Marietta, Ohio - May 9, 2011 - The field is officially set for the 2011 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, which takes place May 12-14 at Marietta College's Don Schaly Stadium. Top-seeded Marietta will take the field against fourth-seeded John Carroll University in game one of the four-team, double-elimination tournament at 3:30 p.m. Thursday (May 12). Second-seeded Heidelberg University will then battle third-seeded University of Mount Union in game two at 7 p.m.
The OAC Tournament Championship is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday (May 14) with the league's automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Tournament awaiting the winner.
Tickets for the OAC Tournament will go on sale, beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday. OAC Tournament passes are $15. Single-game adult tickets can be purchased for $7, while single-game senior citizen tickets are $5 and single-game non-OAC student tickets are $2. Weekend parking is $5, while single-day parking is $3. [Directions to Don Schaly Stadium]
Live statistics and live audio will be available for all of Heidelberg's games at the tournament.
Top-seeded Marietta, the No. 1 team in both the Mideast Regional Rankings and D3Baseball.com Top 25, will make a record 39th overall and 28th consecutive appearance in the OAC Tournament. The Pioneers have won 27 OAC Tournament titles, including 13 straight from 1990-2002, but have not brought home the team trophy since 2002. Marietta's all-time OAC Tournament record stands at 90-32-1. The Etta Express, who enter a nation's best 35-3 overall, finished league play with a 17-1 record. This season, Marietta swept John Carroll (11-0 and 11-1) and Mount Union (10-9 and 17-2) while splitting with Heidelberg (12-0 and 6-8).
Heidelberg, the two-seed, will appear in the OAC Tournament for the ninth straight year in 2011. The Berg is ranked ninth in the nation and are the three-time defending tournament champions, who also won in 2004, are 31-9 overall. The Student Princes finished four games back with a 13-5 league record and are 21-15 in 11 OAC Tournament appearances. Heidelberg took both games from John Carroll (2-0 and 11-2), while splitting doubleheaders with Marietta (0-12, 8-6) and Mount Union (4-8 and 5-3) this season.
Third-seeded Mount Union rejoins the OAC Tournament for the 12th time and first since 2008. The Purple Raiders, who tied Marietta for the OAC Tournament crown in 1970, are 8-20-1 all-time in tournament play. Mount Union enters with an overall record of 17-18 and went 11-7 against league opponents to tie for third in the OAC standings. The Purple Raiders earned the three seed by winning a tiebreaker over John Carroll. Mount Union split a twin bill with both Heidelberg (8-4 and 3-5) and John Carroll (3-10 and 7-2) while getting swept by Marietta (10-9 and 17-2) this season.
John Carroll, the fourth seed, is back in the OAC Tournament for a third straight season this spring. The Blue Streaks have made eight previous appearances and carry a 5-16 tournament record. John Carroll is currently 18-18 overall and tied for third in the league standings with an 11-7 record. The Blue Streaks, however, dropped to the four seed due to losing a tiebreaker with Mount Union. This season, John Carroll split games against Mount Union (10-3 and 2-7) while falling twice to Heidelberg (0-2 and 2-11) and Marietta (0-11 and 1-11).