Schmitmeyer provides tiebreaker as Oilers win G-MAC

The spring dominance of the University of Findlay women's golf team continued last at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference championships in Lexington, Kentucky - but there was a bit of suspense.

The Oilers, having won the last three tournament titles, easily won the 54-hole qualifying with a three-round total of 901 - 39 strokes ahead of second-place Tiffin.

But this year, the G-MAC instituted a match-play final match between the top two teams in stroke play, meaning the Oilers and Dragons would square off in match play, albeit based upon score rather than holes won.

When the final matchup came in, the teams had split the first four matches and tied in the fifth match. The first tiebreaker was total team score, which was also a tie at 385-385.

The second tiebreaker was the lowest individual score from the five matches, and Jill Schmitmeyer came through for the Oilers.

The St. Marys graduate and Findlay senior shot an even-par 72 in her first-flight match against Michaela Lindahl, giving the Oilers their fourth straight title under head coach and St. Marys graduate Dominic Guarnieri.

The big finish helped Schmitmeyer after she struggled earlier in the day in the third round of qualifying. After shooting a 74 and 81 in her first two rounds on Monday, Schmitmeyer shot an 87 on Tuesday to finish at 242 and fall out of the top team on the individual leaderboard to 11th.

Oiler teammate Kristina Kniesly was tournament medalist with a score of 220 (73-75-72) with Gabby Woods second at 221. Twins Mary Kelly and Erin Mulcahy, who helped Lima Central Catholic become a Division II powerhouse in high school, were third and fourth at 228 and 238.

Findlay is off until May 2 when they travel to Shoal Creek in Kansas City for the NCAA Division II East Regional.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

Vonderhaar slugging for Jackets

Baldwin Wallace has put together a fine season going into the final two weeks of regular season action before the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament.

The Yellow Jackets are 26-6 and 11-3 in the OAC, second behind Division III nationally-ranked Marietta (13-1 OAC) in the standings. The Jackets and Pioneers play a doubleheader on Saturday.

Junior infielder Luke Vonderhaar (New Bremen) has been on a tear this season. Vonderhaar leads the OAC with 12 home runs and 50 runs batted in to go along with 12 doubles, 36 runs and a .359 batting average.

Baldwin Wallace plays Division I Akron today before hosting the Pioneers for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Lonsway nearly unhittable for Giants

San Jose lefthander Seth Lonsway has been formidable in his first three appearances with the Class-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

In three relief appearances covering 11 innings this season, Lonsway has allowed just four hits, six walks and no earned runs, posting a 2-0 record for the Giants. Lonsway has also kept up with strikeouts, fanning 11 this season. Opponents are batting just .118 against him this season.

In his last outing on April 21, Lonsway did not allow a hit, walked two and struck out two in allowing an unearned run to get the win over Visalia.

The Giants begin a week-long series against Modesto at Excite Ballpark in San Jose.
Thwaits lowering his ERA for TinCaps

Fort Wayne TinCaps pitcher Nick Thwaits (Fort Recovery) has lowered his earned run average after allowing two runs on April 14 in his second appearance for San Diego's Advanced-A farm team.

Since the 14th, Thwaits has made two more relief appearances, the most recent being Sunday, and has not allowed a run. In 6 1/3 innings this season, Thwaits has a 2.84 ERA with nine strikeouts and two walks.

The TinCaps are at home this week for a six-game series with the Dayton Dragons (Reds).

PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL

Mikesell leads Tigers into semifinals

Tigers Tübingen advanced out of the quarterfinals of the German second-tier ProA playoffs with an 84-80 win over Eisbären Bremerhaven last Friday to win the opening series 3-1.

Starting forward Ryan Mikesell (St. Henry) had a spectacular game, scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 field goal shooting to go with three assists and four rebounds in 33 minutes.

The Tigers await their next opponent from the series between fourth-seeded Trier and fifth-seeded Leverkusen.