To open up the 2024 season, the Oakland City baseball squad traveled to Marion, North Carolina for a four-game series versus Mid-Atlantic Christian University and Toccoa Falls College. After a rough day on Friday with two losses, the Mighty Oaks came back to even up the record on Saturday.
Game 1
The matchup against the Mustangs of Mid-Atlantic Christian started off strong for the Mighty Oaks. In his first outing as a Mighty Oak,
Thomas King dominated the Mustangs lineup. Oakland City got a 1-0 lead in the second inning when
Kendric Sorgius drove in
Xander Willis. Two innings later, an RBI single from
Aron Busick and a sacrifice fly from
Noah Baugher made it a 3-0 game. Mid-Atlantic Christian scored once in the seventh and managed to score five runs in the eighth inning.
Oakland City had some work to do in order to start their season with a victory. On a single by
Fred Fernandez in the top of the ninth, two runs scored, but it wasn't enough to tie the game. The Mighty Oaks dropped their season opener, losing 5-6.
Game 2
After the devastating loss in game one, Oakland City played another close game versus the Screaming Eagles of Toccoa Falls.
Gehrig Tenhumberg started the game, throwing five shutout innings. In his outing, he struck out eight, dominating the Toccoa Falls lineup. His reliever,
Mick Uebelhor had to surrender one run in four innings out of the bullpen. He fanned six batters, keeping Oakland City in this close game.
Hits were hard to come by for the Mighty Oaks.
Alec Pruitt was the first Oakland City batter to collect a basehit. In the bottom of the ninth,
Xander Willis tied the game up at 1-1 by driving a ball out of the park. With the game being tied after nine innings, extra innings were necessary to decide a winner. Toccoa Falls scored once in the top of the tenth, while Oakland City was not able to create any more offense. After ten innings, the final score was 1-2 in favor of Toccoa Falls College.
Game 3
The lack of offense on Friday was made up for a day later. In the second matchup versus the Mustangs, Oakland City collected 21 hits which resulted in twenty runs.
Leyton Ivers led the Oaks offensively. He went 4-for-5, while scoring three runs and driving in two.
Aron Busick,
Noah Baugher and
Sam Pinckert all collected three hits at the top of the lineup.
Benjamen Simmons earned the win for Oakland City, he pitched four innings. His relievers were
Owen Spears,
Evan Price and
Kendric Sorgius.
Game 4
The final game of the weekend was another close one, just like the first game versus Toccoa Falls. A phenomenal outing by
Tommy Johnson (5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO) helped the Mighty Oaks in a big way. The first Mighty Oaks run came in the second inning when
Xander Willis (single) got driven in by
Leyton Ivers (sacrifice fly).
Aron Busick made it a 2-0 game when he drove in Ivers (walk) with a single in the top of the fifth. A couple insurance runs were added in the sixth, thanks to a big 2-RBI double from
Garrett Causey and a 2-RBI single from
JT Smallwood.
Kiefer Parsons and
Drew Fifer came in the game out of the bullpen to shut the door and complete the shutout. The Mighty Oaks beat Toccoa Falls 6-0, evening up their record at 2-2 after one weekend.
On Wednesday, the JV team will play at Frontier Community College. This game will start at 2 PM. Varsity gets back in action on Friday. Judson University will travel to Oakland City to take on the Mighty Oaks at the newly renovated Pinnick Field. Doubleheaders will be played on Friday and Saturday, starting at noon on both days.
