Game 2 Walk Off Propels Oilers to Double Header Sweep
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team swept a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) North Division double-header on Saturday, April 21 against the Lake Erie Storm. With the two wins, the Oilers improve to 20-10 overall and have a 13-5 record in conference play. This marks the first time since 2012 that the Oilers have reached the 20-win plateau.
Game 1 (Box Score | W 2-0)
The Oilers and the Storm sent their aces to the hill for the opening contest and both delivered with solid performances, neither allowing an earned run in a combined 15 innings of work.
Findlay's first base runner of the game came in the third inning on an infield single by senior Troy Merriman, but he was stranded at second to end the inning.
The fourth inning is when the Oilers would get their break. Sophomore Casey Gould led off the frame with a single to right field and advanced to second on the play as the ball would skip past the right fielder. After a groundout that advanced Gould to third, Lake Erie's pitcher balked, sending Gould across home and giving Findlay a 1-0 lead.
Another run was added by the Orange and Black in the seventh when freshman Ryan Johnson, who reached on an error, came across to score on a two-out single by senior Troy Merriman. The hit gave the Oilers a two-run cushion with just six outs remaining.
Starter Colin Gossard breezed through the eighth and turned the ball over to junior Josh Robinson who worked around a walk to secure his 11th save of the season, tying the Findlay record and setting a new G-MAC single-season record.
Both teams combined for just six hits, three apiece, with the Oilers' hits coming off the bats of Casey Gould and two by Troy Merrmian.
Gossard earned the win on the hill to improve to 5-1 on the year. The senior tossed eight innings and did not allow an earned run on just three hits. He walked only one and struck out nine.
Game 2 (Box Score | W 4-3)
Offense was hard to come by in the second contest of the day and the Oilers needed a comeback effort to grind out a one-run victory.
Falling behind 3-1 through six-and-a-half innings of play in a seven inning game, Findlay needed at least two runs to stay alive. With two outs and a runner on first, Troy Merriman, who delivered a big hit in game one, walked to put runners on first and second. Freshman Tyler Archambeau stepped up and delivered with a single to right field that plated Cameron Johnson and was followed by Casey Gould who also roped an RBI single, tying the game at 3-3.
After an uneventful eighth inning, Findlay led off the ninth with a walk by Josh Schwerer. Cameron Johnson singled and freshman Wyatt Young was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Lake Erie then shifted their defense, putting five players on the infield to prevent a ground ball from leaking through, but it would not matter as Casey Gould was plunked by the second pitch of his at-bat, ending the contest in walk-off fashion.
Nic Varda finished the game with a pair of hits while Josh Schwerer had one hit and two runs scored.
Josh Robinson came out of the bullpen to earn the victory, his first win of the year. He threw 1.1 innings and allowed one hit.
Alex Harter got the start on the hill and delivered with a solid outing, lasting 5.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out five.
Findlay will go for the series sweep tomorrow at 1:00 pm at the Cube.