Last weekend, the baseball king of the Horizon League showed the Golden Grizzlies and their crowd why they have been so good.
Wright State scored 41 runs over the course of three games as Oakland dropped three straight to the Raiders. It dropped the Golden Grizzlies to 4-14 in conference play.
Game one was tight throughout. Oakland starter Tanner Ware went five strong innings, holding a potent offense to one run. Big hits from John Lauinger, Carter Hain and Jack Lux gave Oakland a 4-2 lead, and they held a 4-3 lead going into the sixth.
A few more innings of tight play led a ninth inning breakout, as Wright State scored seven runs in the final frame to take a 12-5 game one win.
That hot streak continued into game two, as the bats came to play for both teams. Entering the top of the third, Oakland was trailing 3-0. From there, only three half innings saw zero runs put up, as both offenses exploded.
Oakland got three hit days from Lauinger and Brandon Nigh, as well as Lux providing a mammoth home run that gave Oakland a 7-6 lead.
10 Wright State runs in the ninth inning proved to be way too much though, as Oakland dropped game two 24-12.
Oakland was unable to bring the offense in game three that they did earlier in the weekend. Oakland only managed four hits throughout, and was shutout 5-0.
Freshman pitcher Grant Garman provided five strong innings, before giving up a few runs in the sixth. He continues to be a bright spot on this Oakland roster.
Those losses dropped Oakland to a 9-31 record, and a boost was certainly needed with two non conference games early in the next week.
The first game at Toledo. Oakland quickly found themselves 3-0, and then 5-2 entering the sixth inning. That’s when the bats came back alive.
Lux provided an RBI single in the sixth, and Brandon Nigh added a home run to tie things up in the seventh. Sam Griffith added a two RBI knock to give Oakland a 7-5 lead.
Trent Rice and Taylor Tomlin provided offense in the ninth, adding on to their huge day from the top two spots in the order. They combined for five hits, two runs, two walks and four RBI to lead the Golden Grizzlies to a 9-7 win against the Rockets. Ryan Donley earned a seven out save, his first save of the year.
Oakland returned home, and was back on the field 24 hours later against another MAC opponent in Central Michigan.
After Matthew McGann hit a two RBI single in the second, Oakland went cold, and found themselves trailing 6-2 in the eighth. That’s when a much-needed feel good rally took place.
Oakland scored five runs in the eighth taking a 7-6 lead heading into the ninth. Triples from Carter Hain and Griffith were the big blows in the inning. But Central Michigan responded and tied to the score.
Each team was able to put up zeroes the next few innings, but in the bottom of the 11th, John Lauinger reached base for his fourth time of the day, as he smashed his third hit of the afternoon to left field. Griffith scored the winning run, and Oakland walked off Central Michigan for an 8-7 win.
The Golden Grizzlies hope to use that non conference momentum back in conference play, as they sit in sixth place in the six team league with four league series remaining. The climb back up starts this weekend at second place Northern Kentucky.
