BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

Started by Ralph Turner, January 09, 2006, 11:38:52 PM

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Dr. Acula

Opening weekend results:

Ott at ONU:  Ott swept 9-4 and 4-2.  This was the biggest result of the opening weekend IMO.  I viewed ONU as one of those teams that you need to split with to hold serve so sweeping them (in my mind) gives you a nice leg up out of the gate.  Ott's pitching continues to be strong.  I may revise my opinion and move Ott into my current favorite position.

Cap at Berg:  Berg swept 11-2 and 4-2.  Hajdu was very good in game 1 and Wellman wasn't able to match him after 4 innings.  Deemer was strong in game 2 for Berg.  If Bastin and Smith aren't going it's hard for Cap to score a lot.

Mount at Etta:  Split.  I talked about the opener in my prior post.  Etta bounced back and got the split with an 8-2 win in the 2nd game.  Stover started for Etta and pitched pretty well, especially early.  Skladan pitched decently for Mount, but some self-inflicted issues hurt him (throwing error, walks).  In both games it seemed like Etta hit around the Mount pen a little, but I asked for a split and I got it so I am one satisfied fan.   

JCU at BW: Split  Game 1 went as I expected with BW winning 8-3.  Lovick pitched well (8 IP, 2 R) while Vargo didn't pitch quite as well (5 IP, 6 R, 4 ER).  Part of that can be attributed to BW having IMO a better lineup.  But then in game 2 the tables completely flipped.  JCU got a solid start from Servidio (5 IP, 2 R) while they hit around Cody pretty good (1.1 IP, 6 ER).  BW kicked it around to the tune of 5 errors, but it didn't matter.  JCU out hit them 17-8 in a 12-5 win.  As always, any time you're playing another team with legit OAC tourney hopes a split holds serve.  Good work by JCU getting it done. 

Musky at Wilm:  Split  The fish dropped the opener 5-3 so salvaging a split was absolutely a must.  Getting swept by Wilm opening weekend isn't a stumble, that's falling in a ditch.  You've got some work to do just to avoid the basement.  Musky did what they had to, but even in game 2 the Quakers showed some grit banging out 16 hits including a couple homers from the middle of their order.  It was 9-7 Musky heading to the 9th so this was no easy split.

Dr. Acula

Mount wins their home opener over OWU this afternoon to improve to 13-4 overall.  They were up 10-2, but made things a little interesting giving up 3 runs in the 9th to win 10-5.  Keleman went 3-4 with 3 RBI including his 5th homer.  Satovich went 7 strong allowing just 2 unearned runs.  Goodall did not play today.  He came up a little gimpy at one point in the Etta DH, but stayed in.  Hopefully it's just a precaution to let him heal up for Saturday.

Speaking of guys missing time, I noticed that Chris Petrucci didn't play at all Saturday for Etta.  Is he hurt?

Dr. Acula

Nice 4-2 win by Musky at Wooster yesterday. 

Cap has dropped 5 straight after losing at Witt yesterday 9-6.  They need a sweep of Wilm Saturday to steady the ship.   

ONU snapped a 6 game skid beating Defiance 5-3.  Storer got his 5th save already.

EttaFan1

#2958
Injuries are a significant problem for Marietta this year.

Petrucci has a pulled hamstring.  This is maybe the biggest one of the year. The defense has taken a step backwards without him up the middle.  He is also a quality stick at the plate.  Hopefullly he returns this weekend against Musky and Thomas More.

Tommy Crowl has battled arm problems since last fall.  he was the #2 guy for the past two seasons, and now he's rarely used.

Tanner Wood was a senior who started out the season well hitting the ball.  He was a catcher/DH/Outfielder.  He completely wrecked his non throwing elbow, and is likely out.  He is a senior.

Austin Eaton is a young pitcher who is also hurt.


Marietta is struggling a lot right now.  Pitching is a concern for certain. The hitting is not good and their defense, by normal standards, is just plain bad.  That's not a good combination for a baseball team. 

They were competitive with LaRoche until late home runs blew the games open.  Looks to be a tough year in the southeastern part of the state.

Dr. Acula

#2959
Wilm at Cap is still on for now.  Everyone else pushed to tomorrow.

Cap got the sweep that they badly needed.  7-4 and 5-0 were the finals.  Brendon Borkey was spectacular in game 2 tossing the CG 4 hitter. 

Dr. Acula

Early 3-0 leads today for ONU (over JCU) and Ott (over BW).  Mount and Berg are still 0-0 after Mount squandered a 1st and 3rd nobody out situation in the 2nd.

Dr. Acula

Mount sweeps Berg 7-6 and 7-6.  Two very different games.  Thoughts on them later.

Nice split for BW against Ott in Westerville.  That's a quality split with how the Cards are looking so far.

ONU swept JCU.  The Streaks gave up 6 and 14 runs.  Their pitching is just not giving them much to work with right now.

Dr. Acula

Tale of two games in Alliance today.  Mount cruised into the 9th in game 1 with a 7-1 lead.  Hajdu was good early and escaped a couple jams, but as he tired they got to him.  Mary was excellent yet again (8 IP, 1 ER).  He came out for the 9th, but plunked the leadoff man and was lifted.  McCristall came in and it just wasn't his day.  5 runs later Satovich hopped over from 1B to the mound and slammed the door with a 3 out save and a 7-6 win that was more exciting than it should have been. 

Game 2 Berg jumped out early and chased Skladan in the 3rd (2.2 IP, 5 ER).  Taylor came in and did a heck of a job keeping Berg under control so Mount could chip away.  Mount scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the 9th winning on a walk off wild pitch to scrape out another 7-6 win.

My takeaways right now:

Phil Mary is having a spectacular season so far.  Against BW, Etta and Berg he is 3-0 with a 0.78 ERA.  Overall 5-0, 0.95 ERA.  I was concerned that Mount might not have a true #1 and I am very happy to be completely wrong on that front.  He's only a sophomore, but Mary is their #1 and a very good one.

Joey Keleman is the best surprise of the season so far.  He's hitting .441 and has team highs with 5 homers, .750 slugging and 21 RBI in 19 games.

Billy Goodall is still really good.  He leads the OAC in hitting at .462 including .524 in the 6 OAC games.  He's slugging .631 and also already has 10 SB.

Sitting at 15-4, 5-1 Mount is definitely better off than I thought they'd be at this point.  If you offered me 5-1 after BW/Etta/Berg I would have jumped at that in a heartbeat.  If I was being truthful I would have said "I'd gladly take 3-3, I'd be very happy with 4-2 and I'd be elated with 5-1."  The most exciting thing to me is that they're young.  The other thing that's exciting is that this squad seems to find ways to win close games late.  They've been very clutch late including in game 2 today.  When one pitcher struggles another guy comes in and picks him up.  They're just playing some good ball right now and as a fan that's fun to follow.       

Dr. Acula

#2963
Etta at Musky was PPD again until tomorrow.  That field must have been a mess this weekend.

Etta sweeps the fish 2-1 (10) and 9-4.  Good to see Petrucci back in the lineup today. 

Dr. Acula

Mount went to Hiram today for a dry run at a midweek DH.  They got excellent starting pitching in both games, but only managed a split.  McCristall tossed 5 shutout innings in a 7-0 win.  Satovich started game 2 and turned in 4 no hit innings.  After a short outing last weekend Skladan threw a couple innings giving up a couple runs.  Taylor came in after the tying run reached base in the bottom of the 7th, but he couldn't close the door eventually surrendered the tying and winning runs in the 3-2 loss.

Looking at the stats one thing that jumped out at me is that Mount loves to run.  They have 5 players with 7 or more steals in 21 games.  52 SB total.  I don't know this, but my hunch is that's tops in the OAC.

Satovich lowered his ERA to 1.61 on the season.  At this point you'd be hard pressed to argue that he isn't their #2 starter based largely on consistency.  He's been very steady. 

Dr. Acula

#2965
Mount takes game 1 in Ada 6-2.  Mary took a no hitter into the 8th before giving up a 1 out single.  He went the distance needing only 72 pitches today.  He was 1 strike away from the CG 1 hit shutout, but ONU strung together a few singles and scored a pair with 2 out.  Still it was another excellent outing for the now 6-0 Mary.

Mount completed the sweep 9-1 over ONU improving to 7-1 in the OAC.  Skladan was outstanding today (7 IP, 0 R, 4 H).  Their pitching continues to be very, very good (3.05 team ERA).

Cap pulled off a nice split at Ott.  The Cards are now 4-2.

Musky also got themselves a split against Berg.  It's really looking like there may be more parity in the OAC this year than we've seen in quite a bit.  Almost no result short of Wilm beating a middle or above team would really surprise me.  Case in point, either team could sweep the Etta/BW DH tomorrow and it wouldn't surprise me at all.  And it seems like that can be said a lot.  Other than Wilm there's really no team you absolutely should sweep.  And there's also no team that's light years better that you should be swept. 

Add to this Sunday's split between Etta and BW.  BW is 3-5 and still lingering around the top 4 after splitting their last 3 DH (JCU, Ott, Etta).  I was not pleased to see JCU knocking Wilm all over the yard right before they play Mount Tuesday.  The Streaks pummeled Wilm 16-0 and 17-2.  JCU is an even 3-3 now.

Dr. Acula

I'm running out of praise for Phil Mary.  What an incredible season he's putting together.  He hurls his 2nd straight CG today in the opener.  This time it was a 3 hit shutout as Mount beat Cap 1-0.  He also had a career best 10 strikeouts.  He remains perfect at 7-0 on the year and pushes his ERA back below 1 at 0.96.  Brendon Borkey was nearly as impressive going the distance for Cap as the tough luck loser.  Not much offense in this one.  Owen drove in the lone run with a 2 out single in the 6th to score Spellman who singled and stole 2nd right in front of him.

Dr. Acula

It just wouldn't feel right if Etta didn't keep figuring out a way to win OAC games.  Even on the season but 2nd in the OAC.

Also, it will never cease to be impressive the job Thompson does at Musky.  Anyone who has ever been to New Concord knows what I mean.  They should really finish 9 or 10 every yr.  They don't and that's a credit to him. 

Dr. Acula

So Etta is 7-3 right now.  I think they're going to end up 14-4 and 15-3 wouldn't surprise me at all.  Their remaining schedule is Cap, Wilm, JCU and ONU.  Those are the bottom 4 teams in the standings.  Mount needs to keep their foot on the gas because the pinstripes are coming up in the rear view mirror.

EttaFan1

If Marietta gets going at the plate, they can be a very dangerous team.  That is a big "if" right now.  As a team the Pioneers are hitting a lowly .254.  50 points lower than their worst average in the last decade.  That's good for 9th in the conference too.  Starting pitching has been quite good, suprisingly so.  Oberhelman and Nieberding have exceeded my expectations this year.  Lutrell threw his best game last week.  Crowl who has battled arm issues is showing signs of improvement as well.  The two primary bullpen guys (Stover and Antill) have been solid as well.  The rest of the pen struggles mightily.  But the lack of offensive production could prove to be problematic down the stretch.  It has a tendency to keep teams closer than they should be (Heidelberg pitching was nothing special, yet they looked like killers on the hill last week).  Any other year I would say I like the Pios chances with the schedule they have.  I'm guessing it is going to be pins and needles down the stretch. 

Big double header coming up between Mount and Otterbein.  Mount needs to at least split this to stay in the hunt without help.  A sweep likely will lock it up for them, I think.