2015 NCAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONS: OBERLIN COLLEGE

 

Oberlin (18-26) capped off a remarkable seven-day stretch by capturing its first North Coast Athletic Conference baseball championship in school history after topping Wooster (36-9) by an 11-5 margin in game seven of the 2015 NCAC Baseball Tournament, May 8, at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. As league champions, the Yeomen have earned the program's first ever bid into the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament in school history. In addition, the title is Oberlin's first male conference championship since the league's first playing season in 1984-85.

The Yeomen opened their tournament run on Thursday afternoon with a 7-6 victory over Allegheny and then advanced to the championship round with an 11-6 triumph over Wooster in game three on Thursday. Wooster (36-9) knocked off Ohio Wesleyan, 12-3, in game one of the tournament on Thursday morning and advanced to the championship round with a thrilling 5-4 victory in 10 innings against Ohio Wesleyan on Friday morning. The Fighting Scots kept the momentum rolling into the championship round as they cruised to a 23-6 victory in game six to force the "if-necessary" game seven; however, Oberlin used a strong pitching performance from freshman Milo Sklar (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) and timely hitting in game seven to post the six-run victory and clinch the program's first conference championship.

Sklar was named the tournament MVP after he earned the win in the tournament-clinching victory over Wooster on Friday and was credited with the save in the one-run triumph over Allegheny on Thursday. Sklar entered the championship game in relief on Friday night, striking out three and limiting the Scots to just two earned runs on three hits in 3.2 innings of work between the fourth and seventh innings. In 7.2 total innings of work over the two-day tournament, Sklar struck out five batters and allowed five earned runs on eight hits.

2015 NCAC Baseball  All-Tournament Team

Zach Gray, Allegheny
Michael Blatchford, Ohio Wesleyan
Tyler Flaherty, Ohio Wesleyan
Michael Houdek, Wooster
Ryan Ostendorf, Wooster
John McLain, Wooster
Jamie Lackner, Wooster
Jeff Schweighoffer, Oberlin
Ryan Bliss, Oberlin
Ben Whitener, Oberlin
Sean Kiley, Oberlin

Tournament MVP - Milo Sklar, Oberlin

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Following NCAC cross-divisional series last weekend, the field is set for the 2015 NCAC Baseball Tournament, which will be played at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio, this weekend, May 7-8. Please note, due to graduation conflicts on Saturday and Sunday, the tournament schedule has been adjusted to utilize the entire day on Thursday and Friday.

In cross-divisional action last weekend, Allegheny (14-5, 23-14), Oberlin (6-13, 15-25), Ohio Wesleyan (14-5, 27-11) and Wooster (17-2, 33-7) all advanced to this weekend’s four-team, double elimination tournament. Allegheny and Oberlin each took two-of-three games from Denison (11-8, 19-18) and DePauw (12-7, 15-24), respectively, while Ohio Wesleyan (14-5, 27-11) and Wooster (17-2, 33-7) swept Kenyon (7-12, 21-19) and Wabash (4-15, 12-26), respectively. In the final series of the weekend to determine ninth and 10th place in the final NCAC standings, Hiram (5-14, 10-27) won two-of-three against Wittenberg (5-14, 10-24).

Wooster, which leads the league with 15 NCAC baseball titles, will open play in the tournament on Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. against Ohio Wesleyan. OWU, which last won the NCAC title in 2008, is making its first appearance in the NCAC Baseball Tournament since 2012. In the other opening-round game on Thursday, Allegheny will take on Oberlin at 1:00 p.m. Allegheny is making its third-straight appearance in the tournament field and in search of its first league title since 1999, while Oberlin is making just its second appearance in the tournament all-time, but it is the Yeomen’s second showing in the last three seasons.

The double elimination tournament continues on Thursday afternoon with the winners of Thursday’s first two contests squaring off at 4:00 p.m. with a slot in the championship round on the line, while the losers of Thursday’s first two games will meet on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. in an elimination game. Please note, no game will be started after 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night.

The final slot in the championship round will be determined on Friday morning at 10:00 am with the winner of game four taking on the loser of game three. The first championship game will be played on Friday at 2:00 p.m. with game seven scheduled for 5:00 p.m., if necessary.

Please note, should only three games be played on Thursday and game seven would put a team in position to play four games on Friday, the tournament committee will meet to set an alternate date and time for the contest based on which teams are remaining.

Wooster leads the league with 15 NCAC titles, while Ohio Wesleyan has captured 10 conference crowns, Allegheny four and DePauw and Wabash with one apiece. The only shared title came in 1985 when the Fighting Scots and Gators shared the crown in the NCAC’s inaugural season.