BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

Spence · April 17, 2013, 08:04:54 PM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on April 17, 2013, 05:35:54 PM
Quote from: Spence on April 17, 2013, 03:32:50 PM
Well, there's going to be a long break in there at some point regardless.

I guess it worked out for them since they needed a good pitching performance today.

Exactly. Now he won't start until the 27th I'd guess. So there was going to have to be a long layoff somewhere.

They got the sweep. 4-1 final in game 2. Only 5 hits, but they made them count and Clarke made them stand up (7.1 IP, 1 R). Back to back sweeps puts them at 7-5 in the OAC.

I think Mount's in pretty good shape now and as long as they get 1 in Tiffin are in really good shape. Muskingum and Wilmington to close and Carlino in two of those games.

Otterbein's season is probably going to come down to the DH against B-W. And this Saturday will determine whether Mount and Otterbein will be following a group of 3 at the top, or whether JCU will be joining them in the fray and whether Heidelberg can get a sweep and make it a party.

Kenworth · April 17, 2013, 08:10:53 PM

Marietta sweeps Otterbein today. 5-1 10-1 great pitching for Marietta Brockmeier gives up 2 hits in 7 and Finlin gives up 4 hits in 9 innings.

EttaFan1 · April 17, 2013, 08:45:37 PM

Brock was stellar on the hill today. Stellar. Three base runners total. One guy reached on an error a single and the "mistake" in the 6th.

Finlan was also stellar. One mistake to Wes Meadows who crushed it out of the park. Neither pitcher walked a batter. Neither Finlan or Brock faced more than four batters in any one inning.

Mike Fulton pitched the ninth facing the minimum.

Meadows had one hit,a big one, in both games. It was not his best day at the plate.

IF Marietta can sweep JCU on Saturday I think it will be very difficult for anyone to catch them. They would open up a four game lead over JCU with bw and lowly wilmington left on the slate. Big series for both the steaks and the pioneers this saturday. A sweep will be a very tall order.

Mar 10-2 (jcu, bw, wilm)
Bw 9-3 (Onu, mar,ott) ineligible for post season
Jcu 8-4 (mar, Berg, onu)
Mount 7-5 (Berg, wilm,musk)
Ott 6-6 (Musk,cap,bw)
Berg 5-7 (Mount, jcu, cap)
Musk 5-7 (ott,Onu,mount)

I would say cap, onu and wilm are out of the hunt.

Berg really NEEDS a sweep over mount or JCU. 9-9 may not be "enough" to get in to the final four. is their pitching going to get healthy in time?

Mount is in good shape after their series with 'berg. Muskingum, while in the hunt now won't be for very long. They are not good.

Ott needs back to back sweeps against muskingum and cap. That gets them over .500 in the league and a good shot at spot 4.

My prediction down the stretch.

1. Mar (14-4)
2. Jcu (12-6)
3. Mount (12-6)
4. Ott (10-8)
5. Berg (9-9)

EttaFan1 · April 18, 2013, 01:59:16 PM

Some Strength of Schedule Numbers from the D3Baseball site for the conference leaders...

Team - In Region win Pct. - NCAA SOS - National Rank
Marietta - .810 - .569 - 27
BW - .714 - .490 - 261
JCU - .619 - .507 - 201
Mount Union - .583 - .520- 157
Otterbein - .533 - .476 - 293
Heidelberg - .500 - .559 - 46

Dr. Acula · April 18, 2013, 07:18:17 PM

I cut out early and stopped at Ott today. Way too nice to be inside. Not a pretty game. Witt scored in every inning except the 9th. The only pitcher I recognized was Frey and he was having control issues so he didn't throw long. Witt was much better with the bats than Ott. Very few hard hit balls out of the Cards lineup today. But it was beautiful out, field looked amazing so I can't complain for April in Ohio.

EttaFan1 · April 19, 2013, 08:12:12 AM

For a team who started out at 13-2 in their first 15 games against pretty weak competition, they have since gone 6-10 in their last 16 when the level of competition improved.

They combined for 2 runs and 6 total hits in 16 innings against Marietta (who used their #3 and #4 starters). I know I was one who was "fooled" by the wins and losses in their early season triumps thinking this was a quality team who was a legitimate contender to be in the hunt for the top spot in the league. They are not very good.

Now is when the season gets really fun. The pressure gets turned up a notch.

Dr. Acula · April 19, 2013, 08:26:42 AM

They just don't have much outside of Meadows. Harkenrider and Linder are not having the same kind of year they did last year and they need them to. Ashbrook has shown some good power so that's been a nice addition. But as I mentioned a few days ago they're hitting .257 in OAC play. That's not strong.

Spence · April 19, 2013, 12:09:06 PM

Marietta has picked up a game Sunday against PSU-Behrend at noon. Usually a decently challenging opponent. I would expect some schedule additions in the next couple of weeks. MC is about 4-5 games behind I think.

Dr. Acula · April 20, 2013, 03:52:48 PM

Berg takes game 1 in a shutout 6-0. Mount barely even threatened to score with just 4 hits and not many scoring chances. Not promising. They need to wake up the bats and give Murzynski some runs in game 2.

Dr. Acula · April 20, 2013, 04:06:31 PM

3 unearned runs in the bottom of the first. Reeeeally need to wake up quickly now.

EttaFan1 · April 20, 2013, 05:38:56 PM

Ott is taking care of business. They move to 8-6.

Heidelberg is taking care of business. If anyone was in a "must win" position it was them. They almost have to win 6 straight to make the tourney. 2 down 4 to go. Best case scenario, 11-7. Tough set with jcu coming up.

The losses hurt mount. The best case for them is to be 11-7, which is likely. They would lose the tie breaker to 'berg. If ott finishes strongly with 4 wins they would be out. I would have to study the three way tie scenarios if ott also finishes 11-7.

Dr. Acula · April 20, 2013, 08:09:42 PM

Bad day in Tiffin. Get swept and not even competitive. They were down 15-0 in the 2nd game! You get shut down in game 1 and then get blown out in game 2? Not good.

motorman · April 20, 2013, 10:54:48 PM

Sorry Dr, but for the first time in a while it was a good day in TIffin. Gotta think Berg is going to be a tough out if they make it to the tournament, and with the pitching getting healthy that looks like a better probabilty now. The injuries they had to the pitching staff would have devastated anybody else in the league, yet they still lead in ERA despite missing 2 of their best pitchers for nearly a month each. The hitting seems to be rounding into shape as the season nears the end and the defense has improved greatly with Jordan Martin moving to 3B. They are exactly where they were at this point last season, 7-7 in the conference and I think they have an excellent chance to duplicate last year's 11-7 conference record with the pitching they have available.

Spence · April 21, 2013, 05:53:25 PM

Marietta splits at John Carroll, 2-1 and 2-3 in 11 innings.

Great pitching all day, not great defense all day. MC commits an uncharacteristic 5 errors.

This more or less makes it a battle for two spots in the conference tournament, I think.

EttaFan1 · April 21, 2013, 06:50:14 PM

This is going to be a fun race to the line to see how the final four are gong to end up. It could easily be Marietta at the top and a four teams all knotted up at 11-7 for three spots.

JCU and Heidelberg is a huge matchup for both teams next week and should be a good one. A JCU sweep probably eliminates 'berg. A berg sweep makes things interesting. A spit and JCU locks up a spot and puts Coach Palm in a very difficult spot. A lot is riding on this one.