Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay baseball team earned a series split with Walsh University on Sunday, April 21, defeating the Cavaliers in both games of a doubleheader. Findlay scored in nine of the 12 innings in which they had at-bats, crushing the competition by scores of 11-6 in the opener and 16-4 in the series finale. With those two victories, the Oilers are now 22-17 overall with a 16-8 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play while the Cavs fall to 23-14 overall and 14-8 in the league.
Game 1 (W 11-6)
After sweeping the Oilers yesterday, Walsh got out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning of the opener, but an RBI on a fielder's choice by sophomore Andrew Williams in the second made it 3-1. In the next inning, senior Cam Farrar picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice and senior Nate Brooks singled home another, tying the game. An RBI single by freshman Luke Senften put the Oilers in the lead 4-3.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman Nick Palm walked and was followed by a single from senior Aiden Lao. A sacrifice fly by senior Cole Kwiatkowski and single by sophomore Casey Maruniak gave the home team a 6-3 advantage.
Walsh did not go down quietly, tying the game back up at 6-6 with three runs in the fifth inning.
Findlay answered. The bottom of the fifth started with three consecutive walks, loading the bases. A wild pitch sent the first run home and a sacrifice fly by Palm plated another. Back to back errors allowed another run in, making the score 9-6 through five innings.
Two insurance runs came in the sixth inning, which began with a no-doubt home run to right field off the bat of Brooks. Palm later bunted with a runner on third, scoring another run and putting the Orange and Black comfortably in control at 11-6, the eventual final score.
Findlay finished with 11 runs on ten hits and made one error while the Cavaliers had six runs on nine hits and helped the Oilers out with five errors.
Sophomore Carson Mellott started and got the no-decision on the hill, throwing four innings and allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits. He walked three and struck out four.
Senior Sebastian Jones got the win in relief, throwing the final three innings and holding Walsh scoreless, giving up just two hits in the process.
Game 2 (W 16-4 – 7 inn.)
The momentum from the day's opener carried into the nightcap as the Oilers would ultimately pick up a run-rule victory. That score came thanks to a big fifth inning that put the game away.
Walsh again jumped ahead with an early 2-0 lead, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the second.
Nate Brooks helped trim that margin with another home run to right field, his second of the day, to lead off the bottom of the second.
In the next inning, Palm and Lao singled with one out. A double down the left field line by Kwiatkowski tied the game and an RBI ground out by Maruniak put the Oilers ahead 3-2.
Just like in the opener, the Cavs responded in the fifth, tying the game at three, but that run preceded an inning that proved to be a worst-case scenario for the visiting team from Canton, Ohio.
The bottom of the fifth would see 14 batters come to the plate for Findlay, which would score ten runs on six hits and two errors. Lao, the second batter of the inning, doubled off the fence to plate the first run of the inning and a bunt single by Kwiatkowski, aided by an errant throw, allowed Lao to score. Two batters later, Farrar broke out of a mini-slump, picking up his first hit of the series, an RBI single to center that scored two runs and made the score 7-3. Brooks stepped in next and, for the third time on the day, connected on a ball that was sent sailing over the wall in right. The score was then 9-3.
Fast forward to the end of the inning when a failed pickoff attempt went wide of first case, allowing Kwiatkowski to score. That run made it 13-3 and seemingly ended the Cavs hopes of taking the series finale.
Three more runs for Findlay in the sixth made the run-rule imminent as the home team would go on to a dominant 16-4 victory.
Findlay finished with 16 runs on 12 hits and one error while Walsh had four runs on seven hits and made four errors.
Freshman Aidan Kiessling got the win, throwing 5.0 innings in the start. He allowed three runs, just one earned, and struck out seven.
Brooks was the offensive leader on the day, collecting four hits, three of which were home runs. He had five RBI and four runs scored in the doubleheader.
Lao also had four hits on the day, moving him into fifth all-time at UF with 183 career hits. He also had three RBI and a team-high five runs scored in the doubleheader. Senior Andrew Micale collected four hits, as well, and walked twice. He scored four runs.
Kwiatkowski went 3-for-6 on the day with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored while Nick Palm had two hits, three runs scored, and four RBI.
The Oilers are scheduled to be back in action on Tuesday, April 23 at home. That will be a single contest against the University of Indianapolis.
