Two big ones in Berea today.

I'll see today what else Marietta has..still know several of the players from when my son played but this will be the last year.  I'm sure Ziance will pitch game 1 since they don't have league games this weekend.

I watched game 1..Kostura only threw 83 pitches in 10 innings.  Both teams were swinging at everything..just didn't make sense.  That loss could be huge for positioning at the end.

Muskingum reverted back to not being able to hit after 3 big offensive games vs Denison, Bethany and W&J.  Made ONU look better than they are.  Umpire's zone is game 1 was as big as an apple and he heard if from both benches and the crowd..it was awful. Young guy that I haven't seen before.

Ziance continues to deal for Marietta but they can't find anyone else to help so they split w/ Berg.

Interesting to see how long Craddock lasts at Wilmington.  0-21..yikes.  Thought he was the right guy for Wooster, his Alma Mater..and had success.  Don't know what happened there but he's definitely got his work cut out for him to build a winning program at Wilmington.  With all the good baseball in Cincy area, he should be able to keep some local talent..but Wittenberg would be a much better option.

Capital have lost 7 of 8 including one to Bluffton..yikes.  Still hitting but pitching isn't great.  BW flexing their muscles.  Going to be hard to beat.  Playing better than they were last year.

Tsouras with 25 K's already..but I'm sure you'll look the other way with 8 bombs and 32 rbi in 22 games.  Lineup continues to produce and pitching as been pretty good.

Quote from: Dr. Acula on March 25, 2026, 09:28:33 AMMount moved up a couple to #15 this week.

The Jackets cracked the top 25 this week at #25.  BW threw out an attention getter yesterday blasting JCU 15-0.  It was over when it was 13-0 after 4.  I think you could make a very strong argument that BW has the best hitter (Kolenich) and the best pitcher (Kostura) in the conference.  Once it's fully into conference play I think we continue to see their poll position rise.

71 total bases after 16 games..geesh.

Like 2021 when OAC had DH every Sat and Sun...that was rough.

Doesn't make sense to have back-to-back DH.  Was one a make up?  Still doesn't make sense, especially since the schools are so close.  You could still play twice during the season, just split the days.

Heidelberg pitching ins't great but Muskingum can't hit so low scoring games.  Muskies left 16 on base in game 2 including bases loaded in 8th and 9th.  Berg's top 3-4 guys in the lineup are pretty solid. Hell, Tucker is at .442 from the bottom of the lineup.

If Ziance gets any help, he's not going to get beat much. Cards are going to continue to struggle..21-1 in a DH w/ 18  K.  Ziance's only hit came from a kid I coached in HS so I'll take credit.

ONU lost series to Alma.  Saw Alma at Muskingum last weekend..they are solid.  Stechschulte led the Polar Bears offensively, going 6-7 at the plate with 3 home runs and 7 RBIs on Sat.

Quote from: Dr. Acula on March 18, 2026, 07:27:04 PMI'm actually a little surprised that more than half the conference still has dirt infields at this point.  Even a lot of the high schools have put turf in.  It's almost a necessity in Ohio.   

We are working on a turf project now with hopes of installing for next season.  Such a huge recruiting tool and so many benefits..today's game being a perfect example.  Now the team has to travel 3 hours, endure additional travel costs and lose concession $.

Quote from: Dr. Acula on March 18, 2026, 01:06:17 PMLooking at their schedule out west I'm guessing those teams are not going to be sad to see Denison head back to Granville.  I don't see any of the three pushing Denison.

I'm happy to see Wooster playing well.  Witt is playing well also, but my concern with them is the same as usual...they've got bats, but do they have the arms to compete with high level teams.

The surprise so far is Wabash.

As expected, Muskingum game moved to Westminster Thurs. Need that turf field!

OAC play starts this weekend.

Quote from: Pops33 on March 16, 2026, 04:35:11 PMStandings with two weeks before conference play begins.

https://northcoast.org/standings.aspx?path=baseball

It's early but Denison, Wooster, John Carroll, and DePauw are all playing .700 or better with Wittenberg just behind at 10-5.  It's interesting to note that Wabash is the only team below .500.  They were predicted to be in the top 4 so they should turn that around.

A couple of OAC vs. NCAC matchups this week:
Wittenberg vs Wilmington
Capital vs. OWU (2)
Otterbein vs. JCU

Denison looks like they are playing on another level right now, so conference play will be interesting.

West Coast trip..no problem.  Scored 22 last night.

Heidelberg/Adrian pushed to Thurs
Muskingum/Westminster pushed to Thurs.  Don't think this one will be played unless they move the game to Westminster. Muskies supposed to host Heidelberg Sat.  That's in jeopardy too.

Surprising losses by Cap the way they can hit.  Really soft schedule to start the season.

BW getting smacked around by Denison twice this year.  #1 Denison letting everyone in OH know they are the big dogs now.  Would have liked to see BW and Adrian game results but cancelled.

Mount doesn't look like they have taken much of a step backwards like I thought they might.

Muskies finally starting to hit a bit but lost series to Alma.  Top of their lineup could swing it.  Talked to Brewer at the Muskingum game.  He was there watching a friend's kid play. Still pretty salty as you could imagine.  Feel bad for him.

Ott & Marietta young and it shows.  Marietta faithful getting frustrated but that schedule is brutal.

Muskies finished up a frustrating spring trip going 1-4 and a weather cancellation.  Played a good Mary Washington team where again defense and lack of hitting let them down.  4 errors in game 1, should have been 6.  Got outplayed in game 2 and had game 3 won but another error cost them the game.  Beat average Guilford team and lost to average Greensboro.  Had Greensboro 4-0 headed to 7th.  Left bases loaded twice, including the 8th in the middle of a rally..dumb base running.

Sorry, I was on vacation so haven't been paying attention to other teams.

https://x.com/D3Region7/status/2029195959293333575

That Berea team was the worst D3 team I've seen.  Talked to a local HS coach who filled me in on some details.  Apparently, no students pay for tuition..everyone goes to school for free. Each student has to work at least 2 hours a day on campus at various jobs.  Their roster was made up of several kids from Puerto Rico.  Weird.  Neat little town and beautiful campus/facilities..just not very good baseball.

Cap with 3 more HR yesterday but dropped out of the top spot nationally..still at #2 with 20 HR.  Still lead in HR per game nationally.