AROUND OUA: Ryerson clinches first postseason berth

Ryerson clinches first postseason berth

TORONTO - With a 10-5 victory over McMaster in game one of the team's double header on Saturday, the Ryerson baseball team clinched its first postseason berth.

The Rams finish the season with a 7-11 record which puts them in the sixth and final playoff position.

Ryerson did drop game two of the doubleheader, 8-6, but the game one victory was all the team needed to get into the postseason.

The 2015 season is just the third season for the Rams in the OUA circuit and head coach Ben Rich is proud of how far his squad has come in a short time.

"I can't say enough about this group of guys, and it's not just because they are playing good baseball. They have really taken ownership of this program to get it to where we are now and I'm tremendously proud of that."

The postseason consists of a six-team double knockout tournament which takes place October 16-18 at host Western University. As the sixth seed the Rams will face the top-seeded Brock Badgers to open the tournament.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Brock finishes regular season with 16 game win streak

The Brock University baseball team (25-5 overall, 16-2 OUA) capped off the OUA regular season with two victories over the York Lions Saturday afternoon on the road. The Badgers won Game One by the score of 19-1 and rallied back in Game Two winning 8-7.

In Game One, Brock scored nine runs in the first inning as their offense continued to roll. The Badgers finished the regular season with an OUA best 160 runs for and just 63 runs against.

Leading the way was Jordan Grant (Mississauga, Ont.) who went 3-for-5 with three RBI including his 100th career hit as a Badger. Justin Gideon (Pickering, Ont.) was 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI. It was his 18th career triple putting him first all-time in school history.

Dennon Koziol (Hamilton, Ont.) (2-for-4, 3 RBI), Blake Stepien (Guelph, Ont.) (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Quinton Twohey (2-for-3, RBI) all contributed with two hits each. Rounding out the Brock offense were Ryan Laird (Aurora, Ont.) (1-for-2, 4 RBI), Phil Steer (Toronto, Ont.) (1-for-5, RBI), Ricky Ferri (St. Catharines, Ont.) (1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI) and Michael Enns Ward (Mississauga, Ont.) (1-for-1).

Ryan Beckett (Tiny, Ont.) recorded his fourth victory of the regular season going four perfect innings with four strikeouts.

In Game Two, the Badgers rallied back from a 5-3 deficit on route to their league leading 16th victory.

Steer (2-for-4, RBI) and Ferri (2-for-3, 2B) both collected two hits each, with single hits going to Koziol (1-for-4, 2 RBI), Grant (1-for-4, RBI), Stepien (1-for-1, RBI), Taylor McVey (Milton, Ont.) (1-for-4, 2B) and Noah Koffman (Richmond Hill, Ont.) (1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI).

Dan Phillips (St.John's) picked up the win going 1 2/3 shutout innings. Phil Owen (Richmond Hill, Ont.) recorded the save allowing two runs on two hits over two innings of work.

Source: Brock Badgers

Brouse, Hauck lead Golden Hawks past Marauders

The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's baseball team swept a double header from the McMaster Mauraders on Friday afternoon at Bechtel Park.  Laurier shut out the Marauders in both games winning 13-0 and 6-0.  Game two saw freshman pitcher Christian Hauck throw the third no-hitter in Laurier Baseball history as he dominated the McMaster hitters over 7 scoreless and hitless innings.  

The day was also memorable for Jonathan Brouse as he surpassed Ryan Panas as the all-time hits leader at Laurier.  Brouse trailed Panas by 16 hits heading into this season and his hot streak has allowed him to break the record.  A tremendous accomplishment for Brouse as he is in his fifth season with the Golden Hawks.

Game One - Laurier 13 McMaster 0
This one started 2 hours late to let the field dry, but the delay didn't bother the Laurier hitters as they jumped out and scored 11 runs in the first inning and cruised to a 13-0 mercy shortened victory. 

Hitting:
- RF Alex Kupchak 3 for 3 with an RBI, run scored and stolen base
- CF Jonathan Brouse 2 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored
- 2B John King 1 for 1 with 3 walks, 2 runs scored and an RBI
- C Ryley Davenport 1 for 3 with 2 RBI, a walk and run scored
- SS Cal Murphy 1 for 2 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored
- 3B Matt Voight 1 for 2 with 2 runs scored, a triple, walk and RBI
- DH Brett Medland 1 for 4 with an RBI and run scored

Other RBI:
- 1B Jeff Hunt, LF Adam Raithby

Pitching:
- Andrew Ziedins improves to 4-0 on the season with another dominant performance going 5 innings giving up 4 hits with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts
- Noah Ivanyi struck out 2 in his perfect inning
- Evan Cruickshank threw 1 inning giving up 2 walks and a HBP

Game Two - Laurier 6 McMaster 0
Christian Hauck was the story in this one as he threw the 3rd no hitter in Laurier Baseball history.  The freshman was outstanding as he struck out 9 and walked 2 on a special night for him.

Hitting:
- CF Jonathan Brouse 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, and a run scored
- LF Adam Raithby 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a stolen base
- 3B Jeff Hunt 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and a stolen base
- RF Alex Kupchak 1 for 3 with a walk
- C Daniel Apostoli 1 for 3 with a walk
- 1B John King 0 for 2 with 2 walks, a run scored and stolen base
- 2B Brandon Washkevich 0 for 1 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored

Pitching:
- Christian Hauck throws a no hitter with 9 strikeouts, 2 walks and a HBP for his second win of the season

"What a special day for our program as not only do we have a freshman throw a no-hitter, but Brouse breaks our all-time hits record," commented Head Coach Scott Ballantyne.  "On top of that, we also threw 2 shutouts and put up 19 runs.  All facets of our game clicked today as we pitched outstanding, we made all the plays defensively and we had some really great at bats.  We have talked about getting better each week and so far so good from that perspective."

The Golden Hawks are now 22-6 overall (12-4 in conference play) and will conclude the OUA regular season on Saturday with a double header on the road against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.

Source: Laurier Golden Hawks

Varsity Blues clinch playoff spot

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues baseball team dropped two games to the OUA defending champion Brock Badgers on Friday, October 9 in St. Catharines, Ont.

Despite the losses, the Blues clinch a playoff spot for next week's OUA championship (Oct. 16-18) hosted by Western in London. Toronto is 8-8 with two games remaining in their regular season schedule.

With Toronto and Brock tied, 6-6, after six innings, the Badgers exploded for four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take Game 1, 10-6.

Tanner Young-Schultz and Andrew Mannone led Toronto with three hits each, while Colin Edwards had two RBI on one hit.

The Badgers kept on rolling in Game 2, coming away with a 19-0 win.

Toronto wraps up the regular season tomorrow (Oct. 10), hosting the Laurier Golden Hawks at Dan Lang Field.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues