Pulaski, TN - To open up the 2025 season, the Mighty Oaks baseball squad played a four-game series at the University of Tennessee Southern in Pulaski, Tennessee. Oakland City was able to come home with three wins after the weekend, starting the season off pretty well.
Game 1
The Firehawks of UT Southern started this game and with that the season off well, a solo homerun in the first inning made the score 0-1. In the bottom of the third, a double resulted in the second run for the Firehawks. While Oakland City had plenty of opportunities to score, with runners reaching scorings position in every inning. Unfortunately, the big hit never came for the Oaks, resulting in a 0-2 loss to start the season during the first game on Saturday. The Mighty Oaks pitchers were
Mick Uebelhor (4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO) and
Owen Spears (1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO).
Game 2
While hits were still scarce for the Mighty Oaks, some stellar pitching helped Oakland City to their first victory of the year. The score opened up in the fifth inning when
Leyton Ivers got hit by a pitch. He advanced to third on single from
Will Gibbs. A
Josh Russell single loaded up the bases.
Moises Rosario walked to get an RBI and make it a 1-0 ballgame. Later in the inning
Hudson Allen got hit by a pitch to make it 2-0. That was all the offense the Mighty Oaks were able to provide in game two, but the pitching was outstanding.
Gehrig Tenhumberg pitched five innings of no-hit baseball, he walked one and struck out eleven.
Dicky Gonzalez threw the sixth inning and put up zeroes all across the board. The save went to
Kendric Sorgius who struck out two in the seventh.
Game 3
After the first day where it was cold and field conditions were wet. It was a lot nicer weather for baseball on Sunday. Tennessee Southern scored early, as they put up one in the first. A homerun in the third made it a 0-2 ballgame.
Hudson Allen started a Mighty Oaks rally with a solo homerun in the top of the fourth.
Kendric Sorgius followed with a single,
Oliver Hamilton walked,
Xander Willis walked and
Marcos Arocho singled through the left side to drive in two. He made the score 3-2. The Firehawks retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning. The Mighty Oaks answered immediately. With two guys on,
Xander Willis cleared the bases with a triple. Willis scored when
Marcos Arocho got on thanks to a throwing error. Arocho scored on an RBI single from
Will Gibbs. In the sixth inning the Mighty Oaks scored five more, partially thanks to a 3-run homerun from
Xander Willis. Willis would hit another homerun that was good for three runs in the next inning. The final score was 18-7 in Tennessee. Coach Lasher used five pitchers in this game.
Benjamen Simmons (3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) started the game. His relievers were
Tommy Johnson (0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO),
Luis Pezzotti (W, 1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO),
Ian Hall (0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) and
Clark Gries (1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO).
Game 4
In the final game of the four-game set, UT Southern started off hot as well, as a 3-run homerun gave them a lead in the first inning. Oakland City came with a quick answer.
Hudson Allen got hit by a pitch,
Dongjoon Shin and
Xander Willis followed with singles.
Dicky Gonzalez and
Leyton Ivers both walked to bring in two runs.
Josh Russell collected an RBI with a fielder's choice to tie up the game.
Noah Boon reached base on an error, allowing two runs to score and
Hudson Allen followed with his second homerun on the weekend to make it 8-3. In the top of the fourth, the score became 10-3 thanks to hits from
Fred Fernandez and
Leyton Ivers. The Firehawks scored two in the bottom half to make it a 10-5 ballgame. The final score ended up being 11-5, as
Will Gibbs doubled to center field which allowed
Xander Willis (single) to score.
Chase Rubenacker started the game, he pitched 3.2 innings, gave up seven hits, five runs (all earned), he walked none and struck out three. His relievers were
Landen Ray (W, 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO),
Weston Allen (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and
Cole Lambird (1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO).
After a 3-1 start to the season, the Mighty Oaks baseball squad travels down to Babson Park, Florida on Friday to play two doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. They will be playing number eight ranked Webber International this weekend.
