CHAMPIONS!!! Baseball Takes G-MAC Championship With Pair Of Wins Over Ohio Dominican

OVERVIEW –  OHIO DOMINICAN (G-MAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP)

SCORES: No. 1 Northwood Timberwolves 9, No. 7 Ohio Dominican Panthers 3/Northwood 9, Ohio Dominican 3

RECORDS: Northwood (41-17)/Ohio Dominican (26-27)

LOCATION: Legacy Field – Mason, Ohio

RECAP: Coming out of the loser's bracket, baseball takes the G-MAC Championship with a pair of wins in the championship round against Ohio Dominican Saturday (May 13), taking both games by the score of 9-3.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS (NINE INNINGS)

• The Panthers got on the board in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead.
• Northwood tied the game in the second on a double play ball that scored Blake Salamon.
• NU took their first lead of the game in the third on an RBI groundout by Matt Magno that brought home Joey Johnston.
• The Timberwolves broke the game open in the top of the fourth, starting with an Alex Cole RBI single that made the score 3-1.
• A 1:49 minute rain delay occurred in the top of the fourth. The final play before the delay in play was a Jacob Rybicki three-run homer that made the score 6-1.
• ODU put up single runs in the fifth and the seventh to get within three at 6-3.
• Northwood put three insurance runs up in the eighth inning, starting with Cole coming home on a wild pitch.
• Rybicki followed with an RBI double and then came home on a Myles Beale RBI single to round out the scoring.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 9/9/0, Ohio Dominican 3/8/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Ohio Dominican 9
• Winning Pitcher: Aaron Miller – (1-0): 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, BB, K
• Losing Pitcher: Derek Bolander – (3-4): 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K
• Save: Jake Jekielek – (2): 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 4 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Rybicki: 2-5, 2 R, HR, 2B, 4 RBIs
• Beale: 1-3, RBI, SB
• Johnston: 3 BB, 2 R, 2 SB
• Matt DeFay: 3 IP, 3 H, R, BB

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Rybicki's home run gave Northwood 61 for the season, which is a new program record for home runs in a season. The 2021 team held the old record of 60 home runs.
• Northwood has now reached the 40-win milestone for the second time in school history. The 2017 team finished the year with a school-record 46 victories.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS (NINE INNINGS)

• Northwood took control of the game in the second inning, starting with an RBI fielder's choice by David Jeffers that scored Rhett Evans.
• A passed ball brought home pinch-runner Maalik Houston to make the score 2-0.
• With two outs in the inning, Beale brought home a pair on a double that came on an 0-2 count to send the game to the third with the score 4-0.
• The Timberwolves expanded their advantage in the fourth, starting with a run on an error.
• Matt Magno then doubled to bring home Jacob Rybicki, which was followed by a run-scoring double by Evans. That pushed the NU lead to 7-0.
• ODU got on the board with an unearned run in the sixth.
• Salamon responded right away in the bottom of the sixth, connecting on his school-record 20th home run of the season. His two-run shot made the score 9-1.
• The Panthers scored single runs in the eighth and the ninth before Northwood closed out the game to claim the championship.
• The story of the game proved to be NU starter Grant LaMarche. He entered the day having thrown just 10 1/3 innings on the season, but he tossed six one-hit innings in the championship game. He allowed one unearned run on just 53 pitches.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 9/12/2, Ohio Dominican 3/5/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 9, Ohio Dominican 4
• Winning Pitcher: Grant LaMarche (2-2) – 6 IP, H, R (0 ER), BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher: Carson Mellott (2-2) – 1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 6 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 0 K
• Save: Jake Carroll (5) – 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 4 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Evans: 5-5, 2B, R, RBI
• Johnston: 3 BB, 2 R, 2 SB
• Beale: 2 RBIs, 2 SB

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• This is the third time in school history the Timberwolves have taken home a conference championship, joining the 2017 & 2018 teams.
• The Timberwolves' pitching carried them to the title, finishing the six-game event with a 2.67 ERA. NU's starters in particular were key, pitching at least six innings in five of the six games. The lone time a starter did not pitch at least six innings was in game five when the rain delay ended the day for DeFay.
• Northwood entered the day having gone 1-4 against Ohio Dominican on the season before winning the two games today. The Timberwolves were 30-5 entering today against all other G-MAC opponents.
• At the conclusion of the event, Northwood placed five players on the All-Tournament team, led by Most Valuable Player Evans. Jekielek, Derek Clark, Kendall Anthes and Carson Longstreth were also honored.

UP NEXT

• Northwood has now secured an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament, which will start next week. The field will be announced Sunday night (May 14) at 11 p.m.