Findlay Splits with Tiffin to Begin Final Home Series of the Season
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team split a doubleheader against the Tiffin Dragons on Saturday, May 1 at The Cube in Findlay, Ohio. The Oilers won the opener by a score of 9-3 and then struggled on the mound in the nightcap leading to an 18-8 loss. With the split, Findlay is now 12-21 on the season with a 10-16 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play while Tiffin moves to 21-12 and 16-10 in the conference.
After celebrating Senior Day prior to the start of the games, Findlay came out in the first game of the day with their foot on the gas. The bottom of the second started with back-to-back walks and, after two quick outs, junior Brandon Emery rolled a ball through the right side to put the Oilers up 1-0. The next batter, sophomore standout Cole Kwiatkowski, hit his fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot that extended the lead to 4-0.
Tiffin scored on run in the third, but the Oilers scored single runs of their own in the fourth and fifth innings to make the lead 6-1 before two runs by Dragons in the sixth made it 6-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, a wild pitch and later, an RBI single by sophomore Nate Brooks, sent a couple runs home. In the eighth, Brooks singled again to send another run home, making the Oilers lead 9-3.
The Dragons were set down 1-2-3 in the ninth, ending the game.
Brooks finished the game with three hits, two runs scored, and two RBI. He also walked in the game. Kwiatkowski had one hit, the home run, three RBI, and two runs scored while Emery had one hit, one RBI, and two runs scored.
Junior Anthony Kyle got the win on the hill as he tossed 5.1 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. He walked four and struck out seven.
The nightcap did not go as well for Findlay. The game began with three runs in the top of the first for the Dragons. Findlay matched with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first, two of which came on a two-RBI double by Brooks. Sophomore Cam Farrar followed with a single that scored Brooks to tie the game at three.
In the bottom of the second, senior Tyler Archambeau led off with a single. The next batter, junior Brandon Emery, blasted a ball over the wall in straightaway center field for a two run home run, the first home run of the season for Emery and just the second of his career. That blast put the Oilers ahead 5-3.
Tiffin went on to score four unanswered runs, taking the lead in the fifth on a three-run home run. Five more runs in the sixth and six runs in the seventh put the game out of reach for Findlay.
Findlay outhit the Dragons in the second game 10-to-8, but the Oilers pitching staff combined for 14 walks and five hit-by-pitches which led to 14 earned runs scored against them.
Findlay and Tiffin will wrap up their series tomorrow, Sunday, May 2, at The Cube. The first game is set to begin at 1:00 pm.