In Ohio Athletic Conference Baseball, there is no room to take a game off. The opener is just as important as the last doubleheader of the season. Multiple times the past few years, nobody knew the heartbreak of being just outside of the OAC Tournament like JCU Baseball. 

This year, the Blue Streaks got over the hump, with their first conference win over Otterbein being just as important as their 11th over Baldwin Wallace.

In 2022, the Blue Streaks missed the OAC Tournament by one game. Last year, they split with Muskingum to open OAC play, and came up short losing the last game of the year against BW. If both losses were turned to wins, there was a good chance the Blue Streaks would have made the postseason. 

In 2023, it looked like it would be "deja vu all over again." The Blue Streaks needed a win, on the road, against nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace for the second year in a row. While last year, they needed to win both games of the doubleheader, this year (and in 2019) they needed to win just one, or else sit at home hoping for other teams in the OAC to help them out. In 2019, the Blue Streaks fell short in both games, and watched as the tiebreakers did not fall their way. However, 2023 is a different story. 

John Carroll baseball captured a victory in game one, 4-1, behind Matthew Aukerman's seventh win on the mound, Henry Darrow's second save, Joe Olsavsky's fourth home run of the season, and strong defense in the field. The Blue Streaks were able to sit at home comfortably knowing they would have the tiebreaker over two OAC opponents. 

With a Mount Union loss yesterday, it came down to JCU vs Otterbein. This time, JCU had the tiebreaker. The Blue Streaks swept the Cardinals in the opening doubleheader of OAC play back in March, giving them the head-to-head 2-0 tiebreaker over the power-hitting Cardinals. Late Saturday evening, the OAC made it official announcing JCU as the fourth seed, slated to play one seed and host #7 Baldwin Wallace on Thursday May 11. 

Win or lose, the Blue Streaks will play Friday as well, as the OAC Baseball Tournament is double elimination. A quick breakdown is below:

Thursday 5/11:

    #1 BW vs JCU 

    #2 Marietta vs #3 ONU

Friday 5/12

    1-0 team vs 1-0 team (winner to finals on Saturday)

    0-1 team vs 0-1 team (loser eliminated)

    1-1 team vs 1-1 team (loser eliminated, winner to finals on Saturday)

Saturday 5/13

    2-0 team vs 2-1 team (the 2-1 team has to win twice to be champions, 2-0 team only has to win once)

    While the Blue Streaks made the OAC Tournament in an expanded 6-seed format back in 2021, this is the first time JCU has made the traditional four team playoff since 2017. While the Blue Streaks have a tremendous amount of talent and experience from the 2021 team, no current player has been in the four team playoffs. However, the Blue Streaks are not short on confidence going into a third game against BW in six days. 

    "We know we are talented enough to play with every team in our conference, if not the country. If we execute to the best of our abilities, it should be a fun weekend" said Bobby Bell. 

    In OAC Tournament history, eight #4 seeds have made the OAC Championship, with two coming out on top: Otterbein in both 2019 and 2003. 

    With just one win in the OAC tournament, the Blue Streaks will break the single-season record for wins with 26 in program history. Also, with the three other OAC Tournament teams being high in D3baseball.com's Regional Rankings, even a strong run that falls short could put them in at-large contention for the NCAA Tournament, since their strength of record and strength of schedule will only go up. 

    The OAC will announce again this week the time of JCU's game against Baldwin Wallace on Thursday, as the host Yellow Jackets get to pick which game they will play in. Further updates can be found on jcusports.com and @jcusports on Twitter.