COLUMBUS, Ohio – Great Midwest play continues this weekend for Ohio Dominican baseball with a four-game set against Malone.

THE BASICS

• Ohio Dominican and Malone will compete in a four-game series on Friday and Saturday, April 9 and 10.
• Both dates have a scheduled 1 p.m. start.
• The series will follow the traditional G-MAC schedule of 9-7-7-9 inning games.
• All four games are scheduled to be played at Canal Park in Akron, Ohio, the home of the Akron RubberDucks, the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.
• More information on tickets is available here.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Panthers are coming off their first home series of the spring, taking three of four games against Cedarville last weekend.
• As a result, ODU improved to 13-5 overall and 5-5 in the Great Midwest.
• Five Panthers posted a series batting average over .350 against the Yellow Jackets, as ODU hit .339 as a team.
• Sophomore Brennen Hunt (Ashland, Ohio) led the way, batting .615 (8-13) with five runs scored.
• Sophomore Alex Brill (Amherst, Ohio) hit two home runs and graduate senior Jace Komminsk (Westerville, Ohio) added a long ball, with all three bombs coming in the 17-14 series finale win.
• On the mound, freshman Scott Rouse (Hinckley, Ohio) opened the series with a one-hit shutout win, while sophomore Grayson Hamilton (Lebanon, Ohio) and graduate senior Clay Davies (Massillon, Ohio) picked up victories as well.

ROUSE NAMED G-MAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK

• Scott Rouse tossed his second complete game of the season and his first nine-inning complete game in a 6-0 win over Cedarville last weekend.
• Only two baserunners reached on Rouse, a single in the third and a walk in the top of the ninth.
• Rouse struck out a season-high eight batters in the performance and had a stretch of 18 consecutive retired batters.
• On the season, Rouse leads ODU with 33.1 innings pitched.
• The freshman ranks in the top five in the conference with a 2.70 ERA and has a team-high 32 strikeouts.
• Rouse will enter the Malone series with a 3-1 record.

EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE

• ODU is among the top teams in several offensive statistical categories in the G-MAC this season.
• The Panthers are batting .296 as a team and the squad's .434 OBP leads the conference and is in the top 20 in Division II.
• ODU's 8.1 runs per game are only second to Kentucky Wesleyan in the G-MAC, while the Black & Gold also rank in the top five in the conference in doubles, triples and home runs.
• The Panthers success on offense can also be attributed to its base running efforts, where they have a G-MAC high 66 stolen bases.
• ODU has the second most steals in NCAA Division II and ranks third in the country in stolen bases per game, 3.67.
• Four Panthers have double-digit steals, led by junior Thomas Staab (Bellville, Ohio), who is 20-for-23 in swipes, tying him for the national lead in Division II.

LEADING AT THE PLATE

• Sophomore David Silva (Tontogany, Ohio) has been the most consistent bat for ODU this spring, leading the team with a .400 average.
• Silva has eight multi-hit games this season and will enter the weekend riding a five-game hitting streak.
• The infielder has driven in 19 runs and scored 16 times, while adding seven extra-base hits (6 2B, 1 HR).
• Silva ranks second in the conference with a .544 OBP.
• Jace Komminsk and Thomas Staab are batting .340 and .339 respectively.
• Komminsk has shown power with seven doubles and three homers, driving in a team-high 22 runs.
• To go along with his stolen base total, Staab is one of three Panther players with 20-plus runs scored. The leadoff hitter has a pair of triples this spring as well.

HAMILTON CONTINUES STRONG START

• Grayson Hamilton joins Rouse with a team-best 3-1 record this spring.
• Fresh off a solid shortened freshman campaign in 2020, Hamilton is leading ODU and the G-MAC with a 1.57 ERA.
• Hamilton tossed five innings last weekend against Cedarville, conceding two hits and no runs while striking out four.

ABOUT MALONE

• Malone is off to a 9-14 start in 2021, including a 4-12 conference record.
• The Pioneers will be playing at their third home venue of the spring this weekend and are 1-7 when hosting.
• Malone is coming off a four-game series at Tiffin last weekend, going 1-3.
• Longtime NAIA rivals and now G-MAC competitors, ODU and Malone have met 120 times, with the Pioneers leading the all-time series 68-52.
• Since joining NCAA Division II in 2010-11, ODU is 9-13 against Malone.
• The last meeting came in the 2019 G-MAC Tournament, a 9-5 win for the Panthers.
• Dating back to the 2018 season, ODU has won three of the past four games played against Malone.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu