MASON, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican Panthers baseball team continued to run through the 2023 Great Midwest Baseball Championship field on Friday (May 12) afternoon. After defeating the #2 and #7 seeds, the Panthers stood in front of the #1 seeded Northwood Timberwolves. 

With the help of two big blasts and key pitching, Ohio Dominican defeated the Timberwolves 5-1 and advanced to the title game on Saturday (May 13). This will be the first conference championship title game appearance in the Division II era. 



The game remained scoreless through the first three and a half innings before Northwood took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. The home run leader for the Timberwolves, Blake Salamon, went deep to right field for a solo homerun. 

Ohio Dominican wasted little time as they bounced back in the top of the fifth inning. Jordan Daniels (Blacklick, Ohio) walked with two outs as Lane Marshall (Wooster, Ohio) drilled a two-run home run to right field, giving ODU a 2-1 lead. 

The eighth inning provided the much needed insurance for the Panthers. Daniels led off with a single up the middle. A sacrifice bunt allowed Daniels to get to second base. Jack Mathey (Copley, Ohio) coaxed an intentional walk to put runners on the corners. After a fielder's choice, Alex Brill (Amherst, Ohio) blasted the first pitch deep to left field. Ohio Dominican cleared the bases for a 5-1 lead. 

Marshall Flynn (Heath, Ohio) pushed through eight innings of work, pitching into the ninth. The senior hurler scattered one run (the home run) on seven hits with six strikeouts. Myles Martinez (Columbus, Ohio) closed the door with a scoreless ninth inning. 

The Panthers will play for the 2023 Great Midwest title on Saturday (May 13) at 12:00 PM Eastern against the winner of the Northwood/Findlay elimination game on Friday night.