A weekend of back-and-forth offense ultimately tilted in Wright State’s favor, as the Oakland Golden Grizzlies baseball team (6-19, 4-5 Horizon) dropped two of three on the road, unable to overcome an electric Raider offense.
Dropping the series now puts the Golden Grizzlies in third place in the Horizon League standings, with the Northern Kentucky Norse ahead of them in second place and Wright State at the top in first place.
Game 1: Oakland 4, Wright State 12
The Golden Grizzlies opened the first game of the series with some momentum, as Ben Clark doubled and moved to third on a groundout. Aidan Schuck followed with an RBI single to give the Golden Grizzlies a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
In the bottom of the first, Wright State had an answer for the Golden Grizzlies. Hunter Warren led off with a single and scored on Andrew Duncan’s triple. With JP Peltier up to bat, he brought home Duncan with an RBI double, putting the Raiders ahead 2-1.
After loading the bases, Wright State added to its lead in the following inning, as Warren flied out and Patrick Fultz grounded out. Despite both Raiders getting out, both outs brought in runs, bolstering the Raiders’ lead to 4-1.
The Wright State lead didn’t shake the Golden Grizzlies, who responded in the top of the third. Sam Griffith opened the frame up with a double before Clark hit a single. With Kyle Revere up to bat, he hit an RBI single to bring home Griffith.
A pitch then hit Aidan Orr to load the bases for the Golden Grizzlies, who, thanks to consecutive sacrifice flies from Shuck and Tony Konopiots, ended the inning tied with the Raiders, 4-4.
Despite the fight put up by Oakland, the Raiders quickly took back control at the bottom of the inning. After being walked, Peltier stole second base before scoring courtesy of a Keegan Holmstrom double.
With Holmstrom on, the Raiders proceeded to load the bases once again, as Cy Turner was walked and Braylen Blomquist singled through the left side.
In a position to add to their lead, Wright State did just that. Zac Butler was walked on a full count, which brought in a run, and Gus Gregory hit a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing home Turner to secure a 7-4 lead over the Golden Grizzlies.
With Wright State in command, they completely shut down the Oakland offense down the stretch. Oakland managed just two hits the rest of the way.
As for the Raiders, they added insurance runs late to give them a comfortable win over the Golden Grizzlies in the series opener.
Game 2: Oakland 5, Wright State 11
Wright State came out on fire in game two of the series, batting around to take a 7-0 lead. Remarkably, Warren recorded two singles in the first inning, with his second hit bringing in two runs.
The Raiders further reinforced their lead in the second inning as Peltier drove one to left field to get on base and was brought home after a Holmstrom triple. Holmstrom scored on Wright State’s next at-bat, made possible by a sacrifice fly from Nate Manley, boosting the Raider lead to 9-0.
On the brink, the Golden Grizzlies found some success in the third inning, as Griffith was walked and Revere hit a single up the middle, leading to a Schuck single that allowed Griffith to score.
The Golden Grizzlies inched closer to Wright State’s lead in the following inning, opening the fourth with runners on every base. In position to score, Griffith connected for a sacrifice fly to rope in a run before Andrew Landis stole second base, letting Jack Lux score, cutting it to 9-3.
Come the sixth inning, the Raiders added a small cushion to their lead. With two runners on, Duncan ripped one to center field for a two RBI single, heightening the Wright State lead to 11-3.
After four scoreless innings, where the Golden Grizzlies left four runners on base, Oakland found some rhythm on offense in the final inning.
A single courtesy of Clark and consecutive walks loaded the bases for Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies’ next batter, Lucas Day, delivered an RBI single, and Boston Halloran later walked in a run.
In a jam with just a single out, the Raiders looked to pitcher Cooper Gilkerson to close things out, and Gilkerson delivered, striking out the next two Golden Grizzlies, securing the series win for Wright State.
Game 3: Oakland 10, Wright State 7
The final game of the series between Oakland and Wright State was a tug-of-war that wasn’t settled until extra innings.
After two fruitless innings for both teams, Oakland struck first. Halloran hit a single to open the top of the third before Clark was walked. With two runners on, Konopiots hit a single to center field, bringing home Halloran. Clark scored on Oakland’s next at-bat by virtue of a Schuck single, putting Oakland ahead, 2-0.
Wright State responded in the bottom of the inning as Cam Gilkerson, Butler and Warren each hit consecutive singles to fill the bases. The Raiders’ next batter, Fultz, reached on a fielding error, allowing Butler to score. Then, Duncan batted in Gilkerson with a single, tying the game up 2-2.
The Golden Grizzlies quickly got back to work in the next inning. With just a single out, Griffith singled to center field before Halloran was walked, giving ample opportunity for Oakland to take back the lead.
Oakland’s next batter, Landis, reached on a throwing error, allowing Griffith to score. Following the Raider’s error, Clark belted one down the left field line, allowing Landis to score, putting the Golden Grizzlies back in the lead, 4-2.
Quick to respond, Holmstrom led off the Raiders with a walk and came around to score on Blomquist’s RBI double to left center. Denby followed with a single to the right, pushing Blomquist to third as a pitch hit Butler to load the bases.
Gilkerson was then plunked as well, forcing in Blomquist to tie the game. Warren capped off the Wright State surge with a sacrifice fly to center, bringing home Denby and giving the Raiders a 5-4 lead.
In the seventh inning, Revere gave the Golden Grizzlies energy, smashing a homer to left field to tie up the game. After a Schuck single and an intentional walk for Orr, Griffith joined the party with a single, knocking in Schuck before a Halloran single pushed Orr across, putting Oakland up 7-5.
The Raiders, for the third time this game, had a response for the Golden Grizzlies. Fultz sparked the rally, drawing a walk and advancing to second on a passed ball. Duncan grounded out, moving Fultz to third, who then scored on a wild pitch, trimming the deficit.
Peltier kept the momentum going with a bunt single before promptly stealing second. After Holmstrom grounded out, advancing Peltier to third, Blomquist hit a clutch RBI single to center field, bringing Peltier home and tying the game at 7-7.
After an uneventful eighth and ninth innings, the game moved to extra innings, where the Golden Grizzlies quickly capitalized.
With two outs, Landis singled up the middle before he advanced to second on a wild pitch. With Clark up to bat, he drilled the ball to left field for an RBI double to give the Golden Grizzlies the lead.
After Revere was intentionally walked, another wild pitch from Wright State allowed Revere to advance to second and Clark to advance to third, leading to a Konopiots single, bringing home both runners to make it a 10-7 ball game.
Wright State, which had a response to every offensive surge from the Golden Grizzlies in this matchup, fell flat in the tenth inning. With Owen Thomson on the bump for Oakland, he delivered a three-up and three-down inning to give Oakland the series finale win.
On Deck
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will take on the Bowling Green Falcons this upcoming Tuesday, March 31, on the road. With a scheduled start time set for 3 p.m., the Falcons will be an interesting test for Oakland, which will take a week break from play following this matchup.
Looking at Bowling Green, the Falcons own a record of 8-17 and a conference record of 4-8 and are coming off a series loss to the soon-to-be Horizon League member Northern Illinois.
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