Oilers Sweep KWC | Secure Trip to G-MAC Tournament
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team picked up an important Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) South Division sweep on Sunday, April 30, winning both games of the second doubleheader of the weekend against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers. Findlay won the opener 8-4 before rallying late in Game 2 to snag an 11-8 victory. The two wins give the Oilers a 25-20 record on the year with a 16-12 mark in the G-MAC while KWC falls to 17-29 overall and 11-17 in the league.
For Findlay, it's the first time the program has reached 25 wins in a single season since 2008 when the Orange and Black posted a school-record 28 wins. With a 16-12 record in the conference, the Oilers have also officially punched their ticket to the Great Midwest Baseball Championship Tournament at Prasco Park which they will attend for the first time since 2018, the team's first year in the G-MAC.
Pitching was the headline yesterday as Findlay downed KWC in a pair of games, holding the Panthers to just one run and six hits. On Sunday, the offenses were showcased as the teams would combine for 38 hits in the doubleheader, each slapping 19.
In Game 1, tied at 0-0 in the bottom of the third, the Oilers finally got on the board after senior Christian Orr led off the inning with a hit by pitch and senior Kyron Rogers singled. Freshman Keelan Daniel singled to right, scoring Orr and the next batter, senior Aiden Lao, singled to left, sending home both Rogers and Daniel. A bunt single by senior Cole Kwiatkowski put runners on first and second, and a single by senior Cam Farrar scored Lao to make it 4-0. Kwiatkowski would score later in the inning to make the Oilers' lead 5-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Findlay added on when, with no outs, Lao blasted a ball deep over the wall in right center for a three-run shot, his sixth home run of the year. That round-tripper gave the home team an 8-0 lead and, despite allowing a single run in the fifth and three in the seventh, Findlay would cruise to a four-run victory.
Freshman Blaine Wynk picked up his fourth win of the year on the mound, throwing 6.2 innings and allowing four runs on ten hits. He walked two and struck out a season-high nine batters. Senior Sebastian Jones, who entered the game with the tying run on deck, picked up the one-out save.
The second contest of the day saw the Oilers trail for the first time in the series as KWC would score single runs in the top of the first and top of the third to take a 2-0 lead.
Unphased, a two-run double in the bottom of the third off the bat of freshman Casey Maruniak tied the game.
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, it was time for some more history for Farrar as he sent a ball high and far over the fence in center field for a three-run bomb. Those three RBI put him at 51 for the season, breaking his own single-season program record in that stat.
KWC did not go away lightly, battling back to score three runs in the top of the sixth to take back a 6-5 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, a two-run single by senior Nate Brooks put the Oilers back in front and the exclamation point came on a three-run home run by sophomore Austin Adelman, giving Findlay a 10-6 advantage with two innings remaining.
Leading 11-7 entering the ninth, the Oilers let it get interesting as the Panthers scored a run and had the bases loaded with two outs. However, relief pitcher, senior Gavin Bailey, slammed the door by striking out the final batter of the game to seal the victory and the series sweep.
Bailey would get the win in relief as he threw three innings and allowed two runs on three hits. He struck out a pair of batters.
Junior Logan Bragg was the starter for Findlay and pitched well for four innings, allowing two runs on three hits and collecting six strikeouts.
Lao led the offense with four hits on the day including five RBI and five runs scored. Farrar finished with a pair of hits, including a home run, five RBI, and two runs scored.
The Oilers will wrap up their regular season next Friday and Saturday, May 5-6 with a trip to Cedarville, Ohio to take on the Yellow Jackets in a four-game set.