Oilers Bitten by Panthers in Doubleheader
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team suffered a pair of losses on Saturday, April 15 as they wrapped up their series against the Ohio Dominican Panthers. After winning the first game of the four-game set 20-3, the Oilers lost three straight to drop the series against their Graet Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) South Divison foe. With Saturday's defeats, Findlay falls to 19-17 on the year with a 10-10 record in G-MAC play while ODU improves to 18-18 on the year with an 11-9 record in the conference and now is in second place in the south division.
From the jump, things did not go Findlay's way as the Panthers came out with a chip on their shoulder, scoring five runs in the first two innings to take a commanding lead in the seven-inning affair.
An error in the fifth inning allowed Findlay to score their first run of the game. But after the error, a hit by freshman Casey Maruniak , who has at least one hit in 11 of his last 12 games, sent another run home, pulling the Oilers to within three at 5-2. The next batter was senior Nate Brooks who launched his first home run of the season over the wall in right, a three-run blast that tied the game at 5-5.
ODU responded in the top of the sixth with a single run and scored two more in the seventh to secure the victory.
Findlay would end the game with eight hits and eight runners left on base, which would be a theme for the day.
Freshman Blaine Wynk suffered his third loss of the season as he threw 5.1 innings and allowed six runs, five earned, on eight hits. He struck out two.
In the nightcap, the two teams were tied at 1-1 through three innings before ODU stepped on the gas. In the fourth and fifth innings, the Panthers scored six runs combined to take a 7-1 lead. Single runs in the seventh and eighth made it 9-1 with just an inning-and-a-half to play.
A double by senior Cole Kwiatkowski sent a pair of runs home and an error by ODU allowed another, making it 9-4.
Six runs for ODU in the top of the ninth iced the game as the visiting team went on to an eight-run victory.
Game number two saw the Oilers strand 15 runners on base as the team struggled to get the timely hits it needed.
Senior Aiden Lao had four hits, including a double, on the day to lead the offense. He also walked three times which led to three runs scored.
Brooks and Kwiatkowski each had three RBI on the day, leading the team in that category.
Senior Bailey McCord took the loss on the hill and drops to 2-4 on the year. He threw four innings and allowed seven runs, six earned, and allowed two walks.
Findlay will head to take on Saginaw Valley State on Wednesday, April 19 before beginning an important series against the Trevecca Nazarene Trojans next weekend.