Baseball: Ohio Northern (11-13 Overall, 2-6 OAC) at John Carroll (19-7 Overall, 7-1 OAC)

Saturday, April 13, 2019, 1 p.m. — Schweickert Field, University Heights, Ohio

Saturday's Preview: The Ohio Northern baseball team wraps up its current five-game road stretch and returns to league play this Saturday at Ohio Athletic Conference frontrunner John Carroll ... Saturday's doubleheader is slated for a 1 p.m. start at Schweickert Field in University Heights ... The Polar Bears enter the weekend sporting an 11-13 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the OAC ... ONU is coming off a 10-7 victory over area-rival Bluffton on Thursday evening ... Sophomore Matthew Burkett led the offensive charge after going two-for-five at the plate with a team-high three RBI ... Meanwhile, senior Luke Klinehoffer and sophomore Michael Rocco added two RBI each after finishing two-for-five and two-for-four, respectively ... On the mound, senior Blake Lester earned the victory, tossing five innings and striking out six batters ... Classmate Jackson Buda came in from the bullpen to throw three shutout innings and record his first career save ... Through 24 games, Rocco leads the Polar Bears, sits second in the OAC, and stands tied for 31st in the country with a .452 batting average ... In addition, the sophomore tops the team with 38 hits and eight stolen bases, is tied for second with 16 RBI, and stands third with 17 runs scored ... Meanwhile, Klinehoffer leads the team with 17 RBI, ties for first with 18 runs scored, and sits second in hits (37) and batting average (.356) ... The senior ranks second in career doubles at Ohio Northern with 44 and is tied for seventh all-time in career base hits with 171 ... On the mound, junior Jack Schaller leads the team and is tied for third in the OAC with three wins ... Klinehoffer, Lester, and junior Troy Wagner also have multiple victories on the mound, recording two wins each ... Buda tops the team with a 2.08 ERA (minimum 10 innings pitched) while junior Nate Bye paces the team with 25 strikeouts in a team-high 30.0 innings this season ... John Carroll enters the weekend owning a 19-7 overall record and a 7-1 mark in league action ... JCU received votes in the latest D3baseball.com/NCBWA national poll released this week ... The Blue Streaks are coming off an impressive 21-9 nonconference victory over Westminster (Pa.) on Wednesday evening ... Senior outfielder Patrick Keohane leads the team and the conference with a .465 batting average ... He also leads the team with 46 hits, 39 runs scored, and 12 doubles ... Meanwhile, senior Dominic Mittiga paces the league with 40 RBI and is tied with Keohane for the top spot in home runs (5) ... Sophomore pitcher Andrew Steele owns a perfect 4-0 record and a 1.82 ERA, which leads all qualifying pitchers in the conference ... Freshman Mitchell Midea has a team-best five wins, which also ties for the league lead.

Ohio Northern Batting Leaders:

Ohio Northern Pitching Leaders:

All-Time Series Notes: John Carroll currently leads the all-time series 32-25 over the Polar Bears ... Last season, the two programs split their regular season doubleheader ... JCU won game one 12-11 before ONU claimed the nightcap 10-3.

ONU Head Coach Gene Stechschulte: Stechschulte is in his eighth season leading the Ohio Northern baseball program with a 170-128 record, a .570 win percentage.