Ohio Wesleyan University will bestow Team of Distinction honors upon its 1958 baseball team and its 1974 field hockey team.  The teams were selected as Teams of Distinction in 2021 and will be formally recognized during ceremonies on Celebration Weekend on Saturday, Oct. 2.  For more information about Celebration Weekend, click here.

The Team of Distinction was created to recognize individual teams that have distinguished themselves and made extraordinary contributions to OWU athletics.

The 1958 baseball team opened its season with a 4-3 win at Marshall University before heading into its Ohio Athletic Conference schedule.  Wins over Otterbein (16-3) and Kenyon (3-2) at Edwards Field, the latter Ohio Wesleyan's 20th straight home win, led into a 15-13 win at Muskingum in which the Bishops scored 10 runs during the last 2 innings to escape with the victory. 

Narrow wins against Wittenberg (4-3) and at Otterbein (4-2) and a 20-5 win over Heidelberg at home preceded a 7-3 win over Capital at Edwards Field that set a school record with the team's ninth consecutive win.  Ohio Wesleyan then posted a 4-3 win at Kenyon that was shortened to 6 innings because of rain before clinching the OAC championship with an 11-5 win over Oberlin.  In the season's final game, Hiram and Ohio Wesleyan went into extra innings before a walk-off home run by Bob MacIlwaine '60 in the bottom of the 10th sealed the undefeated season.  Glenn Butterman '59 was the winning pitcher in relief that day, raising his season record to 7-0.

Ohio Wesleyan was the only undefeated team in the nation that season and led the nation in home runs (15 in 12 games).  The OAC championship was the Bishops' first under head coach Les Michael '40.

The 1974 field hockey team opened its season with wins at Ashland (5-0) and Marietta (5-1) before defeating Kenyon by a 3-1 count in its home opener.  Shutouts of Otterbein (4-0) and Dayton (3-0) preceded victories over Wittenberg (4-1) and Ohio State (2-1).  The Bishops recorded a pair of ties, Wooster (1-1) and Denison (2-2), during their next 3 games.

The team was unstoppable during the state tournament at Oberlin, opening with wins over Cedarville (7-2) and Ashland (7-0).  In the semifinals, Ohio Wesleyan faced Wooster, which had tied the Bishops in snowy conditions earlier in the season, but OWU came through with a 1-0 win.  Next up was Denison, and once again Ohio Wesleyan avenged an earlier tie, defeating the Big Red, 3-1, to win its first Ohio Association of Intercollegiate Sports for Women (OAISW) state championship.  According to The Transcript, Jane Blades '76 and Barb Diver '75 spearheaded the Ohio Wesleyan offense and the defensive play of defender Jane Wetzel '75 and goalkeeper Diane "Dee Dee" Manos '76 was praised by head coach Harriet Stewart.

Ohio Wesleyan closed out its season at the Buckeye tournament at Bowling Green, posting wins over Wooster (1-0) and Bowling Green State (4-0).  The team finished with a 16-0-2 record, setting a school record for victories in a season.

Five players were chosen to the Great Lakes all-star team, and from there, Diver advanced to the National States Field Hockey tournament, representing the Great Lakes Field Hockey Association.