Oilers Drop Drama-Filled Dual with Ashland
Ashland, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team had to move their home opener on Thursday, March 16 due to weather and field conditions. Scheduled to be played against Ashland University, the games were moved to Ashland with the Oilers retaining the designation as the home team. It was a tough day for Findlay as the Orange and Black suffered a pair of losses, dropping the first game 6-3 before dropping a 16-14 thriller in extra innings in the nightcap. With the two losses, Findlay falls to 6-8 on the year and 0-2 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play while Ashland is now 9-5 overall with a 2-0 mark in the G-MAC.
The series will conclude tomorrow, March 17 with another doubleheader against Ashland. Games will be held at Heidelberg University's baseball field, Peaceful Valley located at 180 Prospect Street in Tiffin, Ohio.
Ashland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning and held that lead thanks to a great start by pitcher Brendan Beaver, who was perfect through four innings before allowing a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth by senior Nate Brooks.
Findlay finally got on the board in the sixth inning when senior Aidan Lao went deep to left with two outs. In the seventh, the Oilers tied the game at 2-2 when freshman Brooks stole second and freshman Casey Maruniak, who was on third, stole home.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Oilers took the lead. Lao reached base with a one-out walk, stole second, and reached third on a wild pitch. With two outs, senior Cam Farrar hit a single to right center, scoring Lao and putting Findlay ahead 3-2 with three outs to secure a win.
Disaster struck in the ninth. The first batter of the inning was hit by a pitch and, after a groundout, an infield single and walk loaded the bases. With one out, Jeremiah Cangelosi drilled a grand slam to left field, putting the Eagles ahead 6-3.
Findlay went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to end the contest.
Senior Anthony Kyle started on the hill and went 6.2 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits. He struck out four.
The loss went to senior reliever Gavin Bailey who entered the game in the seventh. He threw 2.1 innings and struck out three, but suffered the big blow, the ninth inning grand slam.
Ashland picked up the offense in the second game, scoring four runs in the top of the first.
Two runs in the second, scored on a double by senior Derek Fay and a single by senior Cole Kwiatkowski, and two more in the third, on a double by Brooks, tied the game at 4-4 through three innings.
The Eagles the turned it on, scoring eight runs in the next two innings, including six in the fifth.
Relatively unphased, Findlay plated four runs of their own in the fifth, two of which came on a home run by senior Cam Farrar and the other two, on a home run by Fay.
Derek Fay was not done as he continued a career day at the plate in the sixth, launching a two-out grand slam to pull the Oilers within one at 14-13. A wild pitch in that inning scored Kwiatkowski and tied the game at 14-14, giving Findlay some life in the offensive onslaught.
A scoreless seventh led to extra innings and, in the top of the eighth, Ashland's Cam Scott hit a two-run blast that would be the final runs of the game.
Fay finished the game with three hits including a double and two home runs. He drove in seven runs and scored three runs. Those seven RBI are the most by a Findlay player in a single game in the G-MAC era of the program.
Farrar also had three hits, one of which was a home run, while Kwiatkowski and Maruniak each collected a pair of hits, as well.