Box Score Waleska, GA – To start the NAIA Opening Round, the Mighty Oaks faced off against the Wolfpack of Loyola University New Orleans. Despite an early offensive outburst, Oakland City came up short, resulting in them moving to the loser's bracket.
Marcos Arocho led off the game with a walk,
Xander Willis followed with a single and a deep fly from
Moises Rosario put the Oaks up 3-0 in a heartbeat. In the top of the third, Oakland City added another run. With two outs,
Moises Rosario drew a walk and he scored when
Josh Russell doubled to the left centerfield gap, making the score 4-0.
Loyola came with an answer in the bottom half of the inning. Three hits resulted in two runs, bringing the Wolfpack back in the game. This made the score 4-2 after three innings. While Oakland City struggled offensively, Loyola got things going. In the bottom of the sixth they took the lead. After two quick outs, two hit by pitches were followed by a double down the right field line and a single to center field, allowing three Loyola runs to score. With this two-out rally, the no. 2 seed took the lead and they did not let go.
The Mighty Oaks could not get anything going offensively in the later innings of the game, meanwhile a 2-run homerun from the Wolfpack added some insurance runs for the team from New Orleans. With that the final score was 4-7 in favor of Loyola University.
Mick Uebelhor was the starting pitcher for Oakland City, in 5.2 innings he gave up six hits and five runs (all earned). He walked three and fanned ten.
Chase Rubenacker came in in relief, he pitched 2.1 innings in which he allowed three hits and two runs (one earned), he walked none and struck out one.
After this loss in game one, the Mighty Oaks will face off against Ave Maria, the four seed. This will game will take place at 12:00 PM Eastern Time.
