The Oakland Golden Grizzlies baseball team (12-40, 5-19 Horizon) handily defeated the Youngstown State Penguins in the first game of the Horizon League Championship on Wright State’s home turf, 10-2.
The win came at the perfect time for Oakland, which entered the elimination game having won just once in its final 20 regular-season contests.
Despite going against Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Braden Gebhardt, Oakland’s offense delivered a complete team effort. Six of the nine Oakland batters each recorded an RBI in this matchup, with four Golden Grizzlies scoring multiple RBIs.
On the bump for Oakland, All-Freshman Team and All-League Second Team selection Ben Green turned in the best outing of his career, striking out a career-high nine batters across seven innings while allowing just three hits and one run.
“He’s been really good for us this year. He continues to stack and build as a young freshman, but we needed him in a big way today, and he absolutely stepped up and delivered,” Oakland head coach Brian Nelson said of Green. “The moment was not too big for him, and he got us going.”
Oakland opened the scoring at the top of the first, proving to be aggressive at the plate and taking advantage of a hit batter and multiple walks to send all nine batters to the plate. By the end of the inning, the Golden Grizzlies led, 3-0.
Later on in the third, Oakland added another run to their tally, this time from Aidan Orr, who pushed across Carter Hain, expanding the Golden Grizzlies’ lead to 4-0.
Youngstown State got on the board in the fourth inning. With two runners on, Luke Rossi grounded out, allowing Brady Shannon to score, making it a 4-1 ball game.
Oakland answered in the fifth as an Orr triple allowed Hain to score. Tony Konopiots followed with a sacrifice fly to score Orr. An RBI double from All-League Second Team selection Lucas Day in the following inning pushed the lead to 7-1.
With the bases loaded in the eighth, Oakland added insurance after Hain was hit by a pitch, pushing across All-League First Teamer Kyle Revere. Following a sacrifice fly from All-League Second Team selection Aidan Schuck on the next at-bat, the Golden Grizzlies led 9-1.
In the final inning, both teams scored, as Revere added another run for Oakland with a sacrifice fly, while Rossi hit a solo home run. Despite Rossi’s home run, Oakland pitcher Ryan Donley secured the final three outs to keep the Golden Grizzlies alive in the Horizon League Championship.
On Deck
Up next, Oakland now heads into Thursday with its season still alive and a chance to upset the Wright State Raiders.
“We took care of step one, and we got a lot more to go,” Nelson said. “The reality is, if you want to win this conference, you’ve got to go through Wright State.”
Wright State has dominated the Horizon League in recent years, winning the regular-season title this spring while also hosting each of the last seven conference tournaments.
Against Oakland this season, the Raiders are 5-1, claiming a three-game series back in March before traveling to the Oakland Baseball Field in May to hand the Golden Grizzlies a three-game sweep.
Should Oakland go on to beat the Raiders, they will play for a place in the Horizon League Championship Final on Friday, May 22.
If the Golden Grizzlies lose, they will face an elimination game against the loser of the Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky matchup. First pitch for this elimination game is slated for Thursday at 7 pm.
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