COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican baseball team will break from Great Midwest Athletic Conference play with a scheduled four-game series at home against Grand Valley State.

SERIES INFO

• Due to the inclement weather predicted for this weekend, ODU and GVSU have updated the schedule for their series to Thursday, March 24 through Saturday, March 26.
• The Panthers (7-12) and Lakers will play a single nine-inning game at 4 p.m. on Thursday, a pair of seven-inning games starting at noon on Friday, and are still scheduled to have a single nine-inning game on Saturday.
• Ohio Dominican and GVSU are former Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivals, and will meet for the first time since the shortened 2020 COVID season.
• GVSU holds a 20-15-1 edge in the all-time series, including a 19-11-1 advantage since the Panthers' first year in Division II (2011).
• When the two sides start their series on Thursday, it will be the first time in 2,559 days that GVSU and ODU will have played a game in Panther Valley (March 22, 2015).

OFFENSIVE NOTES

• ODU is coming off a thrilling 9-8 win at then nationally-ranked No. 3 Trevecca Nazarene last Sunday.
• The nine runs were the most in a single contest over the four-game weekend for ODU.
• The Panthers hit six home runs in the series, including five in the series finale win.
• Michael Knapp (Elyria, Ohio) continued the stellar start to his first campaign with the Black & Gold, batting .500 at Trevecca with an on-base percentage of .667. The sophomore is slashing .387/.480/.532 this spring, with his average and OBP both ranking in the top five of the G-MAC.
• David Silva (Tonotgany, Ohio) was the power leader for ODU versus the Trojans last series, hitting three bombs, including two in the finale. The three homers now doubles his career total to six at ODU, as he now has at least one hit in eight of the past nine outings.
• Silva and Brennen Hunt (Ashland, Ohio) are among the conference leaders in stolen bases as well with seven and 13, respectively. ODU has 36 steals as a team through 19 games, which is third-best in the G-MAC.
• Alex Brill (Amherst, Ohio) added five hits over four appearances last weekend, raising his season average to .293. Brill, Knapp and Devon Nail (Elyria, Ohio) all have double-digit RBI so far this spring.

PITCHING NOTES

• Brill earned the win in relief versus TNU, and became the first Panther with multiple pitching wins this season. He has tossed 6.2 innings over three appearances, allowing two earned runs with six strikeouts.
• Scott Rouse (Hinckley, Ohio) has a team-high six pitching appearances in 2022, leading the Panthers with 31.2 innings and 32 punchouts. Among ODU pitchers with at least four starts, Rouse has a team-best 4.55 ERA.
• The bullpen trio of Derek Bolander (Oregon, Ohio), Myles Martinez (Columbus, Ohio) and Tyler Sullivan (Cincinnati, Ohio) have combined for a 2-0 record with two saves, and 32 strikeouts over 29.2 innings.

ABOUT GVSU

• Grand Valley is receiving votes in both the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper national polls and are 13-6 overall this season.
• The Lakers are coming off a 3-1 trip to McKendree last weekend.
• GVSU also opened the season 3-1 against another G-MAC institution, Findlay.
• The Lakers went 24-15 last spring en route to an appearance in the GLIAC Tournament Championship Game.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu