Chillicothe, Ohio (V.A. Memorial Stadium) - The University of Findlay baseball team braved temperatures in the 30s for much of the day, but on Sunday, Feb. 18, with the sun shining bright, all that mattered was that the 2024 season was officially underway. Playing in Chillicothe, Ohio on the first of a two-day trip, the Oilers split Opening Day with Saginaw Valley State, winning the opener 13-6 in extra innings before dropping the nightcap by a score of 8-5. Both teams begin the year with a 1-1 record.
Game 1 Box Score (W 13-6 – 8 inn.)
In the opener, it was Findlay's offense that would shine as the Oilers ripped 16 hits in the game, the most hits in a contest in two years. Ten of those hits came in the final four innings including five in the extra frame, the decisive eighth.
Findlay, the visiting team for both contests on Sunday, got behind early as the Cardinals scored a trio of runs in the bottom of the first, however, the Orange and Black got one back when the program's all-time home run leader, graduate senior Cam Farrar, in his first at-bat of the season, cracked his 31st career bomb over the wall in center field.
Through four, the Oilers still trailed by a score of 5-2. In the top of the fifth, freshman Luke Senften drew a leadoff walk, but was erased on a fielder's choice off the bat of graduate senior Aiden Lao. Another fielder's choice put erased Lao in place of graduate senior Cole Kwiatkowski. With two outs, sophomore Casey Maruniak doubled down the left field line, scoring Kwiatkowski. The next batter, Farrar, smoked a double of his own to right center, scoring Maruniak and making the score 5-4.
The Oilers would tie the game in the sixth and, ultimately, forced extra innings after neither team put a base runner on in the seventh and final inning of regulation.
Using Major League Baseball's (MLB) extra-inning tiebreaker rule, Maruniak was placed on second to start the eighth inning. Farrar would single up the middle to put runners on first and third and, after a pop out, another single by sophomore Keelan Daniel bounced off the umpire, killing the play and loading the bases. Senior Andrew Micale earned the go-ahead RBI with a sac-fly, making the score 6-5. A two-RBI single later came off the bat of sophomore Andrew Williams and, after a walk to Lao, Kwiatkowski singled to send two more runs home. With the score at 10-5 now, Maruniak was at the plate with two runners on and he promptly unloaded on a ball the was sent over the fence in left center in a heartbeat, giving Findlay a 13-5 lead.
SVSU did manage a run in the bottom of the eighth thanks to the runner placed on second to start the frame, but it was not nearly enough as the Oilers would ride that eight-run eighth to victory.
Maruniak and Farrar, the Oilers' three and four hitters in the lineup, put together an outstanding performance in the opener. Maruniak finished with two hits, three runs scored, and four RBI while Farrar picked up four hits, two runs scored, and two RBI. Both had a double and a home run to their credit.
Kwiatkowski, senior Nate Brooks, and junior Austin Adelman each had two hits in the contest, as well. Kwiatkowski had three RBI and two runs scored while Adelman recorded two runs scored and a single RBI.
Grad senior Sebastian Jones came out of the bullpen to get the win, tossing 2.2 innings of relief and allowing just one run, not earned, on one hit and one walk. Senior Logan Bragg was the starter for the Oilers and got the no-decision with 5.1 innings thrown, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits. He struck out three.
Game 2 Box Score (L 8-5)
Findlay never quite got the bats going in the second game as SVSU would take a lead in the first inning and not look back, earning an 8-5 victory over the Oilers.
UF did score first when, with two outs, Maruniak walked and promptly stole both second and third base. Farrar then doubled to right, giving Findlay a 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals responded with two in the bottom of the first and three more in the bottom of the second, taking a 5-1 lead through two.
Trailing 5-4 in the fifth, Maruniak walked again and stole second base, his fourth steal of the game, giving him the program record for steals in a single-game. Kwiatkowski scored on the play to make it 5-4.
Saginaw added three more runs down the stretch to ultimately come away with the victory, overcoming four errors in the process.
In Game 2, the Oilers did not have a player with a multi-hit performance. Farrar finished with a double and two RBI while Maruniak had a run scored and reached base three times via the walk. Lao and Daniel each had a double.
Sophomore Carson Mellott suffered the loss on the hill, throwing 4.1 innings and allowing seven runs, six earned, on nine hits. He walked two and struck out one.
Findlay and SVSU will wrap up their four-game series tomorrow with another doubleheader. Those games will begin at 12:15 pm.
