On Friday and Saturday, the Mighty Oaks baseball team took on Judson University in a four-game series. All games were scheduled to be seven innings, after three big victories, game four ended up being a close one, ending in a walk-off victory for Oakland City.
Game 1
In the first game of the renovated home field of the Mighty Oaks baseball team, the Oaks were very efficient with their hits. They needed only eight hits to plate eleven runs in the seven-inning game. Designated hitter
Garrett Causey had himself a day at the plate, collecting three hits, including two homeruns. With that he collected four RBIs. Causey was not the only one to go yard in this game. In the third inning,
Sam Pinckert drove in three runs with a long ball.
Mason Simon also homered; he made the score 10-0 in the sixth inning. A
Kendric Sorgius RBI single made it an 11-0 ballgame, which ended up being the final score.
Thomas King started on the mound for Oakland City. He pitched five scoreless innings, giving up three hits. The starter did not walk anyone and collected eight strikeouts.
Kiefer Parsons (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and
Milan van der Breggen (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) came in relief to complete the shutout.
Game 2
The second game of the doubleheader was another big victory for the Mighty Oaks. RBIs from
Sam Pinckert (fielder's choice),
Xander Willis (single) and
Alec Pruitt (single) gave Oakland City an early 3-0 lead in the first. In the fourth inning, more Oaks runs followed.
Fred Fernandez tripled, plating three runs for the Mighty Oaks. After four innings, Oakland City was up 10-0.
Gehrig Jones and
Kiefer Parsons collected a pair of RBIs in the fifth making it a 13-0 game, which wound up being the final score for the second game of the doubleheader.
On the mound,
Gehrig Tenhumberg dealt for five innings. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out nine. His relievers were
Hunter Callahan (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) and
Blake Mincey (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) who wrapped up the shutout for the Mighty Oaks.
Game 3
After a scoreless first inning,
Xander Willis opened the score in the second inning for the Mighty Oaks. A homerun to right centerfield brought in two runs. Later in the inning,
Noah Baugher tripled to make it a 5-0 ballgame after two innings of play. An inning later a 2-RBI double from
Leyton Ivers and an RBI single from
Aron Busick brought the score to 8-0. In the fourth, singles from
Sam Pinckert,
Xander Willis and
Alec Pruitt (RBI) made it a 9-0 score. This ended up being the final score for game three of the series.
Coach Andy Lasher used four pitchers in this game. Ben Simmons (4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 SO) started and earned the win, his relievers were
Weston Allen (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO),
Christian Burgrabe (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and
Luke Osborn (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO).
Game 4
After three big victories, game four was a lot closer of a game. Oakland City started of hot. After
Noah Baugher singled,
Sam Pinckert brought him home with a double. With the bases loaded,
Oliver Hamilton came up just short of a homerun, as the ball hit the fence. His double still plated two runs. An inning later,
Leyton Ivers scored the fourth Mighty Oaks run on a
Noah Baugher single. An RBI single from
Kiefer Parsons put the score at 5-0 after three innings. Oakland City seemed to be in control, but in the top of the fourth, Judson was able to score four runs, putting the score at 5-4. In the bottom of the fifth, it was once again Parsons with an RBI single, giving the Mighty Oaks a little bit of a cushion.
In the top of the seventh, Judson University was able to tie the game up at 6-6, causing Oakland City to put in some work at the plate in the bottom half of the inning.
Oliver Hamilton led off with a hard-hit single to left field. His courtesy runner
Gehrig Jones advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and
Leyton Ivers followed with a walk.
JT Smallwood loaded the bases with a fielder's choice. With one out and the bases juiced,
Aron Busick was able to bring in the winning run with an RBI fielder's choice. A walk-off victory for the Mighty Oaks, as they won 7-6.
The pitchers in game four were
Tommy Johnson (4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO),
Mick Uebelhor (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO) and
Kendric Sorgius (W 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO).
Next for Oakland City baseball will be a JV game on Tuesday. The Oaks will host Wabash Valley College on Tuesday at 5 PM. This weekend the Mighty Oaks host Bethel University (IN) for a four-game series.
