Memorable Moments Highlight Senior Day Split with Cedarville

Memorable Moments Highlight Senior Day Split with Cedarville

 

Game 1 Box Score (W 5-1)

Game 2 Box Score (L 13-4)

Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team played their final games of the season in Findlay, Ohio on Saturday, May 4 against the Cedarville Yellow Jackets. On a day where the Oilers were able to celebrate their seven seniors prior to the start of the doubleheader, Findlay earned a 5-1 win in the opener but fell 13-4 in the nightcap to end their injury-plagued season with a 15-28 record and a 9-21 mark in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). Cedarville ends its' 2019 campaign at 14-32 overall and 8-20 in the league.

The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the first game but Findlay answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on a two-RBI single by Ryan Johnson.

From that point on, the game belonged to senior Alex Harter, making the final start of his career. He would threw seven strong innings in which he scattered six hits and allowed just a single run. Harter did not commit a walk in the game and on the final batter of the game, he coaxed a strikeout, his fifth of the game. After the out, Harter let out a yell and a fist pump as he walked to embrace his teammates for the final time as a member of the Oilers.

The story changed in the second game of the day as Cedarville brought the offensive firepower, pushing 13 runs across the plate on 19 hits, the most hits the Yellow Jackets have recorded in a game this season.

While the game for the Oilers was less memorable than the first, one moment in the contest stood out as one that will not soon be forgotten.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, senior Nic Varda stepped up to the plate with his team trailing by nine. He belted a fastball over the right field fence and slowly trotted the bases knowing it would be his final collegiate at-bat.

Senior Derrick Herd also played in his final games for the Oilers on Saturday. Findlay's all-time leader with 651 at-bats, Herd picked up three hits in the doubleheader to end his career with 186, tied for third all-time at the University of Findlay.