Oakland City, IN – While all the other teams in the River States Conference started their conference season last weekend, the Mighty Oaks faced off against Brescia University this weekend to open up their conference season. They did so in dominant fashion, sweeping the Bearcats. The Oaks outscored them 27-4 throughout the series.
Game 1
After a week where the Mighty Oaks severely struggled to score runs, the bats got going early on Friday afternoon against Brescia. Singles from
Marcos Arocho,
Moises Rosario and
Josh Russell helped the Oaks score two runs in the first. An inning later,
Kendric Sorgius hit a 2-run homerun to center field, making it 4-0 Oaks.
Keifer Wilson also took a trip around the bases as he went yard in the bottom of the third. Brescia scored their first and only run of the game an inning later when they hit a homerun. The ball was flying well at Konkler Field with the nice temperatures and a strong wind blowing out.
Moises Rosario was the third Mighty Oak to go yard in this game, he hit a 3-run bomb in the bottom of the fourth, giving Oakland City an 8-1 lead. A 2-RBI double from
Hudson Allen made it 10-1. Allen was able to score on a single from
Xander Willis making it 11-1. The Oaks won in mercy-rule fashion after seven innings.
Mick Uebelhor started the game for Oakland City and did an outstanding job. The right-handed sophomore pitched a complete game to earn his second win on the year. He gave up six hits and one run (earned), while walking none and striking out eleven.
Game 2
On Saturday, runs were hard to come by in the first game. In the first inning,
Xander Willis reached base on a fielder's choice. He stole second and third base. On his attempt to steal third, an errant throw from the catcher ended up in left field to allow him to score the first run of the game. A homerun from
Hudson Allen in the bottom of the fifth doubled the Mighty Oaks lead, making it 2-0.
Fred Fernandez also went yard, his homerun in the seventh inning made it 3-0. This ended up being the final score at Konkler field as
Gehrig Tenhumberg and
Chase Rubenacker combined for the shutout.
Tenhumberg earned the win, pitching 5.2 innings in which he gave up one hit and no runs. He walked one and struck out seven.
Chase Rubenacker came in to finish off the game and earn the save. He pitched 3.1 innings and gave up one hit. He struck out three Bearcat batters.
Game 3
The Mighty Oaks offense got going again in the last game of the three-game set. After giving up a run in the top of the first, Oakland City answered right away with three runs.
Marcos Arocho doubled,
Xander Willis hit a triple and was able to score on an errant throw. Singles from
Moises Rosario and Fernandez resulted in the third run of the inning. Singled from
Kendric Sorgius and
Marcos Arocho, followed by back-to-back doubles from
Xander Willis and
Moises Rosario resulted in a 5-1 lead for Oakland City. An inning later,
Fred Fernandez made it 6-1 with a solo homerun to left field. Hits from
Xander Willis,
Josh Russell and
Oliver Hamilton (2-RBI double) gave the Oaks a 10-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. The Bearcats scored two runs in the top of the fifth, an inning later the Mighty Oaks extended their lead again after singles from
Fred Fernandez and
Hudson Allen, followed by an RBI double from
Dicky Gonzalez. This made the final score 13-3, completing the sweep for the Mighty Oaks.
Benjamen Simmons started the game for Oakland City, in 4.2 innings he allowed five hits and three runs (all earned), he walked three and struck out two. He earned the win.
Owen Spears (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and
Kendric Sorgius (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) came in the game out of the bullpen.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Oakland City will be playing against the College of the Ozarks. Following that, Indiana University Kokomo will be coming to town for the second River States Conference series of the year.
