Oilers Sweep Urbana | Open Season with Series Victory
Chillicothe, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team earned the series victory over Urbana University with a double-header sweep on Sunday, Feb. 23 in Chillicothe, Ohio at VA Memorial Stadium. After splitting their two games yesterday, the Oilers earned a 6-0 shutout in Sunday's opener and took the final game of the series 11-7. With the sweep, the Oilers are off to a 3-1 start to the 2020 campaign while the Blue Knights fall to 1-6.
With the doubleheader sweep, head coach Steve Parrill now has 100 career wins in his time at the University of Findlay.
The Oilers wasted no time taking a lead in Sunday's opener. Junior Tyler Burley walked with one out in the bottom of the first inning and, after a strikeout, senior Austin Rawlins, who went deep three times last season, blasted a ball over the wall in right field to put Findlay ahead 2-0.
That would be all the offense Findlay needed as sophomore pitcher Anthony Kyle was putting together a career-day on the hill. Kyle allowed just one hit through the first five innings en route to earning the victory.
With Kyle dealing on the mound, Findlay added a single run in the second inning and in the bottom of the fourth, used three hits to plate three more runs and increase their lead to six. Those runs in the fourth all came with two outs when junior Ryan O'Malley singled and senior Jordan Williams reached on a throwing error. Junior Ethan St. Clair then tripled to right center to score two runs and Burley, who had six hits in the doubleheader yesterday, drove in St. Clair with a single up the middle.
Findlay ended the game with six runs on eight hits and no errors.
Despite the success on offense, Anthony Kyle put together the standout performance of Sunday's opener. Kyle tossed a career-high seven innings, putting together his first career complete game to earn the win. In the seven inning shutout, Kyle allowed just four hits, walked one batter, and struck out a career-high eight batters.
Urbana flipped the script in the nightcap when, after the Oilers went quietly in the top of the first inning, they were able to plate four runs to take a commanding 4-0 lead through just one inning.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of Burley in the third inning made the score 4-1 in favor of the Blue Knights, but that lead was erased in the fourth when hits by senior Casey Gould, junior Sam Shelt Palm, senior Jordan Williams, and St. Clair led to three runs, tying the game.
After surrendering a run in the top half of the fifth, Findlay led off the bottom half of the inning with a single by freshman Cam Farrar and a double by junior Ryan Johnson. Urbana then dropped a fly ball off the bat of junior Tyler Archambeau to send two runs home. Later in the inning, senior Casey Gould, who reached on a fielder's choice, came around to score when freshman Nate Brookes tripled to left center. That triple gave the Orange and Black a 7-5 lead.
The Oilers added a single run in the sixth to make the score 8-6 and in the seventh, used a two-run triple by Jordan Williams and an RBI single by Tyler Burley to send three more runs home.
Senior Jameson Jacobs came in the bottom of the seventh in a non-save situation and coaxed a trio of fly-outs to end the game.
In the game, the Oilers scored 11 runs on 13 hits and made one error.
Sophomore Trey Bame was the starter on the hill and picked up the win. He threw four innings, giving up six runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out two.
Jordan Williams had a stellar day at the plate as he went 4-for-6 in the double-header including a perfect 3-for-3 in Game 2, all of which were extra-base hits. In the nightcap, Williams led the team with three RBI and three runs scored.
Tyler Burley continued his hot start to the season as he clubbed three more hits in six at-bats on Sunday. For the day, Burley scored two runs and drove in three RBI. Ethan St. Clair, who picked up two hits in Game 2, had three hits and three RBI on the day, as well.
Findlay will be back in action on Sunday, March 1 in Winter Haven, Florida where they will take on Grand Valley State University to open up a week-long stretch of games in the Russ Matt Invitational held in the Orlando area in Florida.