To start the 2024 River States Conference season, Oakland City hosted the Trailblazers of Ohio Christian University. After two big wins on Friday and Saturday, the Mighty Oaks fell short in a close game to wrap up the series.
Game 1
On Friday night, under the lights of Konkler Field,
Thomas King took the bump for the Mighty Oaks. The starter threw four shutout innings, he gave up three hits, walked three and struck out eight. His relievers,
Mick Uebelhor (W, 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 SO) and
Evan Price (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) were able to keep the Trailblazer of Ohio Christian from scoring in the remainder of the game.
Early on, Oakland City also struggled to create much offense. After singles from
Artem Logvinov and
Leyton Ivers, first and third base were occupied. On a pick-off to first base, Logvinov was able to score the first Mighty Oaks run. It took till the sixth inning to add another run.
Xander Willis led off the inning with a walk, he advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt from
JT Smallwood and scored on an RBI double from
Oliver Hamilton.
An inning later, the Mighty Oaks offense started coming together. Hits from
Aron Busick,
Noah Baugher (RBI double) and
Fred Fernandez (RBI) contributed to a four-run inning. This gave Oakland City a comfortable 6-0 lead. More runs were added in the bottom of the eighth.
Leyton Ivers got on thanks to an error,
Marcos Arocho followed with a triple to the right-centerfield gap. Arocho scored on a groundout from
Aron Busick.
Sam Pinckert got on with a single,
Noah Baugher walked to put runners on first and second.
Xander Willis got on due to an error, this allowed Pinckert to score and Baugher was able to move to third base. On a wild pitch Baugher scored the tenth run, walking it off for the Mighty Oaks. 10-0 was the final score after eight innings.
Game 2
A day later, the Oaks continued their offensive and were able to score a total of fifteen runs in seven innings, resulting in another mercy rule win. After three innings, Oakland City was up 4-0. The real offense came in the fifth inning, this is when the Mighty Oaks scored ten runs. The Oaks collected three homeruns in the game, coming from
Aron Busick,
Fred Fernandez and
Garrett Causey.
Xander Willis stood out, going 4-for-5 with three doubles. Busick, Willis and Fernandez all collected three RBIs for the Mighty Oaks.
Gehrig Tenhumberg earned the win, throwing five shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, while walking one and striking out eleven.
Weston Allen (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) came in out of the bullpen to throw the last two innings.
Game 3
After two blowout victories, game three was a tight ballgame. The Mighty Oaks started off hot, scoring two runs in the first inning.
Aron Busick led off with a single,
Sam Pinckert followed with a double. Busick was thrown at out home on a fielder's choice. With runners on first and third,
Noah Baugher stole second, which allowed Pinckert to score the 1-0.
Oliver Hamilton brought in Baugher on an error by the second baseman. The Trailblazers scored one run in in the third and took the lead in the fourth, making it a 2-3 ballgame.
Oliver Hamilton made sure that the Ohio Christian lead did not last long, he drove in the go-ahead run with a deep fly to left field, making the score 4-3.
Oakland City added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on first and second,
Fred Fernandez drove in a run with an RBI single to left field. The insurance run was not enough, as Ohio Christian battled back in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs and taking the lead. The Mighty Oaks were not able to score in the bottom half of the inning, resulting in the 5-6 loss versus Ohio Christian.
Three pitchers were used in the third game of the series.
Benjamen Simmons (4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) started,
Owen Spears (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) and
Drew Fifer (L, 1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) came in out of the bullpen.
The Mighty Oaks are now 15-6 overall and 2-1 in River States Conference play. Next up on the schedule are two midweek games. Tuesday at Bethel University in McKenzie, TN and Wednesday at home versus Lourdes University. Upcoming weekend, the Oakland City baseball squad will travel to Rio Grande, Ohio to take on the Red Storm in another River States Conference Series.
