BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Dr. Acula]

Wilm plates a pair in the bottom of the 8th.  4-4.

[Dr. Acula]

The Raiders wrapped up yesterday with a sweep at Musky.  Phil Mary went the distance allowing 2 ER in game 1 in his final start.  Congratulations to Phil on an exceptional career.  He never pitched fewer than 49 IP in any season.  He finished his career 24-8 with 6 saves and a 2.59 ERA.  For reference, in the OAC if your ERA is under 3.00 you're in the top 10 in the conference most years.  His sophomore season will go down as the best single season most Raider fans have ever seen.  Tekulve winner, Mideast Region POY and All-American.  I doubt I'll ever see 10-0 with a 0.78 ERA in my life.  An incredible season and career.

Billy Goodall, as I posted earlier in the season, is an All-Time OF in program history.  Career leader in hits and stolen bases.  Nick Satovich I was so happy for him that he came back and had a strong senior season (.364) after finally getting back to 100%.  He gritted his teeth and played with pain (and a huge knee brace) after ACL surgery last season.  Bryant Kennedy stepped up as a senior in a huge way raising his BA from .250 last year to .358 with a .500 OBP this year while also finishing second on the team in HR and RBI.  It's going to be tough to replace this group.  A fun group of seniors to follow.  I wish all the seniors good luck as they graduate and start their careers. 

[old scot]

Etta doesn't make the OAC tourney. When was the last time that happened?

[Dr. Acula]

Etta doesn't make the OAC tourney. When was the last time that happened?

According to the OAC media guide?  1983.

[Dr. Acula]

For two teams tied it's H2H then results vs. first place, then second place, etc.  If 3 or more are tied it's run differential in OAC play.  The latter happened a couple years ago and it was a surprise to even some of the coaches.

For the record, this tie breaker rule is H2H first and then run differential is they're all tied in H2H.  This is how ONU got the 3 seed.  They were 4-0 against JCU and Ott.  As best as I can figure out JCU and Ott then start at first place and compare results until a difference exists.  This would be all the way down to Mount Union in 6th place before there was a different result.  Ott swept them and JCU split.  Ott is the 4 seed.

Here's an article from the Plain Dealer about the 3 way tie breaker I was referencing from a couple years ago.  It was actually 2015.  Time flies!

[D3baseballparent]

Ironically, the last year Marietta didn’t make the OAC tournament they won the National Championship so that season ended pretty well.

[Pops33]

According to Marietta's 2019 Media Guide, the last time they were not in the top 4 in the OAC was 1968.  In 1983, they finished 3rd.

[old scot]

d3 baseball parent  You are right.  That's back in my days.  OAC north winner played OAC south winner. No 4 team playoff like now. I think Otterbein won the south and played ONU for the title. I remember this because we (Wooster) beat ONU in our first game and got snowed out in the doubleheader and finished 1 game behind. Etta had a great team. Terry Muholland was there ace . Went on to pitch in the majors.

[Dr. Acula]

Sitting in the office listening to the Ott/BW game.  Interesting tidbit from the Ott radio guy.  He said that it was brought up at the OAC coaches meeting last night about the possibility of expanding the OAC tourney to 5 teams.  They would have a 4 vs. 5 play-in game on Tues with the winner advancing to the double elimination starting on Thurs.

[Dr. Acula]

Ott beats BW 2-1 in the first game today.  Ott again called on their closer Colin Hoffmann to start.  He went all 9 on 113 pitches.  I wonder if Powell wishes he would have used Hoffmann as a starter all season?  Ott did a good job of making Cody work.  He went over 100 pitches in the 6th I believe.  Ott only had 3 hits today, but they did a good job of working counts.

In game 2 ONU leads Berg 1-0 in the 5th.  Good pitching all around today.

ONU beats Berg 9-5 to send the top 2 seeds to the losers draw.  It looked like the Bears had this thing on ice when they scored 4 in the top of the 8th to go up 9-1, but Berg answered with 4 in the bottom half to keep things a little interesting.

ONU and Ott at 9:30 AM tomorrow.  BW and Berg at 12:30 PM in what the website calls the "non-winners" game.  Really?  We can't call it losers?  It's a baseball game.  One team wins, one team loses.  It's not offensive to call the team that lost the loser.  That's just being factual. 

[Dr. Acula]

Ott is up 4-0 in the 7th today.  The Cards are using the tried and true recipe of good pitching and timely hitting.  All 4 runs have scored on 2 out hits. 

[Jim Dixon]

Ott beats BW 2-1 in the first game today.  Ott again called on their closer Colin Hoffmann to start.  He went all 9 on 113 pitches.  I wonder if Powell wishes he would have used Hoffmann as a starter all season?  Ott did a good job of making Cody work.  He went over 100 pitches in the 6th I believe.  Ott only had 3 hits today, but they did a good job of working counts.

In game 2 ONU leads Berg 1-0 in the 5th.  Good pitching all around today.

ONU beats Berg 9-5 to send the top 2 seeds to the losers draw.  It looked like the Bears had this thing on ice when they scored 4 in the top of the 8th to go up 9-1, but Berg answered with 4 in the bottom half to keep things a little interesting.

ONU and Ott at 9:30 AM tomorrow.  BW and Berg at 12:30 PM in what the website calls the "non-winners" game.  Really?  We can't call it losers?  It's a baseball game.  One team wins, one team loses.  It's not offensive to call the team that lost the loser.  That's just being factual.

Hoffman is probably well rested than if he pitched long stints during the season.  Easy to look back but Ott are in a position to win.

I hate calling it a losers bracket, but elimination round, bracket, games works much better than non-winners.  Now don't get me started about first years or freshmen.

[Dr. Acula]

They’re absolutely in a position to win, but your best arm also has 44 IP after a CG in the conference tourney.  If I’m the HC I’m kicking myself a little for that.  If they beat Berg tomorrow it’s a moot point though as you said.  Win tomorrow and start him in the regional.

[Dr. Acula]

Looking over the projected bracket on the front page it looks like BW is right on the line.  They have them as the first team out.  The crew has Berg in safely and as a 2 seed in their regional.  Ott they're projecting as a 4 seed.

[Pops33]

I think it depends on how far BW drops in the Regional Rankings since they went 0-2 in the OAC tournament.  Their record stands at 25-15, with them losing 7 of their last 12, which may make it possible they drop behind both Case and Wooster in the Regional Rankings.  Guessing they BW is out.