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INDIANAPOLIS - On Monday, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference will host its first-ever Baseball Championship. The double-elimination tournament will be held in Nashville, Tennessee at the top seeded Trevecca Nazarene University’s Jackson Field.
Baseball Championship Schedule
Monday, May 6, 2013
G1: #3 Urbana vs. #2 Cedarville - Noon
G2: Winner G1 vs. #1 Trevecca - 3:30 PM
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
G3: Loser G1 vs. Loser G2 (Elimination) - Noon
G4: Winner G2 vs. Winner G3 (Finals) - 3:30 PM
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
G5: Winner G4 vs. Loser G4 (if necessary) - Noon
Baseball Championship Preview
By taking three of four from Cedarville this past weekend, Trevecca Nazarene took control of the conference, winning the regular-season title and earning the top seed and hosting rights for the tournament. The Trojans own a 9-5 conference record and are 28-18 overall. Their schedule was back loaded with conference games and helped them catch Cedarville in the standings, including the final weekend before finals.
Offensively, TNU leads the league in runs (319) RBIs (282), and hits (480). The Trojans have won nine out of their last 12 games. Cedarville is the #2 seed and are struggling coming into the tournament by losing five out of their last 8, including three of four to TNU. However, Cedarville has a potent offense with the highest average in the conference at .335 and the lowest ERA at 4.65.
Urbana University is the tournament’s #3 seed, but feature a balanced offense. The Blue Knights posted a .302 average as a team, and lead the league with 24 home runs. Pitching has been where they have struggled as they have a league-high 5.92 ERA.
Players to Watch
Hitting: Trevecca was led by Tyler Tichenor’s .375 batting average. He led the conference with 63 hits and was second with 23 stolen bases. His speed led to many of his hits, of his 63 hits - only six were for extra bases, meaning he legged out a lot of ground ball infield singles. He scored 41 times, which was third in the G-MAC behind Drew Ryan of Urbana and TNU teammate Hunter Newman.
TNU’s Newman led the league with 50 runs scored and 45 runs batted in. He hit .341 with a .414 on-base percentage and a league high seven sacrifice flies. He has 58 hits, including 13 doubles and a league best six home runs.
Cedarville outfielder Logan Kasabian leads the G-MAC in hitting with a.440 batting average and in runs batted in with 38. He accumulated 62 hits and a .509 on base percentage. He also has made an appearance as G-MAC athlete of the week more than once.
Kasbian’s teammate, catcher David Lenhardt of Cedarville also has contributed to the Yellow Jackets cause. He is second on the team in RBIs with 36 and has four home runs, with 25 runs scored and slugging .645.
Urbana infielder Drew Ryan is a dual threat at the plate and on the base paths. Ryan hit .404 in the regular season with a G-MAC best on base percentage of .512. He caused havoc on base as he stole a league high 24 in the regular season. Ryan was also a solid run producer by driving in 33 on the season with three home runs and 44 runs scored.
Also from Urbana, infielder Robert Tavone Jr. made his mark this season. He matched Drew Ryan with three home runs and 30 RBIs for the team lead. Tavone Jr. compiled 52 hits and a team leading 17 doubles. He also hit .400 exactly, which ranked tied for third in the G-MAC.
Pitching: Starter David Ledbetter of Cedarville is the conference leader with 85 strikeouts this season, which is an average of 8.5 per start (7.7 per appearance). Ledbetter also had a 3.95 ERA with a 5-5 record. He also had the best strikeout to walk ratio in conference with 85 K’s to just 21 walks.
Ledbetter’s twin brother, Ryan Ledbetter led the conference with a 3.08 earned run average and six wins. He struck out 52 to go with 25 walks. He allowed a league low 17 earned runs over 49.2 innings.
Starter Justin Robinson of Urbana was a workhorse for the Blue Knights this season as he went the distance twice, posting the league’s second-best ERA (3.88). In 53.1 innings, he struck out 52 while walking only 22. Opposing hitters managed only a .244 average against Robinson, lowest in the conference.
Trevecca Nazarene’s Connor Haddock was a perfect 5-0 on the season with 4.34 ERA. He recorded a save and pitched one complete game. He struck out 39 hitters and walked just 12.
Baseball Championship Match-ups
To open up conference tournament play, #3 Urbana will face #2 Cedarville. These two played six times in the regular season with Cedarville won five out of the six matchups. Cedarville lost in the first meeting between the teams, but since has had no issues handling Urbana.
The winner will face Trevecca in the second game of day one for the right to advance out of the winners bracket into the Championship game.
If Cedarville can top Urbana, the Yellow Jackets and Trojans will battle. TNU won the season series 5-1 from Cedarville. In the other possible match-up, Urbana managed to split the eight games with Trevecca. At home, Urbana took three of four games, while in Nashville, TNU managed to win three of four.