BW Baseball Online Almanac

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!

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 ]

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.

[ B-W Baseball OAC Players of the Week ]

The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team swept defending Ohio Athletic Conference champion Otterbein College last Thursday at Heritage Field.

The Yellow Jackets got a pair of complete games by junior pitchers Jim Jaskowak and Brandon Fredericks and put themselves back in the OAC race after a disappointing doubleheader loss to Ohio Northern University a few days earlier.

Jaskowak shut out the Cardinals on four hits in game one as senior designated hitter Kevin Shenker knocked in the only run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Fredericks went all nine innings of the nightcap, scattering nine hits, striking out six and walking just one batter. The Jackets’ clutch hitters came through again, turning a one-run deficit into a five-run lead by scoring six times in the eighth inning against three of the best pitchers in the conference.

The sweep steadied the Jackets’ OAC record at 4–4 and improved their overall mark to 12–10–1. They are two games out of a playoff spot with three conference doubleheaders this week, including one on the road with first-place Mount Union College and another at home with second-place Heidelberg College.

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 ]

Today’s Lorain Morning Journal profiles nine Baldwin-Wallace College baseball players from the Lorain County area, including team captains Nick Radca and Cody Kidd.

Amherst’s Nick Radca, a senior shortstop, and Wellington’s Cody Kidd, a junior center fielder are both captains of the Yellow Jackets — and have not disappointed.

“They’ve done a very nice job,” said Baldwin-Wallace coach Bob Fisher, who is in his 40th season. “They have excellent leadership and are setting excellent standards in the classroom and on the field. They also give the team a lot of leadership from a lot of other angles.”

Kidd leads the Yellow Jackets with a .413 batting average and has stolen nine bases in 11 tries. Radca, who will be back in action this week after a knee injury, is batting .316.

The other Lorain-area natives playing varsity ball for the Jackets are twin brothers Scott and Chris Nealon from Avon Lake, Matt Bush from Midview High School and Brandon Roberts from Edison High School.

Freshmen Kevin Appell from Sandusky, Ben Kubuski from Elyria Catholic High School and Mitch Tulk from Elyria are all members of B-W‘s junior varsity squad.

The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team opened its home schedule at Heritage Field last Thursday with a 6–6 tie against Case Western Reserve University that was called after the 12th inning because of darkness.

B-W broke a 3–3 deadlock to take a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Case tied the game in the top of the ninth before junior outfielder Mike Brisky threw out the go-ahead run from left field. Neither team scored again until the top of the 12th, when Case took a 6–4 lead. The Yellow Jackets came right back with a pair of runs in their half of the inning, and they almost beat the Spartans — and the encroaching darkness — but their winning run was thrown out at the plate to end the game.

On Saturday, the Jackets hosted their first Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader of the season, but their home field advantage still hadn’t arrived in Berea, and they were swept by Ohio Northern University.

After starting the week by splitting an OAC doubleheader at crosstown rival John Carroll University and then going back across town to finish the week with a split at Lake Erie College, the Jackets are now 10–10–1 overall and 2–4 in the OAC. They’ll play a pair of conference doubleheaders this week, hosting Otterbein College at Heritage Field on Wednesday and then hitting the road to visit Capital University on Saturday.

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 ]

The Baldwin-Wallace College alumni baseball players kicked off their 2008 “Home Runs for Heritage” fundraising campaign this week to help pay for the design and construction of a new press box at Heritage Field.

B-W's new, permanent bleachers seen from the press box at Heritage Field on Senior Day, April 29, 2006.

Heritage Field has one of the best playing fields in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the facilities around it have steadily improved, but its “press box” is nothing but a wooden shack with a beat-up scorer’s table that sits behind the backstop. It’s an eyesore, and it obstructs the view from our new bleachers.

For the last few years, the B-W baseball alumni have been raising money to build a new, modern press box facility with a team meeting room and training table, a recruiting office, and a concession stand and restrooms.

Last year’s inaugural Home Runs for Heritage campaign raised $3,752 by rallying dozens of B-W baseball alumni, parents and fans to pledge a donation for each of the 11 home runs the Yellow Jackets hit during the 2007 season.

You can make a pledge to this year’s campaign right now at the Home Runs for Heritage home page, or you can send your pledge by e-mail message to heritage@bwbaseball.com.

Thank you for supporting the Home Runs for Heritage campaign!

The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team upset the second-ranked College of Wooster 7–3 last Thursday at Art Murray Field in Wooster.

Sophomore pitcher Scott Luthman snuffed out a 15-game Wooster winning streak by throwing an eight-inning gem at the Fighting Scots’ high-powered lineup. He scattered eight hits and only walked one batter on the way to his first win of the season. His classmate, first baseman and relief pitcher Brian Boveington, closed the game by striking out the last two Scots batters.

Senior second baseman Nate Luken, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, and junior catcher Matt Bolte, who reached base in all five of his plate appearances and hit his first home run of the season, led the Yellow Jackets’ tenacious offense.

Earlier in the week, B-W split a doubleheader with Muskingum College, as junior pitcher Jim Jaskowak struck out nine Muskies in seven innings for a complete-game, 6–3 victory in the Jackets’ Ohio Athletic Conference opener.

Thanks to our typical early spring weather, the Jackets, now 8–6 overall and 1–1 in the OAC, will play seven games this week, including a pair of conference doubleheaders against John Carroll University and Ohio Northern University, and a crosstown match-up with Case Western Reserve University.

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 ]

Today’s Euclid Sun Journal sports page features a trio of Euclid High School graduates who are excited about playing baseball at B-W.

Three Euclid High School graduates, sophomores Jim Palko and Jimmy Martin and freshman transfer Mike Palko, are excited about getting back on the baseball diamond this spring. All three are expected to do it at Baldwin-Wallace College.

Jim Palko was B-W’s Outstanding Freshman last year, and he’s off to a good start this season with a 2–0 record and a 2.61 earned run average. His brother Mike is returning to the mound after losing a season to Tommy John surgery and will start his rookie season with the Yellow Jackets on the junior varsity club.

Martin, who saw action in the Jackets’ middle infield as a freshman, started four games at second base on this year’s spring trip to Ft. Myers, Fla., and will provide depth at the keystone corner behind senior second baseman Nate Luken.

The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team returned from their spring break trip to Ft. Myers, Fla., on Sunday after going 6–5 in the 2008 Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a quick 3–0 start in the Classic, but an 11-inning loss to Haverford College and a doubleheader sweep by a tough Benedictine University club put a dent in their final record. Despite those setbacks, the Jackets showed the same ability to manufacture runs as they did last year, outscoring their opponents 103–40 while hitting just two home runs. They also developed a promising knack for scoring runs in the late innings.

Senior left fielder Shaun Slater and junior center fielder Cody Kidd led the Jackets’ offense by hitting over .400 on the trip, and last year’s Outstanding Freshman, Jim Palko, picked up where he left off by winning a pair of games on the mound. Senior outfielder and pitcher Kevin Shenker made the most of his opportunities with eight hits in 16 at bats and three innings of effective relief work.

For all the details on the spring trip, including box scores and updated statistics, check out the B-W Baseball Home Page.

[ B-W Baseball All-Time Results ]