BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

BobcatQB · April 13, 2025, 07:24:55 AM

Two more one run losses for Muskingum has pretty much secured their spot outside the Top 4.

Up one in the 8th in game 1 and up one in the 9th in game 2..both times the defensive is the difference again. Throwing error by catcher in game 1 and throwing error by SS in game 2.

BobcatQB · April 13, 2025, 08:35:12 AM

Looking at the box scores makes me even sicker. 3 errors by the catcher in game 1 and 4 errors by the team in game 2. Hard to overcome 7 errors in a day.

BobcatQB · April 16, 2025, 09:01:57 AM

Muskies split 7 inning games with W&J, currently #14 in NPI Rankings. Controlled game 1 from the jump. Game 2, up 5-2 after 5 then gave up a 5 spot in the 6th! Another one run loss. That makes 6 and a 2 run loss in extra innings against ONU. Only 1 official error on the day but should have had another one. Miserable day for baseball..wind gusts up to 40 mph, rain, sleet..not fun.

Dr. Acula · April 17, 2025, 11:55:06 AM

Finally back after work got in the way as it always does this time of year. I did have the Mount DH with Cap on while I was working so I caught bits and pieces of it.

Obviously I was supremely disappointed dropping the opener. Cap is not good. They have a couple good sticks, but their pitching is not even average. It was just one of those games. Maybe they took Cap a little lightly. Breeden wasn't quite as sharp as normal, Cap took advantage of errors and scored some runs when given extra outs and Mount just hit the ball at guys. It happens. Now should you have more than 3 hits off Woodyard? Uhh yes. That's not good. They bounced back and buried them quickly in game 2 then went on the road and beat a suddenly decent Wooster team on Sunday.

In the loss Mayer was awesome in relief. 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 9 K. He was absolutely dominant including at one point striking out 7 of 8 hitters.

Tsouras hit a pair of 2-run homers in game two against Cap then followed it up with two more bombs at Wooster including the two out grand slam to put Mount up 8-6.

Mount hosts W&J today. Hopefully that will be a good one. With an OAC DH tomorrow I can't imagine Mount is going to burn any arms today. I'm sure W&J has PAC games so will probably be in the same boat.

Dr. Acula · April 17, 2025, 06:47:34 PM

That went pretty much as I expected. Mount beats W&J 10-8. Nice win to move to 20-7. Tsouras homers again. His 5th in the last 3 games. If not for the Raiders kind of gifting the Pres a 4 run inning with walks it could have been worse. But you have to throw strikes. Can't walk the first 3 batters of the inning and also walk in a run later in the inning.

Dr. Acula · April 20, 2025, 08:40:10 PM

Big DH in Ada this weekend. Cap storming back to shockingly split w ONU is not what I had on my bingo card. Mount needs to do the conference a solid and not fall apart this weekend bc the conference tourney being hosted on a mediocre HS field in Ada isn't good for anyone.

BobcatQB · April 21, 2025, 08:58:44 AM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on April 20, 2025, 08:40:10 PMBig DH in Ada this weekend. Cap storming back to shockingly split w ONU is not what I had on my bingo card. Mount needs to do the conference a solid and not fall apart this weekend bc the conference tourney being hosted on a mediocre HS field in Ada isn't good for anyone.

Very true. They are getting a new turf complex..I assume it will be ready for next year.

Tried to tell you that Cap isn't the same Cap. Those dudes can hit.

BobcatQB · April 21, 2025, 08:59:28 AM

Updated NPI Rankings as of 4/20:

https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/44156?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=Submit

Dr. Acula · April 21, 2025, 10:18:32 AM

I checked out some of the Mount DH against Wilm on Friday. There is no way to sugar coat it, but Wilm is not very good. The pitching is just not there. They have a couple solid bats, but that's about it. I have a hard time seeing how JCU doesn't sweep on Saturday. That would move the Streaks to 11-5 and all but secure their spot.

Muskingum is hosting Otterbein in an absolute must sweep situation. BW has Cap which I will now officially chalk up as a possible split although I still think BW finds a way to sweep. JCU and BW play each other to end the season as they should. Musky finishes up with Mount who could be playing for the regular season title. If BW sweeps Cap and moves to 11-5 also that puts Musky in a rough spot since BW swept them. It's definitely not over, but BW and JCU are certainly in good position as it stands today.

Unrelated but one thing that I noticed in person that doesn't come through as well on video is how hard Tsouras hits the ball. He smoked a couple balls that in person I was left shaking my head.

BobcatQB · April 21, 2025, 11:18:34 AM

Basically Muskingum needs to win the last 4 to give themselves a chance. BW needs to win all 4 to help since they own tiebreaker against Muskingum. JCU needs to go 2-2, losing to BW twice..be great for them to go 1-3 but they aren't losing to Wilmington. I assume tiebreaker after head-to-head is overall record. Don't remember but I think that's it.

Dr. Acula · April 21, 2025, 02:19:21 PM

I think the tiebreaker after H2H is that they start at the top of the standings and move down until there is a difference. JCU was swept by Mount and split with ONU.

Dr. Acula · April 27, 2025, 06:28:09 PM

Mount got great pitching all weekend. Split in Ada. Lost 1-0 in the opener on an anticlimactic back to back BB w 2 outs in the 7th producing the lone run for ONU. Breeden threw 6 SHO IP fanning 9. Mount bounced back 6-2 in the 2nd game w Hansen throwing a CG w very little drama holding ONU to only 3 hits. That positions Mount to hopefully lock down the regular season next weekend.

Lehman returned to the mound today after his injury absence. Seemed a little rusty early but ended up only allowing 2 unearned runs over 5.2 IP against Thiel in a 12-2 win. All four of Mount's SP are under 3.50 ERA. Team ERA is sitting at 3.57 now. They're hitting .327 as a team. They're a solid team so I really hope they get a crack at the NCAA. Work to do before they obviously, but this is a deep, veteran squad so I'm hopeful they get a chance.

BTW BW and JCU play a day ahead of everyone else so it could take the drama out of things early.

BobcatQB · Reply #3372 - Re: BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

Muskingum really needed Wilmington to win at least one against JCU. Both were close but couldn't pull through. Now the Muskies need to sweep Mount and BW needs to sweep JCU. 7 losses in the league and 5 of them by 1 run and 1 in extras by 2 runs. That hurts.

Dr. Acula · Reply #3373 - Re: BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

That's a tough pill to swallow losing that many close games. I say it every year, but it's true...the OAC is so competitive that making the conference tournament is an accomplishment. That is not the case for a lot of conferences, but it definitely is for this one. Krupar will be hitting the recruiting trail hard this summer now that he knows exactly what he thinks he needs to push them to the next step.

This year has been an anomaly with Etta and Ott being out of contention. Even with JCU leaving those two will be back to normal sooner rather than later. I was looking and at 3-13 currently Ott is having their worst season since Powell's first season in 2000 when they went 4-12 in OAC play.

BobcatQB · Reply #3374 - Re: BB: OAC: Ohio Athletic Conference

Quote from: Dr. Acula on Yesterday at 10:37:44 AMThat's a tough pill to swallow losing that many close games. I say it every year, but it's true...the OAC is so competitive that making the conference tournament is an accomplishment. That is not the case for a lot of conferences, but it definitely is for this one. Krupar will be hitting the recruiting trail hard this summer now that he knows exactly what he thinks he needs to push them to the next step.

This year has been an anomaly with Etta and Ott being out of contention. Even with JCU leaving those two will be back to normal sooner rather than later. I was looking and at 3-13 currently Ott is having their worst season since Powell's first season in 2000 when they went 4-12 in OAC play.

Yeah, tough year for the Cards. Was talking to a player I coached in HS who is out for the season for them and he said they have 3 other starters out for the season and 3/4 infielders were Freshman..you could tell. Perebzak was the other. He doesn't have the protection around him in the lineup so not putting up those crazy numbers this year. He sat out game 1 because he got throw out of the previous game