On day two of the NCCAA Mideast Regional Tournament, hosted on the campus of Oakland City University, the Mighty Oaks were able to stay undefeated and punch their ticket to the World Series in Kansas City. After a close game between Asbury and Alice Lloyd earlier in the day, the Oaks faced Asbury and won the regionals banner for the second year in a row.
Prior to the game at noon between Alice Lloyd College and Asbury a university, the NCCAA Mideast All-Region Awards were presented on the field.
Thomas King,
Gehrig Tenhumberg,
Benjamen Simmons,
Mick Uebelhor (SP),
Kiefer Parsons,
Evan Price (RP),
Oliver Hamilton (C),
Fred Fernandez,
Xander Willis,
Marcos Arocho (INF),
Leyton Ivers and Aaron Busick (OF) all made the first team.
Owen Spears (RP),
Sam Pinckert (INF) and
Noah Baugher (OF) got recognized in the second team.
Thomas King won the award for NCCAA Mideast Pitcher of the Year and
Leyton Ivers won the Freshman of the Year award.
Oliver Hamilton and
Marcos Arocho got recognized for their stellar defense and won a Gold Glove award.
During the elimination game at noon, the Eagles of Asbury University were able to beat Alice Lloyd and move on in the tournament. This meant that the Mighty Oaks would face off against Asbury at 3:30.
Oakland City took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning.
Fred Fernandez led off with a double and
Alec Pruitt followed with a single to put runners on the corners. A single from
Sam Pinckert followed, allowing Fernandez to score the first run of the game.
JT Smallwood followed with a basehit of his own, allowing courtesy runner
Blake Herrmann to cross homeplate. With runners on the corners again,
JT Smallwood got caught stealing at second, but Pinckert was able to score the third runner of the inning.
An inning later, the bases loaded up after a single from
Noah Baugher and walks for
Fred Fernandez and
Alec Pruitt. A sacrifice fly from
Sam Pinckert brought home Baugher, making it a 4-0 ballgame.
Both teams stayed quiet for a while on the offensive side of the ball, but in the bottom of the sixth. A three-run homerun for Asbury brought them back in the game.
The Mighty Oaks answered right away.
Xander Willis drew a walk and
Alec Pruitt followed with a single. A double from
Sam Pinckert allowed Willis to score the 5-3.
Mason Simon hit a sacrifice fly, bringing home Herrmann who ran for Pruitt.
Leyton Ivers added another insurance run with an RBI single through the left side, allowing Pinckert to score.
After
Mick Uebelhor's start (5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO),
Kiefer Parsons and
Evan Price came in to shut things down. The two southpaws combined for 3.1 scoreless innings, fanning five.
The score would remain at 7-3, as the Oakland City Mighty Oaks ended up as winners of the NCCAA Mideast Regional Tournament. Coach Andy Lasher and his squad advance to play in the NCCAA World Series in Kansas City, Missouri. This tournament starts on Saturday, May 18.
