MASON, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican Panthers baseball team entered Championship Saturday on a three-game winning streak, looking for their first conference title since 2008. The Panthers battled the #1 seed, the Northwood Timberwolves in two contests at Legacy Field on Saturday (May 14). 

Ohio Dominican fell in both games, 9-3 to Northwood as the Timberwolves captured the 2023 Great Midwest Baseball Championship. 

GAME ONE (L, 9-3)

Ohio Dominican started the scoring in the first inning. Lane Marshall (Wooster, Ohio) singled with one out before Jack Mathey (Copley, Ohio) dropped a double inside the right field line. Devan Nail (Elyria, Ohio) grounded out to short, plating Marshall as ODU led 1-0. 

Northwood scored a single run in the second and third innings before a four-run fourth inning pushed the lead to 6-1. With two outs in the fourth, the game was delayed for nearly two hours for some passing rain showers. 

Spencer Tammaro (New Albany, Ohio) lined a leadoff double in the fifth inning and Marshall doubled later in the inning to score Tammaro with ODU trailing 6-2. 

Two innings later, the Panthers had a chance to really make it a game. Michael McFadden (Brunswick, Ohio) singled with Brennen Hunt (Ashland, Ohio) following with a walk. Northwood went to the bullpen and after a fielder's choice, Marshall singled home a run. After a hit by pitch, ODU loaded the bases but could not get closer than 6-3.

The Timberwolves added three runs in the eighth inning for a 9-3 win, forcing the winner-take-all game two. 

Marshall had three hits with two runs batted in while Daniels tallied two hits. 

Five different pitchers toed the rubber in the first game. Chase Hunt (Ashland, Ohio) tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with two walks. 

GAME TWO (L, 9-3)

Four runs in the second and three runs in the fourth put Northwood ahead 7-0. 

Mason Kurtz (Ostrander, Ohio) got the first hit of the game in the sixth inning, a double down the right field line. A groundout and an error got ODU on the board, trailing 7-1. 

After two more Northwood runs in the sixth, ODU got runs across in the eighth and ninth innings. B. Hunt doubled in the eighth and scored on a RBI single by Daniels. A single by Alex Brill (Amherst, Ohio) and an error with Nail at the plate put runners in scoring position with no outs. Jesse Kramer (Strongsville, Ohio) plated Brill with a sacrifice fly to center field. Northwood won 9-3. 

Hunt and Kurtz each had a double as two of the five batters with a hit. 

Brill finished the game with 4.2 innings pitched in relief, striking out five. 

Lane Marshall, Jordan Daniels and Marshall Flynn were named to the All-Tournament Team. 

ODU finished the season with a 27-27 record overall.