Findlay, Ohio - The University of Findlay baseball team continued its slate of Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) games on Thursday, March 28 with a doubleheader against the Northwood University Timberwolves. The Oilers would win the opener 15-6 but fell in the nightcap 12-5. With the split the Oilers are now 15-11 on the season with a 9-2 mark in the G-MAC while Northwood, the defending G-MAC Champions, more to 11-13 and 6-4 in the conference.
Game 1 (W 15-6)
On a chilly afternoon the Oilers took the early lead against the Timberwolves, scoring two in the first inning on hits by senior Cam Farrar and sophomore Casey Maruniak.
The Timberwolves got the first big blow of the game, however, scoring one run in the second and then using a grand slam in the third to take a 5-2 lead. A Maruniak home run in the third was followed by a single run in the top of the fourth by Northwood.
The fourth inning would be the comeback for the Oilers as they scored five runs. Senior Andrew Micale would start the inning with a triple, followed by freshman Nick Palm who would hit a single allowing Micale to score. Senior Cole Kwiatkowski reached first and stole second. Senior Aiden Lao singled to center field advancing Kwiatkowski to third. Sophomore Keelan Daniel singled to shortstop and Kwiatkowski scored. Senior Cam Farrar, who is hitting .415 this season to lead the Oilers, flied out to deep left field, scoring Lao from second on the play. An RBI double by senior Nate Brooks and RBI single by Maruniak wrapped up the inning as the Oilers had taken an 8-6 lead.
Findlay then continued to score, pouring on seven more unanswered runs to take a 15-6 victory.
The Oilers scored their 15 runs on 17 hits and did not make an error while the Timberwolves scored six runs on ten hits and made two errors.
Aiden Weiland came in relief to pick up the win. He threw two innings and allowed a single run. He entered in relief of the starter freshman Aidan Kiessling who threw 2.1 innings and allowed five runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out five.
Lao, Farrar, and Maruniak each had three hits in the game for Findlay. Lao scored three runs, had an RBI and walked twice while Farrar and Maruniak tied for a team-high three RBI. Senior Andrew Micale walked twice and had a triple, leading to three runs scored while Kwiatkowski had two hits, two RBI, and three runs scored.
Game 2 (L 12-5)
In the second game of the day, a first inning home run by Farrar was belted deep to left center, putting the Oilers on top 1-0. It was the 192nd career hit for the Clyde, Ohio native who is closing in on becoming just the third player in program history to reach the 200-hit mark in his career.
After giving up three runs in the top of the second, the Oilers got RBIs from Micale, freshman Nick Palm, Lao, and sophomore Keelan Daniel in the second to take back a 5-3 advantage.
However, just as he did in the opener, Northwood's Matt Magno went deep, tying the game at five. That blast started a stretch of nine unanswered runs scored by the Timberwolves who secured the victory and the doubleheader split.
Findlay finished with five runs on five hits and made two errors while Northwood had 12 runs on eight hits and one error.
Freshman David Jimenez suffered the loss, throwing two innings of relief and allowing six runs on three hits. He walked six and struck out one. Sophmomore Ethan Mohr was the starter and threw 2.1 innings, giving up five runs on three hits.
Findlay and Northwood will wrap up the series tomorrow, Friday, March 29 with a two-game set starting at 1:00 pm.
