The Shawnee State baseball team had a tough choice to make Saturday morning: attend Spring Commencement back on campus, or chase history on the diamond. They chose the latter—and not a single player would trade that decision for anything.
Their hard work paid off in spectacular fashion. The Bears battled through a loaded River States Conference Tournament field featuring powerhouse programs—28-win Midway, 38-win Indiana-Southeast, and 40-win Oakland City—to earn a spot in the RSC Championship Series.
Even bigger: Shawnee State has already locked up an NAIA Opening Round berth, the program's first national postseason appearance since 2011. And they're doing it all in their final season as members of both the RSC and the NAIA.
The road to this moment wasn't easy. The Bears opened tournament play with a dominant 3-0 shutout of Midway, then took down defending RSC champion Oakland City—who entered at 40-13—not once but twice, winning 9-1 and 7-2 to punch their ticket to the championship series.
What made the run possible? Elite pitching. Starters Ricardo Medrano, Owen Elsey, and Trevor Ollier combined to walk just eight batters over 30 innings across those three wins. Medrano fired seven shutout frames against Midway. Elsey tossed a complete game without allowing an earned run versus Oakland City. Ollier added seven strong innings of two-run ball in the rematch.
Relievers Evan Hood and two-way standout Jace Parnin also delivered, combining for four shutout innings to preserve wins for Medrano and Ollier.
"We knew it was going to take three really strong starts from our pitching staff to get to this point," head coach Ehlers said. "I always preach, 'Throw strikes, throw strikes, throw strikes.' We've walked eight guys total in our three wins—that's elite, elite level. We knew we weren't going to be a high-strikeout staff, but if we could compete and throw strikes, we knew we'd be offensive enough to win big games."
Shawnee State secured the conference's second and final automatic bid to the NAIA Opening Round, ensuring this historic season continues. For a team that skipped commencement for competition, the reward is a chance to keep writing an unforgettable story.