Findlay Drops Twinbill to Open Conference Play
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team opened up Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play on Saturday, March 13 at The Cube in Findlay, the first games on their home field in 679 days. The Oilers lost both games at the hands of the Malone Pioneers, losing the opener 6-5 in extra innings and then dropping the nightcap 3-0. With the losses, Findlay falls to 2-7 on the year with an 0-2 mark in conference play while the Pioneers improve to 7-2 overall and start conference play 2-0.
After a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Oilers got things started in their half of the inning with a leadoff double by sophomore Cole Kwiatkowski and a walk to junior Christian Orr. After a strikeout and a wild pitch, senior Austin Rawlins roped a single to left field to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. Senior Ethan St. Clair then singled to score Orr and extend that lead to 2-0. A pickoff and strikeout put an early end to the first inning threat.
Malone got their first run on the board in the third and, after four scoreless innings, took their first lead of the day with three runs in the eighth.
Trailing 4-2, sophomore Cam Farrar led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and, after a passed ball, advanced to third on a single by Ethan St. Clair. Sixth-year senior Jordan Williams then tripled to send both runners home and tie the game. Williams attempted to score on the play for an inside-the-park homerun but was thrown out on the relay to end the inning. The game went to extra innings as neither team scored in the ninth.
In the tenth, junior Trey Bame came into the game to pitch for Findlay. A pair of singles by Malone was followed by three walks to send two runs across the plate, giving the Pioneers a 6-4 lead in the top of the tenth.
Farrar led off the bottom of the inning with a double and after an error, St. Clair was walked to load the bases with no outs. Senior Ryan Johnson singled to pull the Oilers within one, but on the play sophomore Nolan O'Connell, who reached on an error, was thrown out at home trying to score. With runners still at second and third with one out, the next two batters struck out swinging to end the game.
St. Clair picked up three hits, a run scored, and an RBI in the game to lead the Oilers' offense. Kwiatkowski had a pair of hits, including a double, and a run scored while Farrar had one hit, a double, a two runs scored. Williams was the lone player with multiple RBI as he sent two runs home.
Junior Anthony Kyle started on the hill and turned in a solid performance as he tossed 7.1 innings and allowed just three runs on six hits. He walked four and struck out seven before turning the ball over to his bullpen. Bame, who pitched in the top of the tenth, took the loss.
The nightcap was not quite the thriller that the first game was as the Oilers offense struggled to deliver in key situations.
Malone scored single runs in the first, fifth, and seventh innings to control the game.
Findlay, which is now hitting .190 this season with runners on base, had a good chance in the third to tie the game as Johnson led off with a walk and, after a strikeout, advanced to third on a single. With runners on the corners and one out, trailing by a run, back-to-back hitters fell victim to the strikeout to end the threat.
In the fifth, the Oilers again threatened as they had runners reach second and third with two outs, but again, the inning ended via the strikeout.
Findlay had one hit in the final two innings as the Malone pitching staff picked up the shutout to give the visitors a double-header sweep.
Senior Casey Gould had a pair of hits, including one double, for Findlay, which left seven runners on base in the game. St. Clair, a triple, and Kwiatkowski each had hits in the game, as well.
Junior Ryan Mohr took the loss to fall to 1-2 on the year despite a solid performance. He threw six innings and allowed just two runs on four hits while setting a career-high with 11 strikeouts.
Findlay and Malone will conclude the series with a pair of games tomorrow, Sunday, March 14, starting at 1:00 pm.
