Oilers Pick Up Two versus Ohio Valley
Charleston, WV- The University of Findlay baseball team traveled to take on Ohio Valley on Friday, March 5 for two games. The Oilers scored early in the first game to win 6-3 and in the second game the Oilers turned up the offense to outscore the Fighting Scots 17-2 in the first five innings to win 17-3. With the two wins, the Oilers move to 2-3 on the season.
The Oilers jumped out to an early 1-0 led in the opening inning after sophomore Nolan O'Connell drove in senior Tyler Burley who recorded a triple.
The Fighting Scots answered back in the second to tie the game, but the Oilers would open up the gates with five runs scored in the their next two innings of at bats.
Sophomore Cole Kwiatkowski put a ball in play to center field, but a misplay on the centerfielder allowed Kwiatkowski to race around the bases to put one on the board for the Oilers. Burley continued his stellar plate appearances with another triple and O'Connell walked to give senior Ryan Johnson. Johnson delivered with yet another triple to score them both.
Johnson later would score in the inning to cap off a four run, third innning. In the fourth, the Oilers saw senior Jordan Williams make it around the bases to finally score on a wild pitch making the score 6-1.
The Oilers would give up two in the remaining three innings, but it was not enough to mount a comeback for the Fighting Scots ending in a 6-3 victory.
Offensively, Burley was the big highlight at the plate for the Oilers contibuting three of the six hits in the game. Burley had two triples and a single along with two runs scored. Johnson had a two hit performance including a triple and two RBIs.
Junior Anthony Kyle went 6.2 innings giving up three runs on four hits while tallying nine strikeouts.
Game 2
The Oilers' offensive was the name of the game to propel them to a dominate performance with ten different Oilers contributing to a season high 14 team hits. The Oilers scored another team season high with putting up 17 runs on the Fighting Scots.
Burley remained hot at the plate with bases loaded for the Oilers. A single by the senior from Vandalia, Ohio drove in junior Christian Orr. Sophomore Cam Farrar would walk with bases still loaded to score Williams ending the top of the second in 2-0.
Junior Brandon Emery took one for the team to allow to safely score Ryan Johnson with bases loaded once again and begin a five run top of the third for the Oilers.
Entering the top of the fourth with a 7-0 advantage, the Oilers did not stop putting the pressure on the Fighting Scots defense. Three doubles in the inning, one each by senior Ethan St. Clair, senior Ryan O'Malley, and Kwiatkowski helped the Oilers tack on seven more runs in the inning on five hits. The Oilers lead moving to 14-0.
The Fighting Scots tacked on two in the fourth, but the Oilers offense attack only continued in the top of the fifth by tallying on three more runs. Another single by Burley allowed Emery and O'Malley to score along with a sacrifice fly with Farrar up to bat made it possible for Kwiatowski to tag up and score.
The Oilers would allow one more in the seventh but won the second game in dominating fashion with a 17-3 advantage.
Offensively, the Oilers saw another 3 for 4 performance by Burley along with five RBIs. St. Clair also had three hits for the Oilers including a double and two RBIs.
Eight other Oilers contributed a hit along with a three RBI performance by Farrar.
On the mound, junior Ryan Mohr took the win allowing two runs on six hits along with two walks. Mohr tallied four strikeouts in the nightcap. Sophomore Grant Meyer and junior Ben Calisto finished the game with one inning pitched and one strikeout as well.
The Oilers will look to stay hot at the plate as they quickly turn around for another two game series versus Charleston on Saturday, March 6th at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.