Allegheny Renews Rivalry with OWU

May 4, 2007

MEADVILLE, Pa. – After a two-year hiatus from the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, the Allegheny College baseball team is back and they draw an old and familiar foe in their best-of-three, semifinal match up at Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, May 5.

Allegheny (14-21, 9-7 NCAC East) and Ohio Wesleyan (20-12, 13-3 NCAC West) have met 67 times on the diamond, the fifth-most played series in the Blue & Gold’s long history. The Battling Bishops hold the slight edge 35-32, with most of those recent victories coming in the NCAC Tournament. From 2000 to 2003, the two teams battled for conference supremacy each season in the playoffs, with Ohio Wesleyan winning eight of nine contests, including twice in the finals in 2000 and 2001.

This year’s teams aren’t familiar with each other at all, as a matter of fact, the Gators and Bishops haven’t mixed it up on the field during the regular season since 1999, saving all the drama in the series for the league playoffs. Furthermore, the only Allegheny player with postseason experience is senior Jimmy Fernandez (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls), who was a freshman on the 2004 team that was swept by Denison University 10-3, 9-0 in the semis.

Allegheny enters the 2007 tournament as the second seed out of the East Division, coming in behind the top-ranked team in NCAA Division III, The College of Wooster (37-3, 15-0 NCAC East). Ohio Wesleyan won the West, finishing ahead of second-place Denison (19-16, 12-4 NCAC West) by one game. Wooster owns the most league titles with 11, followed by Ohio Wesleyan with eight, and Allegheny with four. The Gators last championship came in 1999, while Wooster has claimed each of the last three and four of the last five.

What Allegheny lacks in experience, they more than make up for in talent and enthusiasm. After starting the season 0-13, they could have tossed in the towel and packed things in for next year, but the squad persevered and won 13 of its final 20 contests, including a 9-7 record against NCAC East foes to clinch a spot in the four-team tournament.

After getting swept by Wooster to start league play, Allegheny swept Hiram College, took three of four from Oberlin College, and then wrapped up the conference slate by splitting a four-game set with Kenyon College. The offense was flying high during the run as the Gators hit .318 in NCAC play, scoring an average of 7.6 runs per game and banging a dozen home runs.

Offensively, Allegheny has been paced by junior Eric Rich (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) and Fernandez, two of the more veteran players on the squad. Rich leads the team in most of the major statistical categories, including batting average (.357), runs scored (27), and RBI (26), while Fernandez his hitting at a clip of .355 with 19 RBI. Joining the duo above the .300 mark is Alex Herrnberger (Eighty Four, Pa./Canon McMillan) at .349 and James Fago (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) at .339 with 17 RBI. Herrnberger has been a source of consternation for most of the league’s pitching as the sophomore catcher has connected for a .447 batting average with 14 RBI in 15 NCAC contests.

Newcomers have played a significant role on the Gator pitching staff, but veteran right-hander Colt Viehdorfer (Morrisdale, Pa./West Branch) is the ace with a record of 4-4 and an earned run average of 3.67 in 11 appearances. In 28 innings against NCAC foes, Viehdorfer has posted an ERA of only 2.57 with 20 strikeouts. The majority of Allegheny’s remaining starters all pull double duty, including J.R. Hess (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), Mike Pereslucha (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kiski), and Pete Obourn (Farmington, N.Y./Victor). Hess is hitting .327 at the plate with a record of 2-3 on the mound, while Pereslucha and Obourn have each connected on a team-high four home runs to go with a combined five pitching victories. Pereslucha has done most of his offensive damage against conference competition, posting a batting average of .375 with four home runs and 18 RBI.

If not for the hitting prowess of Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan would have the most potent lineup in the NCAC with a team batting average of .342 and an average production of 8.9 runs per game. Maybe the most dangerous hitter in the midst of that order is Kyle Sherman, a three-time All-NCAC pick at second base. Sherman is hitting .415 this spring with nine doubles, six triples, eight home runs, 32 RBI, and a slugging percentage of .840. He paces the team in triples and home runs, as well as on-base percentage (.526) and stolen bases (8).

Sherman, however, is only the third-best hitter on his own team average-wise, with Logan Hronis and Joey McDaniel hitting to a tune of .448 and .422, the latter plating 31 runs and scoring a team-high 40. Sean Ring leads the Bishops with 36 RBI this spring to go with a .322 batting average and four home runs.

Pitching could be a potential weak spot for Ohio Wesleyan with a team ERA just under 6.00. Ring has been the most effective starter with a record of 7-2 and an ERA of 3.20, while Xander Jones is 4-1 with a team-best 43 strikeouts in 54.1 innings.

Saturday’s opening nine-inning game will start at 1 p.m. in Delaware, Ohio, followed directly after by another nine-inning affair. If necessary, the teams will play a third and deciding game on Sunday.

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