Freshmen Lead Oilers in 7-0 Blanking of Urbana
Findlay, OH – The University of Findlay baseball team had their home opener on Wednesday, March 18. They hosted and defeated the Urbana Blue Knights and used a big fourth inning which propelled the home team to 7-0 win.
Both teams traded zeros until the bottom on the fourth inning, which began with a single from Troy Merriman. Following a fly out, Miguel Valdez singled, moving Merriman to second. Kevin Schrock singled, scoring Merriman for the first run of the game; but the Oilers were not done there. Josh Schwerer then singled, scoring Valdez, and stole second, putting runners on second and third. Cam Johnson, who has collected seven hits in his last three games, doubled to right, scoring Schrock and Schwerer. Johnson later scored on an error for the final run of the inning. The Oilers led 5-0 after four.
In the fifth, Findlay added to their lead when Peter Yorgen singled and stole second and later scored on a single from Schwerer, pushing their lead to 6-0.
The final run came in the eighth inning when Schwerer doubled to right center, advanced to third on a balk, and scored on a groundout from Johnson, his third RBI of the game.
Schwerer and Johnson, both freshmen, collected three hits in the game. Schwerer had two RBI's and two runs scored and Johnson had three RBI.
Merriman and Schrock ended the day with a pair of hits and a run scored while Schrock also added an RBI.
Offensive numbers for the Oilers were solid as they collected seven runs on 13 hits.
Colin Gossard earned his first win on the mound as he pitched seven innings and allowed just four hits. He gave up no runs, walked one, and struck out nine.
Alexander Theiss pitched one inning and struck out one and Alex Williams got another inning under his belt and picked up a strikeout.
The Oilers are back in action this Saturday, March 21, for their first taste of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action as they open a four-game series with Lake Erie College at 1:00pm.