Ohio Northern (8-5 Overall)
Tuesday, March 21, 2016 - 4 pm, Wander Field, Ada, Ohio
Tuesday's Preview: ONU enter's Tuesday's matchup after splitting a double header with Trine (Ind.) Saturday afternoon at Wander Field ... Senior Andy Lubonovic led the way offensively for Northern going 4-for-8 during the two games and hitting his first career home run in game one ... Lubonovic also added a game-high four RBI's on the afternoon ... After falling behind in game one, Northern got on the board as they loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning and sophomore Dan Barna would hit a two RBI single to center field to score sophomores Braydon Focht and Brandon Kasberg ... From there Lubonovic would add a 3-run homerun to seal the victory for the Polar Bears ... Senior Nick Eltzroth earned his team-best and Ohio Athletic Conference-best third victory of the year on the mound in game one ... Eltzroth also ranks fifth in the OAC with 27 strikeouts ... Senior Ben Glischinski currently leads the pitching staff and ranks third in the OAC with a 0.60 ERA ... Sophomore T.J. Storer currently leads the OAC with three saves and ranks third all-time at Ohio Northern with eight career saves ... As a team, Ohio Northern currently ranks seventh nationally with a 1.84 ERA ... Defiance enter's Tuesday's contest after splitting a double header with Albion (Mich.) ... DC fell in game one 7-4 before defeated Albion in game two 6-2 ... Through 11 games, junior Zack Reed leads the Yellow Jackets with a .515 BA and is also tied for first on the team with 17 hits ... He also leads the team with 14 RBIs ... Senior Ryan Kohlhofer is also tied for a team-high hits (17) and leads the team with three home runs ... The senior also ranks second on the team with 11 RBIs ... Junior Nick Watkins leads the pitching staff for Defiance with a perfect 3-0 record and a team-low 0.90 ERA.
Batting Leaders
| Batting Average |
Hits | Runs | RBIs | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Lubonovic | .412 | 1. | Eltzroth |
19 | 1. | Lubonovic |
10 | 1. | Bostater | 13 | ||||||
| 2. | Eltzroth | .396 | 2. | Lubonovic |
14 | Kasberg | 10 | 2. |
Barna | 7 | |||||||
| 3. | Focht | .333 |
3. | Kasberg | 12 | 3. | Small | 9 | Lubonovic | 7 | |||||||
Pitching Leaders
| Wins |
ERA | Strikeouts |
||||||||||
| 1. | Eltzroth | 3 | 1. | B.Glischinski | 0.60 | 1. | Eltzroth | 27 | ||||
| 2. | Crabtree | 2 | 2. | Maier | 0.90 | 2. | B.Glischinski | 22 |
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| B.Glischinski | 2 | 3. | Crabtree | 1.00 | Crabtree | 22 | ||||||
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Series Notes: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 33-24-1 margin including a 15-6 victory at Defiance College in 2015.
ONU head coach Gene Stechschulte: Stechschulte in his fifth season at ONU with an overall record of 98-70, a winning percentage of .583.