TIFFIN, Ohio — For the second straight year, the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Baseball Tournament Championship came down to a battle between rival Marietta College and host Heidelberg University. On Sunday (May 10) afternoon, the Student Princes pulled out the 5-1 win to secure its second straight title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Tournament.

Heidelberg will enter postseason play with an overall record of 36-7. The Etta Express fell to 29-15 and must await word of a potential at-large bid to the postseason. 13 Pool C bids will be up for grabs for teams from across the country this season. The announcement will be made early Monday (May 11) morning. The last four times that Marietta has earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament, it has won the Mideast Regional.
 
There were 103 runs scored in the first five games of the 2009 OAC Tournament, so no one expected a pitcher's dual. That was exactly what took place, however, as neither team collected a hit through the first five innings.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when Marietta gained the 1-0 advantage. Freshman Kyle Lindquist (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) and freshman Tim Saunders (Alliance/Alliance) (Alliance) reached base on hit by pitches. Sophomore John Snyder (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) (Altoona, Pa.) sacrificed the runners to second and third. A walk to senior Cameron Cimino (Boardman/Boardman) (Boardman) loaded the bases. A second walk, this time to junior Chris Beatty (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton) (Seven Fields, Pa./Hampton), forced in Lindquist with the first run of the game. The Pioneers, however, could not get the big hit and stranded the bases loaded in the frame.

Heidelberg tied the game in the fourth. A pair of walks gave the Student Princes two runners on base with one out. The runners took off on a full count to the next hitter. The batter went down on strikes for the second out but the throw from junior Dan Jones (Lima/Shawnee) (Lima/Shawnee) went into center field as he tried to gun down the trailing runner, allowing the lead runner to score on the play.

The Student Princes broke the tie in the seventh. Five straight hits led to four runs in the frame, giving Heidelberg a 5-1 lead. OAC Tournament Most Valuable Player Gar Keen drove in the first run with a single to left field. Biagio Boytim added a single to plate the second run. Keen scored the third run of the inning when he slid under the tag of Jones on a play at the plate on a fielder's choice. The final run came across when a potential double play ball deflected off the umpire, preventing Lindquist from fielding the ball. As a result, Steve Decker was credited with a RBI single.

Marietta, who was playing in the OAC title game for the 23rd time in the last 25 seasons, threatened in the eighth and again in the ninth but could not plate a run against Heidelberg closer Andy Lowe, who preserved his team's third OAC title in the last six seasons.

Heidelberg out hit Marietta 9-3 and both squads stranded 10 runners on base. The Pioneers could not overcome two errors in the loss, which went to senior Jason Baumler (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill). Baumler (3-3) had a no-hitter through five innings and scattered four runs (three earned) on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He did walk four and strike out two.

Elvin Williams threw seven innings of one-hit ball to earn the win and improve his record to 5-0 on the year. Williams allowed one run, fanned three and overcame six walks and a pair of hit batters.

Following the game, three Marietta players—Beatty, Cimino and senior Chris Stewart (Dublin/Dublin Coffman) (Dublin/Coffman)—were named to the 2009 OAC All-Tournament Team. Over the course of the tournament, Beatty led Marietta with a .563 (9-for-16) average, three home runs and eight RBI. Cimino went 10-for-18 (.555) at the plate with a team-high six runs scored and three RBI. Stewart was 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA in two appearances. The left-hander allowed just one run on six hits and struck out four in 8 1/3 innings of relief.