COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican baseball team is set to begin its 2020 season with three games at Lindenwood this weekend.
SETTING THE SCENE: Opening Day for the Panthers is Saturday, Feb. 15, with games scheduled for 1 and 4 p.m. (CT). A single game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 16, with a 1 p.m. (CT) first pitch. All three games will be played in St. Charles, Mo. at the Lou Brock Sports Complex.
ODU FAVORED TO WIN G-MAC EAST: The Great Midwest Athletic Conference coaches recently selected the Panthers as the preseason favorite in the league's East Division for this spring. ODU received four first place votes and top the division with 54 total points. Malone and Walsh also received four first place tallies en route to 50 and 47 points, respectively. Kentucky Wesleyan was selected as the favorite in the West Division. More information on the G-MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, presented by Under Armour, can be found here.
SUCCESS UNDER ANTONIDES: The Black & Gold are entering the fourth year of the Christopher Antonides era, and have won at least 25 games in each of his first three stints as head coach. ODU is coming off a 32-23 season last year, which included a 22-10 mark in G-MAC play. Under Antonides, the Panthers have not lost a game during a season-opening series. ODU registered a three-game sweep over West Liberty in 2017 before earning doubleheader sweeps over Pikeville and Urbana the past two seasons.
ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNERS: The Panthers have a pair of all-GMAC players back for the 2020 season in junior Tim Zeller (Mount Vernon, Ohio) and sophomore Manny Vorhees (Wapakoneta, Ohio). Zeller was a second team all-conference performer last year as a utility pitcher. In 2019, Zeller made 16 pitching appearances with a 4-1 record, eight saves and a 3.81 ERA. He also made 45 starts in the field, as he hit .329 with eight home runs, 41 RBI and 40 runs scored. His performance also landed him on the D2CCA All-Midwest Region Team.
Vorhees was an honorable mention all-GMAC choice, as he started all 55 games in his first collegiate season. He tallied 60 hits with 45 runs and 37 RBI. He also had 17 extra-base hits, including four long balls. Vorhees was also 3-1 on the mound, pitching 22.0 innings in relief, where he struck out 23 batters.
BEVY OF RETURNERS: ODU will have the luxury of also bringing back a pair of .300-hitting sophomores in Michael Lang (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Thomas Staab (Bellville, Ohio). Lang appeared in 42 games as a freshman, and is the team's top returning hitter with a .341 average. Lang also tallied 29 RBI and 28 runs scored last spring. Staab batted .315 in his first season, adding 45 runs and 26 RBI to go along with 19 stolen bases.
Also back this spring are seniors Joey Machuga (Canfield, Ohio) and Brad Hull (Gahanna, Ohio). Machuga has a career batting average of .312 and he is coming off a 2019 campaign that saw him hit .275. Machuga has over 40 RBI in each of the past two seasons and he hit four of his six career homers a year ago. Hull missed most of last season due to injury, but has appeared in 111 games in his ODU career. His last full season, in 2018, he hit .284 with 45 runs, 37 RBI and 11 doubles.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: Lindenwood's season is already underway, as the Lions won two of three games at Florida Tech back on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. This weekend will be the team's home opener after last weekend's scheduled series with Wayne State was cancelled. Mitchell Krebs leads LU with a .455 batting average this season. Bryce Beckman is also batting .364, as he and Krebs have combined for nine of the team's 22 hits this season.
On the mound, Kyle Hentis pitched six scoreless innings in his season debut, where he struck out 10 to pick up a win. Blake Beckmann is 1-1, logging 3.1 innings in relief.
The Lions were picked to finish eighth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference this season.
UP NEXT: ODU's next scheduled appearance will be a three-games series with Grand Valley State on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 22 and 23. The series will be playing in Harrogate, Tenn. at Lincoln Memorial University.
Contact: Tyler Jester
jestert@ohiodominican.edu
