Huntingburg, IN – To start off the River States Conference season, the Mighty Oaks baseball team hosted Indiana University Kokomo. A doubleheader on Sunday and one more game on Monday, all ended up in losses for Oakland City.
Game 1
In a real pitchers duel, the Mighty Oaks fell short in the later innings versus a strong IU Kokomo team.
Gehrig Tenhumberg, who started on the mound for Oakland City, game his team a good opportunity to take home a victory. He went seven innings, giving up four hits, one run (unearned), while walking one and striking out four.
In the fifth inning, the visitors from Kokomo, Indiana took a 1-0 lead. After a double with one out, a throwing error on a groundball to shortstop, allowed the first run of the game to score.
Two innings later, the Mighty Oaks were able to tie the game back up. A walk for
Garrett Causey and a base hit from
Alec Pruitt put runners on first and second base. An RBI single from
Jared Kirkman allowed Causey to score and move the score to 1-1.
Kokomo took the lead again in the eighth inning. Two hits and a walk, as well as a fielding error allowed the Cougars to score two runs. With this, the score became 3-1. This ended up being the final score at League Stadium.
In relief for Oakland City,
Tyler Butler (L, 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB) and
Evan Price (1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO) took the mound.
Alec Pruitt led the Mighty Oaks offense with two hits, the other Oakland City hits came from
Conner Oxley and
Jared Kirkman.
Game 2
After a very close first game, the second game of the doubleheader got out of hand pretty quickly. The Cougars scored six runs in the first inning. Their lead grew to 8-0 in the top of the second inning. In the bottom half of the inning, Oakland City was able to score their first run.
Conner Oxley who reached base on a fielding error scored on a sacrifice fly from
Oliver Hamilton.
In the fifth inning the Mighty Oaks scored again. Hamilton reached base due to another error; his courtesy runner
Jackson Pullen scored on an RBI single from
Mason Simon. Simon came in to pinch to hit and got the first hit of the game for Oakland City.
IU Kokomo ended up scoring one more run, making it a 9-2 ballgame. This was the final score.
The pitchers for Oakland City were
Tommy Johnson (L, 0.2 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO),
Owen Spears (4.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO),
Luke Osborn (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB) and
Garrett Whiteker (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO). Hits for the Mighty Oaks came from
Mason Simon,
Jared Kirkman and
Noah Gilbert.
Game 3
On Monday, the Mighty Oaks took the field for game three versus IU Kokomo. Looking to get one win out of the series, the home team scored first. In the bottom of the fourth,
Treven Madden opened the score with a homerun to left field.
Garrett Causey followed with a single, he advanced to second base on a stolen base and to third base on a throwing error.
Sam Pinckert hit an RBI single to move the score to 0-2.
The Cougars came right back in the game. After a throwing error allowed a baserunner to get on, a two-run homerun tied the game at 2-2.
In the sixth inning the visitors took a lead, three runs scored, making it a 5-2 ballgame. The Mighty Oaks scored one in the bottom half of the inning after
Garrett Causey hit a double, he ended up scoring on a throwing error.
The game got out of hand in the eighth. The Cougars were able to score five runs, making it a 10-3 ballgame. This ended up being the final score.
The pitchers for Oakland City were
Ben Simmons (5.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO),
Milan van der Breggen (1.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO),
Hunter Callahan (1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) and
Blake Mincey (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO).
Garrett Causey led the Mighty Oaks with three hits in Monday's game. After this weekend, the Mighty Oaks are 15-5 overall, and 0-3 in the River States Conference.
The next games for the Mighty Oaks will be on Friday and Saturday, another home series at League Stadium. This time Brescia University will be the opponent. Today, March 7, the JV squad travels to Vincennes University for a nine-inning game at 4 PM CST.
