By Jake Fishburn
Montgomery, WV - The Oaks went on the road for their fourth River States Conference matchup to face off against West Virginia Tech in a three-game series, looking to get back to .500 in the conference standings. After dropping game one 7-1, the Oaks came back on day two and took both games in the doubleheader, backed by strong performances at the plate by
Will Davis and
Payton Hall in both games, and strong starts on the mound for
Justin Hallum and
Pete Smith.
Senior Tristan Cummings took the mound in game one of the series against WV Tech, in his eighth start of the year in a chilly game against the conference foe. Cummings went 5.0 innings, allowing seven hits and five runs. The bats never came alive for the Oaks as they dropped the 9-inning opener of the three-game series, with the lone RBI coming from outfielder Will Davis, leaving the final score at 7-1 in favor of the Golden Bears.
Justin Hallum earned his third win of the season in the first game of the second day, going 4.2 innings, allowing three runs with two strikeouts. Hallum was relieved for the remainder of the game by Garrett Whiteker and Tyler Bess, allowing Brad Weber to make his 8th appearance on the season to close out the game for the Oaks, winning the game 10-5.
Multiple Mighty Oaks had multiple hits in game two, with two hits each from outfielders Will Davis and Victor Alvarez, and infielder Austin Morris. Davis and freshman Conner Oxley both had two RBIs in game two, Oxley with a big two run single to get things going for the Oaks early in the day.
Pete Smith took the mound for the Oaks in the rubber match of the three-game series, going 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Smith was relieved by Jake Fishburn, who went 2.2 innings allowing three hits, two runs and three strikeouts, closing the game for the Oaks with a win (12-7).
The Mighty Oaks were led at the plate by freshman outfielder Payton Hall, who went 4-5 on the game, along with big days at the plate from Conner Oxley, Victor Alvarez and Austin Morris, who each collected two RBIs on the game. Sophomore catcher Noah Gilbert launched his first home run of the season with a solo bomb in the top of the 7th inning, growing the lead even larger for the Oaks.
The Oaks moved to 13-14 overall (6-6 conference) and look to keep the win streak alive in an away series against (11) IU Southeast in New Albany, Indiana, for a three-game weekend series on April 2-3.
