Baseball: Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall) vs. Dubuque (Iowa)/Aurora (Ill.)/Spalding (Ky.) at Derby City Classic

Baseball: Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall) vs. Dubuque (Iowa)/Aurora (Ill.)/Spalding (Ky.) at Derby City Classic
Video Video Video Recap Recap Box Score Box Score Box Score

Team Stats

February 21, 2020

Saturday-Sunday, February 22-23, 2020 - Derby City Field, Louisville, Ky. 

Weekend Preview: The Ohio Northern baseball program begins its 2020 season at the Derby City Classic in Louisville, Ky. … The Polar Bears will play Dubuque (Iowa) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday before batting Aurora (Ill.) and Spalding (Ky.) Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively … All games will be played at Derby City Field ... Northern is fresh off a season that saw it go 23-18 overall and 10-8 in Ohio Athletic Conference play … ONU averaged 5.2 runs per game, hitting .301 as a team, which included a .365 slugging percentage … Junior Michael Rocco led the Polar Bears at the dish in 2019, hitting .401 with one triple, six doubles and 24 RBIs in 143 at-bats … Junior Matthew Burkett also returns after hitting .329 with one home run, 10 doubles and 20 RBIs in 143 plate appearances, while senior Phil Buckingham rounds out the returning .300 hitters from a season ago after he registered .310 batting average with one dinger, one triple, three doubles and 13 RBIs in 145 at-bats … The Polar Bears surrendered five runs per game in 2019 …  Senior Nate Bye comes back to lead a deep pitching staff … He twirled 63.2 innings in 2019, boasting a 2.97 ERA and 44 strikeouts … Bye held a 5-3 record with a pair of compete games … Fellow senior Jack Schaller returns after logging a 5-2 record, a 2.84 ERA with 18 Ks in 44.1 innings tossed in 2019 … Senior Troy Wagner rounds out the the players who threw more than 40 innings a season ago, as he recorded 41 innings pitched with a 3.29 ERA, 24 strikeouts, which equated to a 3-2 record … Dubuque held a 26-15-1 overall record last season … The Spartans plated 5.3 runs per game, while allowing foes to score 4.7 runs per contest … Aurora went 35-11 last season, which included one win in the NCAA Tournament … The Aurora Spartans knocked home 7.3 runs per game in 2019 and gave up 4.6 runs per contest … Spalding has already played four games in 2020, currently sitting at 2-2, averaging 4.5 runs per game, while surrendering 8.3 runs per contest … The Golden Eagles went 31-12 in 2019, putting up 7.3 runs per game, and allowing 4.7 runs per contest. 

2019 Ohio Northern Returning Batting Leaders:

  Batting Ave.        Hits       Runs       RBIs  
1. Rocco .401   1. Rocco 59   1. Buckingham 26   1. Rocco 28
2. Burkett .329   2. Klinehoffer 47   2. Rocco 25   2. McMann 21
3. Buckingham .310   3. Thomas 45   3. McMann 21   3. Burkett 20

2019 Ohio Northern Returning Pitching Leaders:

  Wins       ERA (Min. 15 Inn.)       Strikeouts       Saves  
1. Bye 5   1. Schaller 2.84   1. Bye 44   1. Fisher 2
1. Schaller 5   2. Bye 2.97   2. Mohr 27   1. Mohr 2
3. Wagner 3   3. Wagner 3.29   3. Wagner 24   3. 5 Tied  1

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern owns a 2-0 record against Dubuque and also claims an 0-1 mark against Aurora … The Polar Bears have never faced Spalding before.  

Head Coach Gene Stechschulte: Stechschulte is in his ninth season at the helm of the Ohio Northern baseball team … He owns a 182-133 record, a .578 winning percentage.