WESTERVILLE, Ohio – After barely missing out on a tiebreaker last spring, the Otterbein Baseball team is officially back in the postseason and begins the 2024 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament this coming Thursday afternoon up in Berea.

Top seed (and host) Baldwin Wallace will open the action against No. 4 seeded Ohio Northern to open the double-elimination bracket at noon. The Cardinals, seeded second, will then square up with third seed Marietta in the second game around 3 p.m.

FULL SCHEDULE AND TOURNAMENT WEBSITE

Baldwin Wallace, ranked No. 5 nationally, repeated as OAC regular-season champions and has made consecutive trips to the World Series. The Yellow Jackets (33-7, 15-3 OAC) have a combined 15 wins on the mound this year from pitchers Tyler Walker and Vince Dolcemaschio. Mally Kilbane boasts a .366 batting average and 15 doubles in the everyday lineup.

Otterbein, receiving votes in most every national poll this season, won OAC Tournament titles in 2017 and 2019 (at BW) before also playing in the 2022 event. The Cardinals (25-13, 11-5 OAC) featured one of the most potent offensives in the country this spring by averaging nine runs per game, and won 18 of 21 games during the middle portion of the schedule.

Jamie Perebzak (59) and Brayden Quincel (45) ranked 1-2 atop the league for most RBI, with Quincel smashing 11 home runs to lead the conference for a second year in a row. On the mound, Kyler Archual and Bryson Bell have each made double-digit starts and hold a combined 11-4 record in decisions, while relievers Braydon McCloskey and Sam Sethna have made 17 appearances each and boast another 7-1 mark together.

Marietta, last year's OAC runner-up (to John Carroll) after claiming back-to-back titles just prior, won eight of its last 11 games to secure yet another spot in this postseason. The Pioneers (21-17, 12-6 OAC) have 26 extra-base hits from Alex Richter this season and a handful of leading arms on the bump, including 13 starts and 60 innings from senior Trent Valentine.

Ohio Northern is back in the tournament for the second-straight year after going 24-15 overall and 11-7 in league play. The Polar Bears won 15 of their final 17 games and are lead by the two-headed monster of Noah Truax and Jack Hutchins on the mound, each holding a sub 3.00 E.R.A. Offensively, Chase Armstrong ranked third in the league for most RBI (44) and led everyone at 28 walks.

The winner of the OAC's postseason event warrants an automatic bid to compete in the upcoming NCAA Division III Championships, with Selection Show on Monday (5/13) afternoon. Others will be forced to hope/wait for a potential at-large bid.

Stay tuned to otterbeincardinals.com and our social media outlets for updated coverage throughout the event!

* OAC WEBSITE

* TICKET INFORMATION

* TOURNAMENT PROGRAM