COLUMBUS , Ohio – The Ohio Dominican baseball team came one step closer to making their sixth appearance in the NAIA World Series on Thursday as they thrashed visiting Fisher (Mass.) College, 11-1.   The Panthers take a one game advantage in the best-of-three series that will decide the region representative in the 52^nd NAIA World Series in Lewiston , Idaho on May 23-30.

The opening round game started out as a pitchers duel as neither team was able to figure out their oppositions starting pitchers as ODU's Jonathan Kountis (Akron , OH) and Evan Tardugno of Fisher cruised through the first two innings.     more

The Ohio Dominican fireworks would start from there as they touched up Tardugno for two runs in the third.   In the fourth ODU tacked on three more runs when Jose Avila (Potomac , MD) started a rally with a leadoff walk.   Matt Shiring (Decatur , Illinois) followed with a single and KC Warden (Westerville , OH) ground out to the right side advancing both runs and the Panthers were in business.   Back-to-back singles by Brian Packo (St. Augustine , FL) and Vince Doster (Lanham , MD) would score Avila and Shiring and after a ground ball Packo would score himself to give ODU the 5-0 advantage.  

Kountis would continue to mow through the Fisher line-up as he continued to show great command and retire the side in order the first three innings.  

ODU kept the pressure on the Falcons in the fourth as another big inning would give the home team a comfortable lead.   Greg Riesenberg (Loveland, OH) collected his first hit of the day with a lead-off single that started a four run borage that was capped off by a 2-run homerun by Doster, his first of the season.   

Fisher threatened in the seventh, but Kountis came up big again for the Panthers as he allowed just one run.   Kountis would pitch through the mercy rule shortened opening round game unscathed as he went all eight innings allowing one run on five hits, while fanning eight.

ODU added a run in the seventh of their own and another in the eighth to take the game 11-1.   Packo continued his terror through the post season as he went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI's.   Avila was also 2-for-2 with three runs scored and walked three times.   Doster went 3-for-5, including the two run blast in the fifth inning.

Ohio Dominican and Fisher will return to Panther Valley on Friday, May 16 at 1 p.m. for the second game of the Super Regional.        

NEW YORK , New York – The Ohio Dominican men's golf team returned to the Golf World/Nike Golf NAIA Coaches' Poll in the season's fifth and final rankings released by the resources of Golf World magazine, Nike Golf and Golf Coaches Association of American (GCAA).

Oklahoma Christian remains the number one team, earning four of the seven first-place votes.   The Eagles are currently playing in the NAIA National Championship, which began yesterday, and are looking to capture their first national title.  more

Oklahoma City comes in at a close second with three first-place votes.   The Stars have been looking for a sixth national title since 2001 and prepared for this week's championship with a fourth-place finish at the Division I Maxwell tournament, hosted by Oklahoma State .

Rounding out the top-five are British Columbia (No. 3), Johnson & Wales (T-4) and Point Loma Nazarene (T-4).

New to the top-25 are Lee (No. 20), Ohio Dominican (No. 21) and Concordia (Calif.) (No. 22).   Ohio Dominican is also at the NAIA National Championship in Plymouth , Indiana .   The Panthers earned an at-large berth for their first appearance in the National Championship.

COLUMBUS , Ohio – The Ohio Dominican University women's tennis teams' season came to an end in the NAIA National Championships on Monday morning with a 9-0 loss to No. 9 ranked Embry Riddle University in the opening round of the tournament.

The Panthers battled valiantly in the doubles matches over a good Eagles team. The #2 doubles team of Kate Rodgers (Milford , OH; pictured) and Katie Evans (Hilliard , OH; pictured) welcomed the challenge, as they played inspired tennis taking a 4-3 lead, only to see the Eagles bounce back for the 8-5 decision. At #3 doubles, Amanda Hollenbaugh (Reynoldsburg , OH) and Ruchika Alahakoon (Colombo , Sri Lanka) dropped a very competitive 8-3 match, while the #1 doubles team of Kristen Gillman (Westerville , OH) and Emily Sampsel (Marysville , OH) could not find their rhythm with an 8-1 loss to the No. 17 ranked doubles team in the NAIA.  more

In singles play, the women again came ready to compete, but were downed by a very good top 10 program. Alahakoon played an exceptional match at #5 singles, losing in 3-sets 4-6, 6-4, 3-10. Gillman jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead against the No. 12 ranked Natasha Zoricic, but was unable to maintain the momentum as she fell 6-3, 6-0. Sampsel and Evans played well at #2 and #3 singles but dropped matches 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1. Finally, Rodgers and Hollenbaugh competed at #4 and #6 singles but fell 6-1, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-0.

"The effort was very good today against a quality opponent," said head coach Ryan Beigle. "I couldn't be happier with the way we finished our season and am excited to see our program see the consistent progression next season."

Embry Riddle advances to the second round of the tournament against the No. 8 seed Savannah College of Art and Design on Tuesday, May 13^th. The Panthers finish their season at 13-5.

COLUMBUS , OH – The Ohio Dominican baseball team continues their post season run this week as they host Fisher ( Mass. ) College in the NAIA East Coast Super Regional in Panther Valley .   The best-of-three games series will begin on Thursday, May 15 with a single game starting at 2 p.m.   The two teams will return to ODU on Friday as they face off at 1 p.m. with the ‘if necessary' game to follow.

The Panthers (38-14) were the champions of the NAIA Region IX tournament after defeating Mount Vernon Nazarene last week, 5-1, in the championship game.   ODU cruised to the finals with wins over Mount Vernon and Urbana in the opening rounds.   ODU then suffered their only loss at the hands of the MVNU, 9-5.  more

Fisher (33-21) enters the Super Regional as the NAIA Region X Champions.   The Falcons breezed through the regional tournament outscoring their opponents 56-2.   Fisher defeated St. Joseph 's and SUNY-Canton in their first two games to advance to the championship.   The Falcons continued to roll through the tournament with a 19-1 victory over Vermont Tech in the championship game.

The winner of the East Coast Super Regional will advance to the 52^nd Annual AVISTA-NAIA World Series played from May 23-30 in Lewiston , Idaho