BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (5-16-09) – The 2009 Oklahoma Wesleyan baseball season has been a bumpy one, but the players and coaches hard work were rewarded this weekend with an at-large bid into the 2009 National Christian College Athletic Association World Series.
Falling just short of the regional championship last week to Colorado Christian, 10-7, in Oklahoma City, the Eagles will again be matched up with that same team Wednesday, May 20, in the first round of the national tournament. Game time is set for 10 a.m., at Legacy Field in Mason, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati.
If the Eagles win, they will play at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday afternoon versus the second seeded Spring Arbor University (Mich.). If they lose, they will fall into the losers bracket to face the loser of Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) versus Cedarville (Ohio) at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Entering the tournament, the Eagles are ranked No. 12 in the NCCAA poll, which is determined by a burbridge rating system. Colorado Christian comes in at No. 21.
In 2008, the Eagles fell just short of the national tournament, losing to the same Colorado Christian team in a three game championship series for the regional championship.
This season, the Eagles finished the regular season with a record of 28-23, and winning the first game of the NCCAA Regional, hosted by Mid-American Christian University, over Crowley’s Ridge College (Ark.).
Heading into the tournament, the Eagles are the eighth best hitting team in NCCAA Div. I with a .331 team batting average, just a percentage point ahead of their first round counter part.
At the plate, the Eagles are led by second year player JD Nalder who enters the tournament twentieth in the national in hitting with a .407 average, including 57 hits. Nalder is also up in the ranks of on base percentage at .503, and stolen bases with 21.
On the mound, the Eagles bread and butter all season, Nick Randolph and Chance Stevens are getting the job done with eight and seven wins respectively. This season, Stevens has earned team high 8.18 strikeouts per nine innings.