Oakland City, IN – The Mighty Oaks baseball team faced off against the University of Rio Grande in River States Conference play on Thursday and Friday. After a big win on Thursday, Oakland City barely got past the Red Storm twice on Friday to complete the series sweep.
Game 1
Oakland City's offense started off well. A lead-off single from
Marcos Arocho was followed up by a walk from
Xander Willis. A fly ball from
Moises Rosario advanced the runners, allowing
Josh Russell to drive in the first run of the game with a groundout. A double steal from
Fred Fernandez, who reached base on a walk, and
Xander Willis resulted in an early 2-0 lead. An inning later,
Keifer Wilson homered to make it 3-0. Doubles from
Dicky Gonzalez and
Moises Rosario helped to make it 5-0.
Hudson Allen went yard in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 7-0,
Marcos Arocho was quick to make it a 9-0 ballgame as he also went yard in the bottom of the third.
In the top of the sixth, Rio Grande plated three runs on two hits and two errors. This made the score 10-3. An inning later, the Mighty Oaks were able to secure a mercy-rule victory as
Marcos Arocho drove in two runs with a single to left field.
Josh Russell drove in the thirteenth run of the afternoon to end the game.
Oakland City saw three arms toe te rubber in this 13-3 victory at Konkler Field.
Mick Uebelhor started the game by throwing five innings of shutout baseball. He gave up three hits, while walking two and striking out three.
Logan Swaney (0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) and
Weston Allen (1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) came in out of the bullpen.
Game 2
The series continued on Friday with two close ballgames. Oakland City took an early 1-0 lead when
Xander Willis homered to left field in the first. The visitors from Ohio took their first lead of the weekend in the third inning when two runs scored on an RBI single. A sacrifice fly from
Xander Willis in the bottom of the third tied up the game at two.
Keifer Wilson doubled in the fourth inning to score
Hudson Allen (single) and give the home squad the lead again. Rio Grande did not give in as they scored two runs in the sixth inning. A big swing from
Keifer Wilson in the bottom of the seventh tied the game up in the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-4. An inning later, Wilson came through with another clutch hit. A single to left field allowed
Will Gibbs to score the go-ahead run. A sacrifice fly from
Kendric Sorgius allowed
Hudson Allen to score the 6-4, which ended up being the final score.
Gehrig Tenhumberg was the starting pitcher for the Oaks. He hurled 5.2 innings in which he allowed seven hits and four runs (all earned). He walked none and punched out six.
Chase Rubenacker earned the win in relief as he pitched 3.1 innings. He allowed two hits, no runs as he walked three and struck out four.
Game 3
Rio Grande took an early 0-2 lead in the first two innings of game three. In the bottom of the second, Oakland City came with an answer in the form of two runs to tie the game.
Fred Fernandez singled, followed by a double from
Hudson Allen and an RBI single from
Keifer Wilson.
Dicky Gonzalez reached base on a fielder's choice which allowed Allen to score the tying run. The Red Storm scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning, giving them a 2-6 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Mighty Oaks answered in a big way. The inning started with a double from
Kendric Sorgius,
Marcos Arocho,
Xander Willis (RBI) and
Will Gibbs (RBI) all singled.
Josh Russell got hit by a pitch and
Fred Fernandez drew a walk. A sacrifice fly from
Hudson Allen and an RBI single from
Keifer Wilson made it 7-6.
Dicky Gonzalez followed with a big double to make it 8-6. The lead was not quite safe yet, as Rio Grande retook the lead in the top of the sixth, on four hits they scored three runs to make it 8-9. A solo homerun from
Josh Russell in the bottom half of the inning tied the game up. Not much later,
Dicky Gonzalez went yard to drive in three runs and give his squad a 12-9 lead. The visitors would score one more run in the seventh inning, making the final score 12-10 Mighty Oaks.
Five pitchers were used in the third game of the series.
Benjamen Simmons (2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) started the game. His relievers were
Owen Spears (1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO),
Landen Ray (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO),
Dicky Gonzalez (W, 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) and
Kendric Sorgius (S, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO).
Next up for the Mighty Oaks is a JV game at home on Monday versus Wabash Valley College. On Wednesday a game at home versus Kentucky State University is scheduled. On Friday and Saturday, the Oaks will be in West Virginia to continue their River States Conference schedule with a three-game series versus the Golden Bears of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.
