BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

Gramps · April 16, 2009, 10:54:29 PM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on April 16, 2009, 05:27:24 PM
FINAL--Berg 3, ONU 1

Lash goes 2-3 and drives in 2. Nice efforts from all the pitchers in this one. Koehl and Lowe from Berg and Miller from ONU.

Berg leads game 2 in the 7th 8-1.

To add to Dr. A's summary, Gar Keene added 4 more runs to the 7th inning with a Grand Slam to make the score 12-1 after 7. They than added 2 more runs in the 8th on 2 walks and 2 singles. Gar Keene led off the 9th with his 2nd HR of the game to finish off the scoring for the night.
Nate James pitched 7 strong innings before being relieved by Elvin Williams for the final 2 innings.

The Berg's record is now 25-5 with a win streak of 14 in a row.

B. W. comes to the Berg on Sat. for a DH.

GO BERG!!!

Dr. Acula · April 17, 2009, 10:16:58 AM

I'm literally the only person in my department here today, so needless to say I'm a little bored. Bad news for you guys is that means I'm going to throw out some random observations about our beloved OAC.

--There are a few ONU supporters on this board so I wanted to take a second to applaud one of their guys. Justin Miller. I looked it up and he's made 4 starts in OAC games and has gone at least 6 2/3 in every one. Even better, he's posted a 2.32 ERA in those games. Just from looking at stats it looks like their lineup is struggling, but with Miller and Hill I wouldn't want to see them if I needed a sweep to make the tourney.

--Why is it that even when Marietta has a season like this where they split with JCU, MUC, Musky I think that it's all part of their plan? In my mind Brewer is sitting there thinking "We'll sweep Berg to show everyone we can, then we'll split a DH here and there to make them think we're down. Then we'll just take the bus up to Peaceful Valley and win the OAC tourney. That will make my guys tougher for regionals if we have to win it in Tiffin."

--Has anyone looked at Andy Lowe's numbers? They're nauseating. His 0.96 ERA in OAC play is unreal. He's made 8 appearances in conference play and has allowed a grand total of 0 ER in 7 of those. His only 2 ER came in 5 innings of relief against the Pios. Not a bad line score against the Express. Nice luxury for Palm to have in the bullpen.

--JCU should be sitting pretty good on Sunday. They're already 8-4 and sitting alone in 3rd and they're at Wilm tomorrow. I would say this is a lock for a sweep, but JCU did split with Cap and the Quakers have been showing signs of life lately.

--I'll confess I've never heard of JCU's Tom Hickey until about 10 minutes ago, but does everyone realize this kid is a freshman? In case you're ignorant like me...he's a 6'5" lefty 1B hitting .454 right now. And he's from Chicago. Why can't there be Methodist high schools that produce studs for my Raiders?

--I'm the first to admit that I was a little concerned about MUC ace Paul Mariotti earlier this year. Well, as usual I'm an idiot. Mariotti has allowed 3 or fewer hits in 3 of his 4 OAC starts. His 1.80 ERA and 11.2 K/9 are stats put up by dominant pitchers, not guys that office jockeys like myself should be concerned about.

--How long has it been since Ott has been in the position they're in going into this weekend? A while. Yesterday's sweep by JCU was a signal that JCU is no joke and Ott has some issues to solve. The good news is that they're 5-5 and are a DH behind most of the OAC, so they have some time. Also, they play the team currently in 4th (MUC) the last DH of the season. The bad news is that the starting pitching that has carried them for years hasn't come around like they hoped. The 2 guys who looked poised to step into the 1-2 spots after Remenowsky and Stevens mercifully graduated haven't pitched at the same levels as in the past. I think a split against Etta tomorrow would help immensely as it would give them a boost going into Cap & ONU, which they need to sweep.

--BW is also sitting at .500, but they're in a much different position. With back to back road trips to Tiffin and Marietta it may be out of reach for the Jackets.

OAC baseball fan 3 · April 17, 2009, 11:03:25 AM

Dr Acula,

We few ONU supporters appreciate you recognizing Miller and Hill. Their two tough pitchers who deserve better than they have! I just wish the hitting would show signs of life to support these two pitchers. Miller has 2 years of eligibility left after coming off of Tommy John surgery. Hill is done after this year, so i pray that a freshman sophomore or junior steps up and helps out a bit.

Keep up the good work on this board! You guys do an excellent job recognizing teams of the OAC.

mideastfan2 · April 18, 2009, 09:06:44 AM

the playoff race is heating up, and with only three weekends left the fight for the FOUR spots will be quite interesting. Here's today's schedule.....

Marietta at Otterbein
B-W at Heidelberg
Muskingum at Mount Union
John Carroll at Wilmington
Capital at Ohio Northern

current standings:

Heidelberg (10-2)
Marietta (9-3)
John Carroll (8-4)
Mount Union (7-5)
Baldwin-Wallace (6-6)
Otterbein (5-5)
Muskingum (5-7)
Ohio Northern (3-7)
Wilmington (3-9)
Capital (2-10)

Gramps · April 18, 2009, 11:51:56 PM

Peaceful valley was anything but Yesterday as The Student Princes split a double header with BW. The visiting team took the opener by a score of 6-5, while the Berg erupted for a 19-8 vict the nightcap.

In between the games, Biagio Boytim, L. B. Emrheinem, Matt Grassley, Jack Bault, Jeremy Wentworth, Dave Paddock, and Bryan Hartman, The Berg's Senior Members who have contributed to the success of the program. We wish them luck in their chosen career paths. A GREAT BIG THANKS .

Andy Lowe set the new carrer "Save" record with 16 over coming the 15 saves set by Ben Thorpe, from 2003-2005.

mideastfan2 · April 19, 2009, 12:16:17 AM

today's recap:

Otterbein SWEEPS Marietta
Heidelberg SPLITS with B-W
John Carroll SPLITS with Wilmington
Mount Union SPLITS with Muskingum
Capital SWEEPS Ohio Northern

current standings:

current standings:

Heidelberg (11-3)
Marietta (9-5)
John Carroll (9-5)
Otterbein (7-5)
Mount Union (8-6)
Baldwin-Wallace (7-7)
Muskingum (6-8)
Ohio Northern (3-9)
Wilmington (4-10)
Capital (4-10)

Dr. Acula · April 19, 2009, 12:58:00 PM

Big split by BW yesterday. That keeps the Jackets alive for the OAC tourney another week. If they can split at Marietta they finish with Wilm, so they at least have a potential sweep to end the season (although Wilm continued to play pretty well).

And that was a HUGE sweep for Otterbein. They're sitting very pretty now with Cap and ONU next. They've got total control so if they go any worse than 4-2 from here on out it's on them. The Pios are still in good shape in my mind. 9-5 with BW and ONU left.

JCU had a golden opportunity to really give themselves some breathing room yesterday, but they mustered only a split with Wilm. It might not seem like a big deal looking at the standings as they're in 2nd, but they finish at MUC and home to Berg so there's a chance that split yesterday is the difference between 11-7 and 10-8. And anyone that knows the OAC knows that's a huge difference.

MUC escaped New Concord with that split yesterday to keep their chances alive. They won the first game 3-2 on a grand total of 3 hits off of Nathan VanMeter. A 2 out single in the 6th was followed by an E4 and a clutch 3 run HR from Craig Knott. The Raiders also control their destiny as they finish w/ JCU and Ott at home. You can't ask for anymore than a chance to play the teams ahead of you. If you deserve to be in, prove it and win the games.

Congrats to Cap who notched a sweep yesterday too. Cap, Wilm and ONU are the bottom 3 teams in the standings, but I think it's safe to say that none of them are pushovers this year. All 3 have shown that they can play with the upper level teams on a given day and that's really all you can ask when teams are down. You may have flaws, you may not win a lot of games, but you're competitive.

Dr. Acula · April 22, 2009, 02:04:16 PM

We've got some quality NCAC/OAC action prior to this weekend's big DH's.

As of now OWU is at JCU at 4pm today and Marietta is at Denison at 7pm tonight.

Tomorrow Berg hosts Wooster and Denison for single games and MUC hosts Allegheny.

Pitching could get interesting tomorrow as all teams have been pushed another day closer to their respective weekend conference games by weather.

mideastfan2 · April 22, 2009, 08:28:09 PM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on April 22, 2009, 02:04:16 PM
We've got some quality NCAC/OAC action prior to this weekend's big DH's.

As of now OWU is at JCU at 4pm today and Marietta is at Denison at 7pm tonight.

Tomorrow Berg hosts Wooster and Denison for single games and MUC hosts Allegheny.

Pitching could get interesting tomorrow as all teams have been pushed another day closer to their respective weekend conference games by weather.

Marietta won a single game yesterday against Waynesburg. Today's game at Denison was cancelled. Tomorrow they play Shawnee State, and Friday they play a non-conference single game against Muskingum. The pitching will be used sparingly leading up to the weekend, I'm sure.

Then comes OAC play on Saturday, as they host B-W in a big DH on Alumni Day.

Dr. Acula · April 23, 2009, 03:42:29 PM

To say I'm a little concerned about MUC right now is an understatement. Anytime your website has a headline that reads "Baseball Rallies for a Split with Case Western Reserve" you can't be breathing easy. The offense has been falling off lately including again so far today. They've scored 4 or less runs in 7 of their last 10 games. Right now they're down 11-1 to Allegheny in the 5th and they've managed only a lead off single to start to game. Needless to say I'm not confident going into Saturday knowing that JCU has excellent starting pitching. Hopefully they start finding some green today and carry it into the weekend.

mideastfan2 · April 24, 2009, 04:58:13 PM

this weekend should bring some great WEATHER and some great OAC baseball action. Heidelberg looks to have the top spot wrapped up, but the fight for the final three tournament spots will most likley come down to the final weekend.

Saturday's Schedule

B-W at Marietta
John Carroll at Mount Union
Ohio Northern at Muskingum
Capital at Otterbein
Heidelberg at Wilmington

Current Standings

Heidelberg (11-3)
John Carroll (9-5)
Marietta (9-5)
Otterbein (7-5)
Mount Union (8-6)
Baldwin-Wallace (7-7)
Muskingum (6-8)
Capital (4-10)
Wilmington (4-10)
Ohio Northern (3-9)

Gramps · April 24, 2009, 04:59:41 PM

The Berg split a DH at the Pleasant Valley BB Complex. Wooster won Game #1 by a score of 5-4 and The Berg won Game #2 vs Denison 7-4.

Freshman Elvin Williams, in his debut as a starter, pitched a good game vs Wooster giving up just 3 hits, with 4 Ks and 2 BBs. Good Work Elvin, better days are coming for this fine young pitcher.

G. Keene and M. Grassley had solo HRs and J. Lash with 2 hits, 1 RBI, 1 Run, led the Berg scoring.

In Game 2 vs Dennison, B. Koehl picked up his 5th win, ably aided by B. Stucky and A. Lowe, who recorded his 8th Save.

G. Keene and M. Grassley had their second HRs of the day. R. Lizcano, 3-4, 1 RBI, 1 Run; B. Boytim, 2-3, 1 RBI, 2 Runs; and J. Lash, 2-4, 1 RBI,1 Run accounted for most of the damage.

The Berg meets Wilmington at Wilmington in DH Sat. 4-25-09

GO BERG!!!

mideastfan2 · April 26, 2009, 02:09:30 AM

Marietta SWEPT B-W
JCU SWEPT Mount Union
Heidelberg SWEPT Wilmington
Otterbein SWEPT Capital
Muskingum SWEPT Ohio Northern

current standings:

Heidelberg (13-3)
John Carroll (11-5)
Marietta (11-5)
Otterbein (9-5)
Mount Union (8-8)
Muskingum (8-8)
Baldwin-Wallace (7-9)
Capital (4-12)
Wilmington (4-12)
Ohio Northern (3-11)

Gramps · April 26, 2009, 10:35:59 AM

The Berg took a DH from Wilminton yesterday. Game 1 - 11-2. Game 2 - 11-3

In Game #1, D. Paddock went 5 innings, allowing 4 Hits, 1BB, and 4 Ks. B. Stucky got in 1 inning of work, as did E. Biggs.

Matt Grassley led the offense with 3-4, 3 RBIs, and 1 Run; J. Wentworth added 3-4, 2 RBIs, 2 Run; W. Brechun 2-5, 1 Run; J. Lash 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 Run. Lash also hit his 5th HR of the season to lead off the 6th inning.

"Sly" Nino was the starter in game #2. He went 7 innings giving up 4 Hits with 2 BB and 4 Ks, and got the W. Everett Thomas relieved for the last 2 innings.

Leading the hitters were J. Wentworth with 3-5, 1 Run; M. Grassley 2-5, 2 RBIs, 2 Runs; G. Keene 3-5, 1 RBI, 2 Runs; W. Brechun 3-4, 3 RBIs; R. Lizcano 3 RBIs. Grassley and Lizcano are also credited with shots over the fence.

Heidelberg will be in Springfield Tues. 4-29-09 for a rare game under the lights against Wittenberg.
Game time 7:00PM.

go berg!!!

Dr. Acula · April 27, 2009, 08:37:23 PM

Wow. Wooooooow. Saying that my Raiders took one on the chin today would be an insult to the phrase. Wooster scored 9 in the 1st, 7 in the 2nd and cruised in a 31-5 laugher at MUC. Mercifully it was only a single game.

MUC has now dropped 8 of their last 9 in yet another season ending swoon. How many times will I put my hand on the burner before I figure out it's hot? Every year I look at the talent coming back and think "this is the year they get into the OAC tourney comfortably for once" and every year I get disappointed. I feel bad for the kids because one, I know they have the talent to win, but more so because I know they're giving 100% and it's not paying off. Most of all I feel bad for the seniors because every senior class thinks that they're going to be the ones that will overcome the internal situation there and still find a way to win. It stings when you see that chance slip away. I know this firsthand.