COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican Panthers baseball team will play six games in the state of Florida this week as a part of the 2024 RussMatt Invitational. Four of the games will occur in Davenport, Florida at the Northeast Regional Park complex while one doubleheader takes place at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale.

SCHEDULE

• Saturday (March 2) - vs. Minnesota State Mankato at 10:00 AM in Davenport
• Sunday (March 3) - vs. Notre Dame (Ohio) at 10:00 AM/12:30 PM in Davenport
• Tuesday (March 5) - vs. Minnesota Duluth at 3:45/6:15 PM in Auburndale
• Wednesday (March 6) - vs. Seton Hill at 9:00 AM in Davenport

THE FIRST PITCH

• Ohio Dominican enters play this week at 4-2 after they dropped both ends of their last doubleheader at Seton Hill on Sunday (Feb. 25). In game one, the Griffins won 5-2 after the Panthers attempted a late rally. Game two saw the longest game in the Division II era for Ohio Dominican - a 15 inning affair that Seton Hill won 5-4. 
• Mason Kurtz (Ostrander, Ohio) had three hits in his one game against Seton Hill. In three games this season, Kurtz is batting .556 (5-9) with two doubles.
• CJ Dean (Columbus, Ohio) drove in two runs in the nightcap and is tied for the team lead with six RBI. He tallied three hits in the Sunday doubleheader with a double against Seton Hill. The transfer outfielder has two homers this season so far. 
• Peter Jelenic (Medina, Ohio) plated three runs in the Seton Hill twinbill and is hitting .333 (6-18) through six games. 
• Chase Hunt (Ashland, Ohio) threw seven strong innings in the 15-inning contest, allowing one run on three hits. 
• Lane Marshall (Wooster, Ohio) is leading the conference with a .500 batting average, going ten-of-20 with three doubles. 
• Brian Allen (Troy, Ohio) was named Great Midwest Pitcher of the Week after his seven inning complete game shutout on Virginia Wise two weeks ago. 
• Ohio Dominican is 2nd in the G-MAC with a .301 batting average, a .456 slugging % and 12 stolen bases on offense. The Panthers are leading the pack with a 3.70 ERA  and a .235 batting average against. 

ABOUT MINNESOTA STATE MANKATO

• After a Friday win over Ashland, the Mavericks are 5-5 this season and 2-1 in the Sunshine State. 
• Ayden Burne is the top hitter with a .409 average and 18 hits. Ryan Wickman is tallying 15 hits with a .366 average and three home runs. The team batting average is .290 with 90 runs scored. 
• Spencer Wright has three starts with a 1.80 ERA spanning 15 innings. 
• Ohio Dominican is 1-3 in Division II era games against Minnesota State - all Spring Break contests in Florida.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (OHIO)

• The Falcons are 0-4 with losses to Mercyhurst, UIndy and Lake Erie. 
• Notre Dame's first games in Florida will be against the Panthers. 
• Caden Gomes is hitting .333 (4-12) in four games with two runs scored. Cadence Varner has two home runs so far, a 1.143 slugging %. The team is batting .220 combined.
• Notre Dame's starters have gotten hit hard with 26 runs allowed among the trio. As a unit, Notre Dame's pitching staff has a 13.03 ERA with 49 runs allowed in 29 innings. 
• Ohio Dominican is 9-0 against Notre Dame in the Division II era. 

ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH

• When the teams play, the Bulldogs will be 2-2 as ODU is first on the Florida schedule for Minnesota Duluth. They split a four game series with Southwest Minnesota State to open the season. 
• Trevor Gustafson is batting .500 (7-14) with five runs scored and three home runs. Oran Hinkle is also at .500 (5-10) but Jack Puder has four blasts and nine RBI. 
• Minnesota Duluth is slashing .285 overall and a .528 slugging and .353 on base %. They scored 25 runs in their first series. 
• Brayden Buttweiler allowed two runs in his first start of five innings. 
• In Spring Break games, Ohio Dominican carries a 2-2 record against Minnesota Duluth. 

ABOUT SETON HILL

• Ohio Dominican and Seton Hill will battle for another 9 innings after 22 frames last week. The Griffins played Walsh on Monday, splitting the doubleheader and sitting 4-3 overall entering the Florida event. 
• Jack Oberdorf and Owen Mandler are hitting .391 (9-23) and .333 (7-21), respectively with ten runs scored combined. Jakob Haynes has the most RBI with nine. 
• Aidan Layton has 11 shutout innings with 14 strikeouts in two starts. He struck out 12 in the first meeting with ODU. 
• The offense has totaled a .281 batting average and 34 runs scored this season in seven games. 
• Now, ODU is 2-3 in the D2 series history with three straight losses.