BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Dr. Acula]

I am baffled by what Craddock is doing in game 1.  Mount was up 9-1 after 2 in Wilm.  Barry relieves his starter in the 2nd and the reliever gets the last out.  Puts a new arm in to start the next inning.  Seems normal, new guy gets a clean frame.  He's now on his 9th pitcher and it's 11-2 T6.  He had a string of 5 straight guys that pitched 0.1 IP and in that span they allowed a total of 2 runs.  No one has given up more than a run before being pulled.   

[Dr. Acula]

Wow.  Ott walks off BW 1-0 in 10 innings.  Kostura went the distance.  Cards got 9 IP total between a couple arms.  Impressive stuff.  BW bounced back and won the 2nd game 16-7.  I suddenly don't feel nearly as bad about Mount's effort in the second game last Saturday.  Just survive the DH with 2 wins any way you can I guess.

Congrats to Coach Powell.  Not only was that a huge win for 2026 it also gave him his 625th win becoming the all-time wins leader at Otterbein passing Coach Fishbaugh.  Well earned.  It's been a tough stretch recently, but Powell has had Ott as one of the best programs in the OAC for 20+ years.  Etta is Etta, but of the rest of us Powell's best teams that went deep in regionals have been as good as any teams in the OAC the last 30 years.

[BobcatQB]

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.

[Dr. Acula]

To me Berg and Etta are the biggest mysteries so far.  I still don't know what to think about Berg in general or non-Ziance Etta.  It definitely seems like Etta can swing it enough to make every Ziance start a tough road.  The rest of the time?

 

[BobcatQB]

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.

[Dr. Acula]

I'm hoping for a split in Berea.

[Dr. Acula]

I'm hoping for a split in Berea.

Probably my only chance to check the scores for a few hours and Mount and BW are tied 2-2 in the 7th.  I see Ott and Wilm are being pesky today.  Ott down 6-4 at ONU, Wilm up 3-2 at Cap.

[Dr. Acula]

Mount got their split.  Won the opener 4-3 in 10.  BW opted to hold back Kostura for game 2 so with Dennison going in game 1 that was pretty much a must win for Mount.  They used their best two relief arms (Gernert and Mauer) in the first game.  Interestingly Mount deviated from what they've done all year and went with Warner not Ickes in game 2.  He got touched up for 3 solo shots, but overall pitched fairly well.  The pen arms behind him did not do great and BW pushed their lead out to 15-3 at one point.  Mount scored 5 in the 9th for a little window dressing, but BW blew that game open and had it on cruise control from there.

ONU swept Ott in two close games including a walk off win 4-3 in game 2.  It's not showing in the standings, but Ott is definitely playing better recently.

Cap swept Wilm.  The Quakers are giving up over 13 runs a game in OAC play.  I thought their best bet at a conference win was maybe Ott, but the Cards look much better than Wilm at the moment.

Muskie and Etta split.  Etta salvaged a split with the walk off in the 10th.  Beating Ziance and then losing a one run game could be the "what if" moment for the Fish.  A road sweep there is a huge boost.

[BobcatQB]

Czarnomski pitched really well for Marietta in game 2 but 16 K's and poor execution cost Muskingum.  Not getting bunts down and going down looking with the bases loaded is crazy.  Ziance struggled a bit with his off speed early but certainly pitched well enough to win.  Vosters for Muskingum was really good in game 1.  Complete game 2-hitter. 

[BobcatQB]

Split from Mount and ONU keeps them both at the top w/ 2 losses.  BW and Muskingum split..another walkoff loss in extras for BW.