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Ohio Northern University

Baseball reaches OAC Tournament finals with come from behind victories over Mount Union, John Carroll

Baseball reaches OAC Tournament finals with come from behind victories over Mount Union, John Carroll
Box Score Box Score
May 9, 2025

ALLIANCE — Ohio Northern kept its Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship hopes alive with an 8-6 win over Mount Union and a 3-2 walk off win over John Carroll on Friday afternoon.

The Basics

  • Records: Ohio Northern (29-11 Overall), Mount Union (27-11 Overall), John Carroll (23-17 Overall).
  • Venue: Rafeld-Rogers Baseball Field - Alliance, Ohio.

Game One, W 8-6

  • Trailing 5-0, Ohio Northern scored seven runs in the top of the eighth inning to grab a 7-5 lead.
  • Mount Union took the lead early in the 2nd to make it 2-0
  • The Purple Raiders added 3 more runs in the 5th and 6th inning which made it 5-0. 
  • Northern's bats remained quiet for a majority of the game until the 7th inning when sophomore Kyle Callahan (Brunswick) hit an RBI single to get ONU on the board at 5-1
  • The dormant Polar Bear offense roared to life in the 8th kicked off with RBI singles from senior Andrew Stechschulte (Finlday), senior Sam Sells (Lewis Center/Olentagy), and junior Robbie Reed (Goshen, Ky./).
  • Senior Elliott Veenstra (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) hit a pinch hit 2-RBI double to give Ohio Northern the lead
  • Callahan recorded his 2nd RBI of the game on a fielder's choice to add another run and Kyler Lapp (Hall, Ill.) continued a stellar tournament performance with an RBI single to wrap up the scoring for the inning at 8-5. 
  • In the bottom of the 9th MU loaded the bases and managed to get one run back to make it 8-6. 
  • Senior Blake Altaffer (Montelpier) got the win for the Polar Bears as he slammed the door shut on the tournament hosts in the bottom of the 9th, with the tying run on second and bases loaded.

Game Two, W 3-2

  • In a defensive battle, there were a total of 4 hits each for the two teams on the day.
  • The game remained tied until the 8th inning when Lapp launched a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Veenstra to give ONU the lead at 1-0.
  • Senior Sam Thombs (Commerce Township, Mich. Lutheran) pitched a gem for Ohio Northern, going the distance allowing a four hits and 2 runs. 
  • John Carroll took the lead in the top of the 9th on a two out 2-run RBI single.
  • Sells was able to reach third base as the tying run with 2-outs in the bottom of the 9th and Reed stole second to put himself into scoring position as the winning run.
  • Pinch hitter Callahan launched a single into left, scoring both runners, winning the game and sending Ohio Northern to the championship game. 

Notables

  • This is ONU's first appearance in the conference title game sine 2000.
  • Ohio Northern now leads the all-time series with Mount Union by 71-45-1 margin.
  • Northern trails the series with JCU by a 34-39-1 margin.
  • Through 40 games this season, Veenstra leads the Polar Bears with a .364 batting average, going 40-for-110 with 28 RBI.
  • Armstrong has seven home runs and a team-best 38 RBI this season.
  • Ohio Northern is in its 120th season of baseball. The Polar Bears are 1495-1164-20 all-time, a winning percentage of .558.
  • 14th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte is now 307-217 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .585.

Up Next

  • The Polar Bears will now face off with Baldwin Wallace in the championship game in a rematch of their round one face off, the first game is scheduled for Noon on Saturday.