Dominant Pitching Highlights Doubleheader Sweep of KWC
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team snagged two wins against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers on Saturday, April 29 at Fifth Third Field in Findlay, Ohio. KWC had won five straight against the Oilers dating back to 2018. With the two wins, Findlay improves to 23-20 on the year with a 14-12 record in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) while the Panthers fall to 17-27 overall with an 11-15 mark in the G-MAC. The teams currently hold the third and fourth spots in the G-MAC South Division. The top three from both the North and South Divisions will make the postseason tournament, along with two wildcard teams that will be selected based on their conference record.
Game 1 began with the feeling of a pitcher's dual as Findlay's starter, Anthony Kyle, and KWC's starter, Seth Wright, put zeros on the board for three straight innings. Kyle, in fact, was perfect through those three innings, not allowing a baserunner until a two out double in the fourth inning.
The bottom of the fourth opened the floodgates for the Oilers' offense which, following today's games, is fourth in the G-MAC in runs scored with 312 on the year. Freshman Casey Maruniak was hit by a pitch with one out and senior Nate Brooks walked to put two runners on base. Senior Trey Bame then ripped a triple to left center, scoring two runs and giving Findlay the lead.
In the fifth, the Oilers added on as freshman Keelan Daniel led off with a walk, senior Aiden Lao singled, and senior Cole Kwiatkowski walked to load the bases. Senior Cam Farrar then made some more history as he launched his 13th home run of the season, a grand slam to right field that gave him 127 RBI in his career, passing Matt banks, who played at Findlay from 1999-2002, for the most RBI in Oilers program history.
The inning did not end there as a double by Maruniak and two out single by senior Christian Orr produced another run and put the home team ahead 7-0.
Three more runs in the bottom of the sixth gave the Oilers a ten-run cushion with three innings to play.
Meanwhile, Anthony Kyle was dealing. Through seven and two thirds innings, the senior had allowed just one hit and had not surrendered a run and had collected 11 strikeouts. The long blemish on the day came with two outs in the eighth when Zach Curties, KWC's leading home run threat, launched a ball deep to right center field. Centerfielder Cam Farrar had a beat on it and attempted a reaching, leaping play at the fence but the ball popped out of his glove and over the wall for a home run.
Kyle would set down the Panthers 1-2-3 in the ninth to pick up the complete game and wrap up one of the best outings of his career. He would finish with 12 strikeouts, just one shy of his career high, allowing just one run on two hits. In command all game long, Kyle did not allow a walk and did not hit a batter, throwing 104 pitches, 84 of which were for strikes.
Offensively, Findlay scored their 11 runs on 11 hits, five of which were extra-base hits including two doubles, two triples, and a home run.
The nightcap did not feature quite the same offensive assault from the Oilers as in the opener, but it did feature another dominant outing on the mound, this time from the arm of senior Bailey McCord.
Findlay got on the board in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly from Farrar and scored another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Aiden Lao.
An RBI single by Brooks in the fifth made it 3-0 and another sac fly by Lao in the sixth put the Oilers up 4-0.
McCord, meanwhile, was crafting the best performance of his career. He would toss a complete game, going seven innings without allowing a run. He surrendered just four hits while tallying seven strikeouts, one shy of his career best. McCord did not allow a run and walked just one batter, throwing just 92 pitches in the game, 65 of which went for strikes.
Kyle and McCord combined to throw 16 innings against the Panthers while allowing just a single run on six hits, striking out 19 batters in the process.
At the plate, Brooks and senior Kyron Rogers each had three hits on the day. Brooks had three RBI and two runs scored to help lead the offense.
Farrar did what he has done his whole career, leading the way in runs batted in as he drove in five in the doubleheader. He also had three walks on the day, leading to a pair of runs scored.
Bame had a double and a triple and two RBI while Lao had two singles and two RBI.
Findlay and Kentucky Wesleyan will wrap up their series tomorrow, Sunday, April 30 with a doubleheader that is set to begin at 12:00 pm.
Those games can be seen on the Great Midwest Digital Network, being produced by PulseTV. Micheal Hirn will be on the call.