The Oakland Golden Grizzlies baseball team (4-17, 3-3 HL) couldn’t capitalize on its home opener at the Oakland Baseball Field, dropping two of three to the Northern Kentucky Norse despite a bounce-back win in Sunday’s finale.
Looking at the Horizon League standings, the series loss ties Oakland for second place with Northern Kentucky. The Wright State Raiders remain in first place with an undefeated conference record.
Game 1: Northern Kentucky 9, Oakland 6
The Golden Grizzlies wasted no time putting runs on the board in their home-opener.
After being hit by a pitch, Ben Clark moved into scoring position following a wild pitch thrown by Norse pitcher Logan Wilson. With Kyle Revere next at bat, he brought home Clark with a single to give the Golden Grizzlies an early 1-0 lead.
Come the third inning, the Norse responded. With Braydon Rogers and Jackson Wang on, a fielding error made by Sam Patton sent both runners home, leaving Pierce Bauerle on second base.
On Northern Kentucky’s next at-bat, Jake Paulick was walked before Josh Williams hit a home run to right center, giving the Norse a 5-1 lead.
Oakland responded in the bottom of the inning, as an RBI-triple from Clark gave the Golden Grizzlies some new life. Clark made it home on Oakland’s next at bat, as a groundout from Revere gave Clark just enough time to score, making it a 5-3 ball game.
From there, the Norse took advantage of some Oakland pitching errors. Back-to-back hit batters put Oakland in trouble as Williams connected for a single, loading the bases for Northern Kentucky. Although Marcus Harrison grounded out into a double play to follow up Williams’ single, Bauerle made it home, boosting the Norse lead to 6-3.
Northern Kentucky continued to capitalize on hit batters in the sixth inning, as this time Alex Brazer was hit by a pitch. With Brazer on base, Northern Kentucky strung together three singles to further balloon their lead to 9-3.
Down big, Oakland didn’t go quietly. The Golden Grizzlies showed life in the ninth, highlighted by an RBI single from Revere. Still, the Golden Grizzlies couldn’t keep the pace with Northern Kentucky, making the Norse winners of game one.
Game 2: Northern Kentucky 13, Oakland 8
The second game of the series was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading runs through the early stages of the game.
Northern Kentucky got on the scoreboard in the first courtesy of an RBI single from Harrison. Oakland tied things up in the bottom of the inning as Aidan Schuck connected for an RBI double, making it a 1-1 ball game.
In the third inning, the Norse struck again, this time with Paulick nabbing an RBI single. In a position to continue to add to their tally, a wild pitch thrown by Oakland pitcher Tanner Ware allowed Bauerle to score, putting Northern Kentucky ahead, 3-1.
The Golden Grizzlies answered yet again an inning later. After Jack Lux hit a single down the right field line, Schuck hit a deep home run to left field, marking his first homer of the season to tie the game up 3-3.
With both teams trading blows inning by inning, Northern Kentucky broke the game open in the fifth. After loading the bases with no outs in the fifth, the Norse caught fire, scoring five runs, highlighted by a two RBI double from Williams, giving the Norse an 8-3 lead.
In the following inning, the Norse once again loaded the bases with no outs and proceeded to cycle the lineup, with all nine batters making an appearance. By the end of the top of the frame, Northern Kentucky led, 13-3.
Down the stretch, the Golden Grizzlies took advantage of some errors and faulty Norse defense, with Tony Konopiots scoring on a dropped strike and Schuck making it across home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth.
Oakland chipped away at the Norse’s lead in the seventh inning, with Revere scoring on a wild pitch and both Carter Hain and Lux successfully stealing home. Still, the Northern Kentucky lead proved to be too large to overcome in this one, clinching the series.
Game 3: Northern Kentucky 4, Oakland 8
After showing some fight in the first two games, Oakland responded with its most complete performance of the weekend, salvaging the series.
The Norse jumped ahead of the Golden Grizzlies early in the final matchup of the series, as lead-off hitter Wang singled to right field before Paulick sent one over the wall, putting Northern Kentucky up 2-0 in the first inning.
At the bottom of the first, Oakland had an answer. Clark and Revere got things started with consecutive singles, and on the next Golden Grizzly at-bat, Lucas Day reached on a fielder’s choice, with Clark making it home on a throwing error by Elijah Green.
Then, a wild pitch allowed Revere to score while Day advanced to third base. In position to take the lead, Schuck grounded out, allowing time for Day to score to give the Golden Grizzlies a 3-2 lead.
The Golden Grizzlies extended their lead in the third, as a pair of singles from Day and Hain with just a single out set up Oakland to score. With Konopiots at bat, he grounded out to shortstop, but Day made it home, keeping the Golden Grizzlies ahead, 4-2.
In the following inning, Oakland pulled further ahead. After Andrew Landis was walked, Sam Griffith singled up the middle before Revere brought home Landis with an RBI double.
Following Revere’s double, Day reached on a fielding error made by Bauerle, loading the bases for the Golden Grizzlies. With just a single out, Schuck grounded out, but not before Griffith scored, widening Oakland’s lead 6-2.
Oakland added to their tally for a final time in the bottom of the eighth courtesy of Revere once again. With traffic on base after a single, Revere belted a ball to right field for his third home run on the season, extending the Golden Grizzlies lead to 8-2.
In the final inning, the Norse showed signs of life, loading the bases with no outs. Looking to come back, Paulick hit a single to center field to bring in two Northern Kentucky runners, making it an 8-4 ball game.
With Oakland pitcher Landis on the mound, the Norse’s late rally failed to shake his confidence, as Landis struck out Harrison on Northern Kentucky’s next at-bat before Rogers grounded out into a double play, making the Golden Grizzlies the winners of game three.
On Deck
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will take on the Michigan Wolverines on the road this Tuesday at 4 p.m. Following a one-game stint in Ann Arbor, Oakland will turn their attention back to conference play with a three-game road series against Wright State this upcoming weekend.
Looking at the Wolverines, they are coming off a series loss against Nebraska and own a record of 11-11 and a conference record of 1-5. Michigan, which has beaten multiple nationally ranked teams this season, will challenge Oakland from start to finish.
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