Findlay Baseball Drops Two Games in Spring Break Opener
Auburndale, FL- The University of Findlay Baseball team kicked off their Spring Break trip in Florida with a double header on Feb 27th with Gannon and Davenport at Lake Myrtle Fields. The Oilers lost game one 11-8 in a back-and-forth battle with Gannon where Findlay had the lead 3 separate times. In game two the Oilers battled but were out hit as they lost to Davenport 15-5. This gives Findlay a 1-5 record to start the year.
Game One- (L 11-8)
After a quiet first three innings from both teams, Findlay broke open the 0-0 tie in the bottom of the fourth. After Gannon walked the bases loaded freshmen Jabin Bates drew the fourth free base in a row earning himself an RBI as junior Cam Farrar (walk) crossed the plate for the Oilers first run. The next batter, sophomore Andrew Micale singled up the middle to plate junior Nolan O'Connell (walk) giving the Oilers a 2-0 lead going into the 5th inning.
Gannon responded in the top half of the 5th when they scored a run on a single up the middle that plated a leadoff walk. A sac fly later in the inning allowed a second run to cross the plate for Gannon bring the score back to an even 2-2.
In the bottom of the fifth senior Ryan O'Malley blasted a two-run homerun over the left field fence scoring junior Nate Brooks (single)to put the Oilers back up 4-2.
Gannon again responded with a two-run homerun of their own to tie the game up 4-4 in the top of the 6th.
Findlay rallied in the bottom of the 6th when Brooks hit a bases loaded double to right field which plated senior Brandon Emery (HBP) junior Kyron Rogers (reached on error) and Micale (walk) to put the Oilers up 7-4 after six full innings.
After 3 straight hit batters for Gannon, a triple plated 3 runs to bring the score back to even. One batter later another triple scored a fourth run for the inning putting Gannon up by one. That triple would later score on a wild pitch. A few batters latter Gannon would score two more runs on a two out single to left center. Gannon would head into the bottom of the 7th with an 11-7 lead.
The Oilers proved they still had life in the bottom of the 9th inning when O'Connell drove in Brooks with a sacrifice fly to center. Findlay got a few more runners on base but couldn't bring any around to score, ending the game with a score 11-8 in favor of Gannon.
Junior Aiden Lao also contributed two hits to Oilers 7 on the game.
On the mound for the Oilers, senior Anthony Kyle threw 5.1 innings allowing 3 earned runs and striking out 5 batters. In relief, freshmen Jacob Flaherty threw .1 innings allowing no earned runs. Senior Ben Calisto also threw .1 innings allowing 3 earned runs and recording one strikeout. Next on the mound for the Oilers was junior Sabastian Jones who threw the remaining 3 innings. Jones allowed 2 earned runs and struck out 3 batters.
Game Two- (L 15-5)
The Oilers started game two off quick when Lao (double) scored on a passed ball in the top of the first inning. Three batters later, senior Christian Orr doubled to bring in O'Malley (walk) and Farrar (walk).
In the third inning Orr recorded another RBI as he hit in O'Malley to give the Oilers a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the third inning Davenport finally put a number on the board when a single to shortstop later scored on a wild pitch. Shortly after that another single to the right side of the field allowed two more runs to cross the plate.
Findlay put another run on the board in the top of the 5th when O'Malley doubled to left center which scored Brooks (double) to make the score 5-3 in favor of Findlay.
In the bottom of the inning Davenport added another run when a single up the middle scored a leadoff triple to make the score 5-4 Oilers after 5 innings.
Davenport had a big 6th inning as the brought across 8 runs. The first run came to score on a balk. The rest of the runs scored on a string of hits put together by Davenport to give them a 12-5 lead after 6 innings.
In the bottom of the second Davenport scored unearned after a leadoff single came around to score later in the inning. The score would stay there as Davenport would lead 13-5 going into the 8th inning.
In the bottom of the 8th Davenport scored on a single that brought in two runs to make the score 15-5 which ended the game due to run rule.
On the mound for the Oilers senior Bailey McCord thew 2.1 innings for the Oilers allowing three earned runs and recording 5 strikeouts. First out of the bullpen for the Oilers was junior Grant Myers. Myers threw 2.2 innings allowing only one earned run and recording one strikeout. Flaherty was next on the mound for the Oilers as he tossed .1 innings allowing 4 earned runs. Calisto entered the game next for Findlay and allowed one earned run but did not record an out. Following Calisto was sophomore Ethan Canterbury who threw 1 inning allowing no earned runs and struck out two batters. Sophomore Logan Bragg followed throwing the remainder of the game allowing one earned earn while facing a total of 7 batters.
The Oilers will be back in action in Auburndale tomorrow Feb 28 for two games, one against Gannon and the other against Rollins.