May 22, 2008
B-W Baseball Team Raises More Than $1,000 to Strike Out Cancer on Senior Day
Despite losing its last two home games of the 2008 season, the Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team and its fans still had plenty to be proud of at the Senior Day doubleheader against Malone College at Heritage Field on May 1.
During the pregame festivities, the Yellow Jackets seniors — Shaun Slater, Kevin Shenker, Nick Radca, Nate Luken and Jerry Breedlove — were introduced to an appreciative Senior Day crowd and applauded for their hard work and dedication to the B-W baseball program.
The Senior Day doubleheader was also a “Strike Out Cancer” fundraising event organized by assistant coach Adam Howard and his wife, Jeanette. Throughout the afternoon, the Yellow Jackets sold commemorative T-shirts and freshly-grilled hot dogs to raise money for the KDH Hodgkin’s Disease Foundation. They also invited B-W alumnus and cancer survivor Phil Lapse to throw out the first pitch and sit with them in the dugout as their special guest.
By the end of the day, the Jackets and their fans had raised more than $1,000 to help fund research towards a cure for Hodgkin’s disease.
B-W assistant football coach Ian Shoemaker volunteered to take pictures of the Senior Day activities for the Online Almanac, and you can check out more of his snapshots in the 2008 B-W Baseball Senior Day Photo Set. Thanks, Coach Shoemaker!
May 19, 2008
Luken and Kidd Named to Academic All-District Baseball Team
Baldwin-Wallace College senior second baseman Nate Luken and junior center fielder Cody Kidd have been named to ESPN The Magazine’s 2008 Academic All–District IV baseball team.
The Academic All–District IV team is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America and honors outstanding ballplayers from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama who have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2.
Luken and Kidd were selected to the first team of the district’s College Division, which includes players from NCAA Division II and Division III schools and the NAIA.
Luken had his best season as a Yellow Jacket this year, batting .321 with 20 runs scored and 18 runs batted in and posting a .969 fielding average. He was a first team Academic All–Ohio Athletic Conference pick as a junior and won B-W’s Guy Fisher Award for Academic Excellence in 2006. His numerous academic accolades also include the dean’s list and membership in the Alpha Lambda, Chi Sigma Alpha, Dayton C. Miller and Pi Gamma Mu honor societies, as well as the J. Edgar Hoover Foundation Criminal Justice Award. He finished his academic career at B-W with a 3.86 GPA in criminal justice and will start law school at The Ohio State University this fall.
Kidd, who plans to attend medical school after his senior season, carries a 3.80 GPA in biology. He’s on the dean’s list and is a member of Alpha Lamda. He was a second team Academic All-District pick last year. This season, the All-OAC and Academic All-OAC center fielder hit .387 and led the Jackets with 60 hits, 34 runs, four triples and 13 stolen bases while making just two errors.
[ B-W Baseball Academic All–District IV Selections ]
May 7, 2008
Riley Kreisher Named OAC Hitter of the Week
Baldwin-Wallace College junior first baseman Riley Kreisher was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week on Monday after batting .500 last week and tying the Yellow Jackets’ record for doubles in a season.
Kreisher had 10 hits in 20 at bats in the Jackets’ final five games of the season. He belted five doubles and a home run for a .950 slugging percentage. He also scored four runs, knocked in five and posted a .545 on-base percentage.
His season-ending outburst of two-base hits gave him a team-leading 18 for the year and tied the school record set by Pat Shannon in 2003. He also led the team with 18 walks, 29 runs batted in, a pair of home runs and a .553 slugging percentage. He tied with junior center fielder Cody Kidd for the lead in triples with four.
[ B-W Baseball OAC Players of the Week ]
May 5, 2008
B-W Baseball Team Sweeps Wilmington to Finish .500
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team swept Wilmington College in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader yesterday and finished its season at .500 with a record of 19–19–1.
The Yellow Jackets went into Wilmington at 17–19–1 after losing back-to-back, non-conference match-ups with Hiram College and Malone College, but they bounced back thanks to junior pitcher Jim Jaskowak’s second shutout of the season and an unstoppable streak of hitting by senior left fielder Shaun Slater.
Jaskowak got the Yellow Jackets back on track by holding the Quakers scoreless on four hits in game one, picking up his fourth complete game of the season and improving his record to 5–2 with a team-leading 4.73 earned run average. Slater went 4-for-4 with a double in the opener, and then hit safely in his first three at bats of game two. He finished the day with eight hits in nine at bats and rocketed 35 points to a .409 batting average.
With the sweep, the Jackets ended up tied for 6th place in the OAC at 9–9, two wins short of the fourth and final spot in this year’s conference championship tournament.
For all the details on last week’s games, including box scores and updated statistics, check out the B-W Baseball Home Page.
[ B-W Baseball All-Time Results ]
April 28, 2008
Strike Out Cancer at Heritage Field on May 1
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team and its fans will do their best to strike out cancer this Thursday at the Senior Day doubleheader against Malone College at Heritage Field.
The first game starts at 2 p.m., and the Yellow Jackets will be selling “Strikeout Cancer” T-shirts for $10 each. Anyone who buys a T-shirt will get a free hot dog!
All of the money raised from the T-shirt and hot dog sales will be donated to the KDH Hodgkin’s Disease Foundation to help fund research towards a cure for Hodgkin’s Disease.
Come on out to the ballpark this Thursday and help the Jackets strike out cancer!
B-W Baseball Team Drops Out of Playoff Contention
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team was swept by Marietta College on Saturday and dropped out of contention for an Ohio Athletic Conference playoff spot.
The Yellow Jackets put themselves in position to win both games, but they couldn’t keep Marietta from scoring the insurance runs that made the difference in both losses. After falling behind 4–0 in the first game, they had pulled to within a run before the Pioneers scored again in the top of the last inning. The Jackets got the run back in the bottom half of the inning and had the bases loaded with one out, but they couldn’t push the deciding runs across the plate and lost 5–4.
In game two, the Jackets came back from an 8–3 deficit and again cut the Pioneers’ lead to a single run. The Pioneers then added a pair of runs in the ninth inning to go up 10–7. The Jackets scored what would’ve been the tying run in their final turn at bat, but they couldn’t overcome the two insurance runs and ended up losing 10–8.
The sweep leaves the Jackets at 7–9 in the OAC and three games out of the final playoff spot with only two conference games left. They’ll try to even up their record in the final OAC doubleheader of the season at Wilmington College this Saturday.
At 17–16–1 overall, B-W still has a shot at 20 wins thanks to strong pitching performances from sophomores Jim Palko and Cory Hanawalt leading up to the Marietta doubleheader. Palko pitched the final six innings of an 8–2 win at Case Western Reserve University, giving up one run on two hits and improving his record to 4–1. Hanawalt tossed the first complete game of his career and beat Oberlin College 8–2 to even his record at 2–2. He allowed only four hits, didn’t walk a single batter and faced the minimum number of Yeomen after the third inning.
For all the details on last week’s games, including box scores and updated statistics, check out the B-W Baseball Home Page.
[ B-W Baseball All-Time Results ]
April 23, 2008
600!
Baldwin-Wallace College baseball coach Bob Fisher won his 600th game on March 8, 2005, at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla., when the Yellow Jackets beat Dominican College 8–4 in the first game of a doubleheader sweep.
The Jackets scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to give Coach Fisher an exciting, extra-inning win for his milestone victory.
Third baseman Mike Turchan’s dad was at the game with his camera, and he captured the antics of catcher Pat Gallagher and the rest of the seniors as they helped Coach Fisher celebrate number 600.
Gallagher was joined in the revelry by Turchan, on the right, and Adam Pajakowski, Bob Glavan and Jay Watson on the left. Andrew Russell is hiding behind Pajakowski and Glavan, and Jason Albright and Nick Slater are behind Gallagher.
April 22, 2008
Join the B-W Baseball Alumni at Heritage Field on Saturday
All Baldwin-Wallace College alumni baseball players are invited to Heritage Field this Saturday to cheer on the Yellow Jackets as they take on Marietta College in a critical Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader.
The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., and we’ll be watching all the action from the right field corner.
If you would like some burgers and dogs while you’re watching the Jackets beat the Pioneers, please e-mail us as soon as possible. We’re asking for a donation of $15 per person or $25 for a family to help us cover the bill from food services.
There’s just a slight chance of morning showers forecast for Saturday, but if that changes, you can check the B-W Athletics Home Page or call Coach Fisher’s voicemail at (440) 826–2182 for rainout announcements.
Please bring your family or grab a few of your teammates and join us for some fun at the old ballpark!
April 21, 2008
B-W Baseball Team Grinds Its Way Through Seven Games
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team had to grind its way through seven games, three postponements, a rainout and a rain delay last week. The Yellow Jackets won three of their first four games to start the week, but lost the last three and dropped to 15–14–1 on the season.
After waiting all last weekend for decent weather, the Jackets swept a rescheduled Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader from Capital University in Columbus on Monday. Then they had to sit through another postponement on Tuesday before traveling to Alliance and splitting an OAC doubleheader with Mount Union College. A day later, they hit the road again, losing a non-conference game to Malone College at Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton.
The Jackets finally took the field at home on Saturday in a key conference match-up with Heidelberg College, but the long week appeared to have taken its toll, and they dropped the twinbill despite taking leads into the middle innings of both games. The sweep put the Student Princes on top of the OAC standings and knocked the Jackets down to sixth place at 7–7.
In spite of the rough week, the Jackets are still just a game out of an OAC playoff spot. But with only four conference games left, it won’t be an easy game to pick up, and they’ll have to start with second-place powerhouse Marietta College on Saturday at Heritage Field.
For all the details on last week’s games, including box scores and updated statistics, check out the B-W Baseball Home Page.
[ B-W Baseball All-Time Results ]
April 15, 2008
Jim Jaskowak Named OAC Pitcher of the Week
Baldwin-Wallace College junior right-hander Jim Jaskowak was named an Ohio Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week yesterday for throwing a four-hit shutout against defending OAC champion Otterbein College.
Jaskowak’s shutout nailed down the first end of B-W’s doubleheader sweep against the defending champs last Thursday at Heritage Field. He held the Cardinals scoreless on four hits and two walks and had them hitting into outs all day. After pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, he retired the side in order the next two innings and only allowed one Cardinal into scoring position the rest of the game.
The complete game victory was Jaskowak’s second of the season. It boosted his record to a team-leading 4–0 and dropped his earned run average to 3.38.
