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| Photo Credit: Baldwin Wallace University Athletics |
Tomorrow night the Old Westbury Panthers will take on No. 2 ranked Baldwin Wallace University of Ohio in their first appearance in the NCAA Division-III Regionals since 2001.
Where are they from?
If you haven’t heard of Balwin Wallace–you are not alone, because neither have I.
They went 31-10 this season in the Ohio Athletic Conference. That conference is incredibly loaded–they had three teams (Heidelberg, Baldwin Wallace, Ohio Northern) win 30 games and that doesn’t even count Marietta, who have 28 wins, won the conference and captured the Divison-III World Series in ’81, ’83, ’86, ’06, ’11 and ’12. So, yes it is a very strong conference.
How do they match up with Old Westbury Talent-Wise?
Offensively, Baldwin University is actually just as loaded. They have a .327 team average and an absurd .406 OBP. Seven of their regulars are hitting over .300, led by Mark Zimmerman’s .386. He has scored 44 runs, driven in 41, smacked three home runs and compiled a .584 SLG.
The two big boppers are Cole Nieto and Hunter Handel. Both are underclassmen, Nieto has five home runs, driven in 39 runs and compiled a .595 SLG, while the freshman Handel hit six home runs, driven in 47 runs and compiled a .966 OPS.
Obviously, the Panthers are no slouches on offense, so the two teams should be able to put up some offense.
Where the Panthers have the advantage is on the mound. While they compiled a 3.14 ERA led by Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year Tim Ingram and Caleb Olsen, the Yellow Jackets labored to a 4.35 ERA.
Mark Zimmerman, the batting average leader on the team, is also leading the team in innings pitched at 58.0. He’s tied for the team-lead with five wins and has a team-high two CGs. He struck out 9.16 batters per nine but he walked 27–way too much for the ace of the staff.
Ingram is clearly the more accomplished pitcher of the two.
Who Wins?
It should be a good game, and if the numbers are any indication, prepare for some runs. The x-factor will be how Ingram handles pitching in the regionals for the first time. It is a different animal than the regular season–I can speak to that first-hand, but for a pitcher of his caliber it should be nothing but another outing.
They will be representing the Skyline Conference, whom the opponents are very familiar with–having seen Farmingdale State for each of the past seven seasons.
