Box Score In an elimination game, the Mighty Oaks baseball team faced off against Point Park University. The Pioneers are the No. 1 seed in the tournament and showed their strength, as they got an early lead and never gave in.
Oakland City struggled getting guys on base, as the first time through the order, no one reached base. In the fourth inning,
Leyton Ivers walked to be the first Mighty Oaks baserunner.
Aron Busick reached base on a fielding error and with two outs,
Oliver Hamilton walked to load the bases. On a wild pitch, all runners were able to move up a spot, allowing Ivers to score a run. This made it a 1-3 ballgame, as Point Park had already scored once in the first and twice in the third. The Pioneers scored again in the bottom of the fourth, growing their lead to 1-4.
JT Smallwood collected the first Oakland City hit in the top of the fifth. After he singled,
Marcos Arocho following with another single. On an errant throw from right field to third base, Smallwood was able to score.
Things got a little out of hand in the sixth inning, as Point Park grew their lead to 2-9. They scored five runs on only two hits.
Oakland City was not able to come with much of an answer. In the top of the ninth, one more run was scored, as senior catcher
Alec Pruitt went yard to left field. This resulted in the final score being 3-9.
The Mighty Oaks used five arms on the mound.
Benjamen Simmons (L, 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) started the game,
Kiefer Parsons (2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO),
Tommy Johnson (0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO),
Cole Lambird (1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) and
Kendric Sorgius (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO) all pitched in relief.
With this loss, Oakland City is eliminated from the River States Conference tournament. They ended with a 17-7 record in conference games. This early exit in the conference tournament does not mean the season is over for the Oaks.
Starting on Wednesday, Oakland City will host the NCCAA Mideast Regional Tournament. In a three-team double elimination tournament, the Oaks will face off against Asbury University and Alice Lloyd College. The first game for the Mighty Oaks will be on Wednesday at 3:30 PM versus the winner of the first game between Asbury and Alice Lloyd.
