Ajax, ON - The Lancer baseball team will make their debut in the OUA Baseball Championships this weekend at the Ajax Sportsplex.
 
As the new kids on the block, Windsor has been seeded tenth overall in the ten team single elimination tournament, hosted by Ryerson University.
 
The Windsor Lancers enter the championships with a 7-4 record this fall, 2-1 in the NCBA. "I am very happy with our first three weeks as a team," head coach Frank Jeney explains. "We have had a great opportunity to play in our home town against St. Clair College, who is one of the best coached teams in baseball in Canada to help prepare us for the tough competition in the OUA. We also had a tough first conference series hosting the University of Michigan, taking 2 of 3."
 
Championship Format & Schedule
 
Competition kicks off on Friday, October 13th at 11:00am with the Lancers facing off against the No. 7 McMaster Marauders. Should the Lancers advance, they will take on No. 2 Laurier Golden Hawks that night at 7:00pm. The semi-finals are slated for Saturday at 11:00am, with the championship game will be played on Sunday at 3:00pm, with a possible game on Monday if it is needed due to rain.
 
OUA Championship Team Preview
 
"Getting into the OUA championship tournament is very exciting for us," said Jeney. "Throughout the recent history of our program (2010 to present), we have had a great opportunity to play some of the OUA teams, and they are always great games to play. When I first started our program back in 2010, Laurier's head coach Scott Ballantyne was extremely helpful in having games with us. He and his program are a top level class act."
 
The Lancers head into the tournament with a strong roster and a strong outlook on the weekend. Leading the way on the pitching staff are sophomore captain Jack Zimmerman and senior Josh Neposlan. Both pitchers compiling a 2-1 record in the first three weeks of the season, with below 1.0 ERA's and a combined 53 strikeouts. 
 
"Pitching has been a full team effort this year led by these two young men," complimented Jeney. "To accompany our five pitchers (Zimmerman, Neposlan, Rob Csapo, Jake Skavinski, and D'Andre Bailey), we also have another five position players that have put up not only significant innings on the mound, but have had success as well.
 
On the offence, the Lancers return eight starters from their NCBA Championship Game starting line-up in May 2017.  Senior Sully Robson has lead the way most of the first three weeks, hitting .414 with 12 hits and 7 walks.  Also contributing in a large way are junior captain Adam Pickel and sophomore captain Chris Rinaldi Ross with .321 and .355 respectively, and a combined 20 hits, which is responsible for 25% of the team total hits.
 
"Our team individual offense relies highly on the heart and hustle of the player before you," said Jeney. "We will look to work together to gain success on the scoreboard."
 
Scores & Updates
You can follow the games via the OUA website, or by following the UWinBaseball on Twitter or Facebook throughout the weekend.

To view the OUA Fan Guide with all important event information, please click here.