Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 |
Box Score 3 New Albany, IN – On Thursday and Sunday, the Mighty Oaks went to Indiana University Southeast to take on the Grenadiers. A tough opponent in the River States Conference, which showed, as Oakland City went home empty handed.
Game 1
Due to bad weather on Friday, the series was split up between Thursday and Sunday. On Thursday, the Mighty Oaks drove to New Albany, Indiana for the first game of the series versus the Grenadiers.
A rough start for the Mighty Oaks set the tone for the day. In the first inning, the home team took a 0-2 lead. While Oakland City struggled to create much offense, the Grenadiers added another run in the second inning with a deep fly to left field.
In the third inning, Brayden Hazelwood, who also went yard in the prior inning, did it again. This time it was a three-run shot. By the end of the third, the Grenadiers were up 0-7.
One inning later, the Mighty Oaks got on the board for the first time. A lead-off double from
Noah Baugher, started a big inning. Baugher scored on a single from
Sam Pinckert.
Conner Oxley drew a walk, before
Xander Willis tripled, driving in two more runs. Willis was able to score on an RBI groundout from
Victor Alvarez.
The home team would score two runs in the bottom half of the inning, making it a 4-9 ballgame.
In the top of the fifth, two walks to lead off the inning were followed by a single from
Noah Baugher, putting runners on first and second base, while scoring one. An RBI single from
Conner Oxley allowed another Oakland City run to score.
Despite having several runners reach base, the Mighty Oaks were not able to plate any more runs. The Grenadiers scored two more, making the final score 6-11 after nine innings.
Noah Baugher led the Mighty Oaks offense with three hits in five at bats. On the mound for Oakland City,
Gehrig Tenhumberg (L, 2.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO),
Tyler Butler (0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO) and
Milan van der Breggen (4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) all toed the rubber.
Game 2
The series continued on Sunday and due to wet field conditions, the doubleheader was played on the turf of Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.
In a low scoring affair,
Christian Burgrabe (L, 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) took the mound in game two of the series. His offense, took a two-run lead in the second inning. After
Xander Willis walked and
Oliver Hamilton got hit by a pitch,
Victor Alvarez reached base on an infield single. On the play, where the Grenadiers made a throwing error to first base, Alvarez advanced to third base and both runners scored.
In the third inning, Brayden Hazelwood connected for his third homer of the series. This time a two-run shot to left field, tying the game at two.
While the Mighty Oaks offense stayed silent for the remainder of the game, the Grenadiers scored two more runs. In the fifth inning a double down the left field line scored two more runs. 2-4 would end up being the final score in Louisville.
Owen Spears came in out of the bullpen and did a good job giving the Mighty Oaks a chance. He pitched 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out one.
Game 3
After a long scoring game and a nailbiter in which Oakland City fell just short, the last game of the series went a little differently.
An early lead was established by the Grenadiers, after scoring three in the first inning.
In the second inning,
Victor Alvarez brought his team back in the game. He homered to right field, bringing home
Bailey Hale who got on base with a single. In the bottom half of the inning, IU Southeast also barreled a ball over the fence. The score was 2-5 after two innings.
In the third inning, the Grenadiers scored five more runs, solidifying their lead. One more run was scored in the sixth inning, once again a homerun was hit. This put the home team at eleven runs.
In the top of the seventh and last inning,
Victor Alvarez scored on a sacrifice fly from
Brandon Skaggs, putting the final score at 3-11.
The pitchers for Oakland City were
Ben Simmons (L, 2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO),
Evan Price (1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO),
Weston Allen (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) and
Luke Osborn (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO).
Next up for the Mighty Oaks is a home game at League Stadium. Tomorrow, on Monday April 3, IUPUC will travel to Huntingburg for one nine-inning game, starting at 11 AM CST.
