Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 |
Box Score 3 Circleville, OH – With qualification for the River States Conference tournament on the line, a big series versus the Trailblazers of Ohio Christian University was played on Sunday and Monday. After dropping the first game, the Mighty Oaks fought back and took home the series to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Game 1
An early deficit in game one haunted the Mighty Oaks for the rest of the first game. By the end of the second inning, Oakland City was down 0-7.
It took until the sixth for the Mighty Oaks to put their first run on the board.
Xander Willis reached base on a single, he stole second and advanced to third base on the throw. This allowed
Sam Pinckert to bring him home with a sacrifice fly.
The Trailblazers of Ohio Christian would score two more in the seventh, making the score 1-9. This was the final score after nine innings, in the first game of the series.
Aron Busick,
Xander Willis and
Oliver Hamilton were the only Oaks to collect a hit. On the mound, the
Christian Burgrabe (L, 1.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) and
Gehrig Tenhumberg (6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) split the duties.
Game 2
In the second game of the doubleheader, the scoreline was pretty much reversed. Oakland City pieced together some quality innings, while Ohio Christian had a hard time getting on base.
Ben Simmons had a great day on the mound. He threw a complete game (seven innings) and allowed only two hits, one run (earned), while walking one and striking out six.
This performance on the mound gave the Mighty Oaks a good opportunity to take home the victory. In the third inning, basehits from
Aron Busick,
Noah Baugher and
Sam Pinckert (2 RBIs) gave Oakland City a 2-1 lead. Another run was added in the fourth.
Conner Oxley reached base on an error;
Alec Pruitt followed with a single. Later in the inning,
Aron Busick singled, to bring home
Bailey Taylor. Taylor was the courtesy runner for Pruitt.
The Mighty Oaks scratched away another run in the sixth, this time the big hit came from
Jared Kirkman who singled to left centerfield. This brought home the fourth Oakland City run.
Three more insurance runs were added in the last inning.
Aron Busick led off with a single,
Xander Willis also got on base with a single.
Sam Pinckert was intentionally walked, to load up the bases. A solid base hit from
Victor Alvarez followed, bringing home Busick.
Alec Pruitt singled home two more with two outs in the inning. This made the final score in Circleville 7-1.
Game 3
In the rubber match of the three-game series versus Ohio Christian, the Mighty Oaks fell behind early, but a big inning and some important hits late in the game caused for a good ending for the Oakland City baseball team.
The Mighty Oaks took a 1-0 lead in the second after
Victor Alvarez singled, stole second and was brought home on a single from
Alec Pruitt. This lead turned into a 1-3 deficit in the bottom half of the inning.
Oakland City would score again in the fourth, and again it was
Alec Pruitt with the RBI, this time with a sacrifice fly.
Sam Pinckert, who got on base with a single, was able to score the second Mighty Oaks run. A rough bottom half of the fourth inning, put the Mighty Oaks down 2-7.
In the sixth, the Oakland City offense pieced together some quality at-bats. A lead-off triple from
Victor Alvarez was followed by a double from
Alec Pruitt,
Oliver Hamilton walked and
Jared Kirkman got on base due to an error. This loaded the bases. A bases clearing double from
Aron Busick followed. The Mighty Oaks were right back in it after scoring four runs on three hits in the inning.
The tying run come from
Sam Pinckert who got on base with a lead-off double in the seventh inning. He advanced to third on a productive groundout from
Victor Alvarez.
Chase Christie was the next batter up, he struck out, but after a dropped third strike, the catcher threw the ball to first base and Pinckert hustled his way home to tie it all up at seven.
Oakland City took the lead in the ninth.
Sam Pinckert led-off with a single,
Victor Alvarez followed with a double, putting runners on second and third base. A walk for
Conner Oxley loaded the bases. Another base on balls followed, to bring home what ended up being the winning run for the Mighty Oaks. Once again it was
Alec Pruitt with the RBI, the catcher went three for three with four RBIs and a walk.
The winning pitcher for Oakland City was
Evan Price, who threw the last 2.2 innings without allowing a baserunner, he also struck out four. The other pitchers for the Mighty Oaks were
Hunter Callahan (1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K),
Owen Spears (1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K),
Milan van der Breggen (0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB) and
Blake Mincey (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K).
Next up for the Mighty Oaks baseball team is a midweek game on Tuesday at Kentucky State University. This game will start at 1:00 PM. On Thursday, coach Andy Lasher and his squad will take the field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the first two games of the three-game series versus Point Park University. The fight for the sixth and final spot in the River States Conference is still going on, as both Oakland City University and Ohio Christian University have a shot to qualify.
