Baseball: Ohio Northern (22-16 Overall) at the 2019 OAC Tournament
Thursday-Saturday, May 9-11, 2019 — Fisher Field, Berea, Ohio
OAC Tournament Preview: The Ohio Northern baseball program makes its eighteenth all-time and second consecutive appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament when the team travels to Baldwin Wallace's Fisher Field on Thursday afternoon ... The Polar Bears earned the No. 3 seed in the 2019 postseason with a 22-16 overall record and a 10-8 mark in league play ... ONU will begin its title pursuit Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. against second-seeded Heidelberg ... Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Otterbein will take on top-seeded tournament host Baldwin Wallace at noon ... The two winners will meet in game three on Friday at 9:30 a.m. while the non-winners play the first elimination game in the double-elimination tournament at 12:30 p.m. Friday ... The championship game will be held Saturday at noon with an "if necessary" game scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ... The Polar Bears are making their first back-to-back appearance in the tournament since the 1999-2000 campaigns after qualifying with an 11-7 OAC record last season ... Ohio Northern has won the OAC Tournament title four times and finished runner-up on eight occasions ... ONU is coming off a 3-2 nonconference victory over Albion (Mich.) on Monday evening ... Freshman pitcher Tom Pitko recorded his first career victory on the mound after tossing 4.2 scoreless innings in relief ... Junior Scott Beaton registered his first save this season after tossing a scoreless ninth frame ... Sophomore Michael Rocco led the team with two hits while he, senior Luke Klinehoffer, and sophomore Tyler Randick each produced an RBI to guide the offense ... Through 38 regular season contests, Rocco leads the Polar Bears and ranks second in the OAC with a .425 batting average ... He also leads ONU with 57 hits, 27 RBI, 13 stolen bases, and a .469 OBP ... Sophomore Matthew Burkett sits second on the team with a .338 batting average ... Klinehoffer tops ONU with 29 runs, sits second on the team in hits (55) and RBI (24), and ranks third with a .333 clip at the plate ... He is tied for the program lead in career doubles (46) and sits third all-time with 189 career hits, just eight off the school record ... Junior pitcher Jack Schaller leads Ohio Northern and is tied for third in the league with five wins ... Meanwhile, classmate Nate Bye stands second on the team with four victories ... He tops the pitching staff with 37 strikeouts, two complete games, and nine starts in a team-high 56.2 innings.
Ohio Northern Batting Leaders:
| Batting Ave. | Hits | Runs | RBIs | |||||||||||
| 1. | Rocco | .425 | 1. | Rocco | 57 | 1. | Klinehoffer | 29 | 1. | Rocco | 27 | |||
| 2. | Burkett | .338 | 2. | Klinehoffer | 55 | 2. | Rocco | 25 | 2. | Thomas | 24 | |||
| 3. | Klinehoffer | .333 | 3. | Burkett | 44 | 3. | P. Buckingham | 24 | Klinehoffer | 24 |
Ohio Northern Pitching Leaders:
| Wins | ERA (Min. 30 Inn.) | Strikeouts | Saves | |||||||||||
| 1. | Schaller | 5 | 1. | Buda | 1.50 | 1. | Bye | 37 | 1. | Fisher | 2 | |||
| 2. | Bye | 4 | 2. | Schaller | 2.49 | 2. | Lester | 30 | Mohr | 2 | ||||
| 3. | Wagner | 3 | 3. | Bye | 3.20 | 3. | Mohr | 27 | 3. | 5 Tied W/ | 1 |
All-Time Series Notes: Ohio Northern currently owns a 22-29 all-time record in the OAC Tournament ... The Polar Bears are 70-52 all-time against Heidelberg ... Meanwhile, ONU trails Otterbein 48-59 and Baldwin Wallace 47-51 all-time.
ONU Head Coach Gene Stechschulte: Stechschulte is in his eighth season leading the Ohio Northern baseball program with a 181-131 record, a .580 win percentage.
