Oilers Split with Pioneers in Day One of Series
Canton, Ohio- The University of Findlay Baseball team traveled to Canton Ohio on March 20th to play games one and two of a four gamer series with the Malone University Pioneers. Findlay comes into the series with a 6-13 record overall and sits at 2-2 in G-MAC play.
In game one Findlay started the game off hot scoring two runs in the first inning. The first came off an RBI single by junior Cam Farrar that scored freshmen Jabin Bates. Farrar would later come around to score when a single by junior Nate Brooks was followed by a throwing error from the right fielder.
Malone would respond with a single run in the bottom of the inning when they scored off a throwing error during a steal.
The score would stay at 2-1 until Malone scored their second run in the bottom half of the fifth inning with an RBI groundout to tie the game at 2-2.
Junior Aiden Lao would put Findlay back in the lead when he would bring sophomore Derek Fay around to score with an RBI single.
Malone battled back in the bottom of the 7th inning scoring two runs on a catcher's interference call and some well-timed hits to give them the lead 4-3.
Sophomore Andrew Micale would tie the game when he reached on an error allowing Farrar to score, bringing the game to 4-4.
A walkoff single in the bottom of the 9th inning would allow Malone to steal game one of the series with a final score of 5-4.
On the mound for Findlay, Senior Anthony Kyle would start and throw 6.1 innings on the mound allowing 2 earned runs and striking out an impressive 10 Malone batters. Senior Gavin Bailey would come into the game to follow Kyle. Bailey would complete 1.2 innings allowing one earned run and striking out three batters while picking up the loss.
Malone would strike first in game two scoring in the bottom of the first inning to give them an early 1-0 lead. However, Findlay would respond with a strong top half of the second inning as they put together two runs. The first run came off a two out RBI single from freshmen Austin Adelman that allowed senior Christian Orr to score. A few batters later Lao would get hit by a pitch with bases loaded that would allow senior Alex Folks to score.
Malone would put up a run of their own in the bottom of the 2nd to tie the game and then a pair of runs in the 3rd inning to give them a 4-2 lead after 3 innings of play.
Findlay would not slow down as three triples in the top of the 5th inning by Farrar, Micale, and Fay would bring home senior Ryan O'Malley, Farrar, and Micale respectively. This big inning would allow Findlay to take a 5-4 lead.
The Oilers continued to pile it on in the 6th inning. Bates would single with no outs to bring home Lao for Findlay's first run of the inning. Soon after, O'Malley would triple deep to right center to bring Bates home for the second run. Finally, Orr would reach base on an error allowing O'Malley to score to third giving Findlay a big 8-4 lead.
Malone would continue to battle into the bottom of the 7th as they brought 2 runs across with 2 outs to bring the score to 8-6. However, that was all they could muster as Findlay would take the win.
Senior Bailey McCord would start on the mound for Findlay throwing 3.1 innings allowing 4 earned runs while striking out 4 batters. Freshmen Jacob Flaherty would come into the game in relief and throw 1.1 innings allowing no earned runs and only allowing one hit. Senior Trey Bame would throw the last 2.1 innings on the mound for Findlay allowing 2 earned runs while striking out 4 batters.
With the split the Oilers advance to a 7-14 record overall and 3-3 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference play. Findlay will finish their series with Malone on Monday Mar 21st in Canton as they look to move up in the conference standings.