Oilers Stay Perfect With 8-7 Victory
Auburndale, Fla. – The University of Findlay baseball team held on for an 8-7 win against Notre Dame (OH) on Wednesday, March 8 at Lake Myrtle Park. With the victory, the Oilers improve to a 7-0 record, the best start in school history.
As the game started, it had the appearance of a defensive struggle as the teams traded zeros for the first three full innings of play.
Findlay took the lead in a big way in the fourth inning when Logan Harrah led off with a bunt single, just the second hit of the day. Pete Burkett stepped in and connected on a no-doubt home run to left field, the first home run of his career, giving the Oilers a 2-0 lead. Another run would cross thanks to a pair of errors from the Falcons' third baseman.
Notre Dame came back with a run in the bottom half of the inning but Findlay added two in the sixth. Cameron Johnson doubled with one out and scored on a single from Miguel Valdez, who eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Leading 5-1 with six outs left, the Falcons put up three runs in the eighth inning to pull within one at 5-4.
The Oilers answered in a big way in the top of the ninth when they pushed three runs of their own across to take an 8-4 lead. Two of those runs came via two-out bases loaded walks.
Notre Dame would not go away, scoring three runs in the ninth, all with two outs. A ground out to short would end the game with the score at 8-7.
Tyler Kennedy earned the win on the hill after pitching 6.2 innings and allowing one run on four hits. He walked three and struck out seven batters.
Eight of the Oilers' nine hitters finished the game with a hit. They were led by Pete Burkett who finished three-for-four with two runs scored and two RBI. Cameron Johnson and Troy Merriman each had two hits.
Findlay had eight runs on 12 hits, the fifth double-digit hit game of the season. They made one error. Notre Dame had seven runs on ten hits, made two errors and left seven runners on base.
Findlay will take on Lewis in a double-header tomorrow, March 9 at 1:00pm.