Oilers Postseason Hopes End in Heartbreaking Fashion | Season to Conclude Tomorrow
Hillsdale, Mich. – The University of Findlay baseball team lost two heartbreaking games on Friday, May 7 at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. The Oilers lost the opener by a score of 5-3 and then lost 11-9 on a walk-off home run in the nightcap. With the two losses, Findlay is officially eliminated from postseason contention as, with just two games remaining, they are now three games behind Hillsdale for the eighth and final spot in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Tournament. With tomorrow's doubleheader wrapping up the season, Findlay is now 13-24 overall and 11-19 in the G-MAC while the Chargers improve to 18-20 and 14-16 in conference play. With the wins, Hillsdale locked up a berth in next week's conference tournament.
In the opener, Hillsdale took a commanding lead through three innings and they scored three in the first, and single runs in the second and third to take a 5-0 advantage.
Findlay finally got on the board in the sixth inning when sophomore Cam Farrar, who hit a one out single, came around to score on a single by senior Casey Gould. After a strikeout, junior Brandon Emery then reached on an error by the Chargers' leftfielder which allowed Gould to cross home plate, making the score 5-2 in favor of Hillsdale.
In the eighth, Findlay senior Ryan O'Malley, the Oilers' single-season home run king, became the first player in program history with double-digit home runs in a season as he blasted his tenth home run of his senior campaign over the wall in left center. The home run was not enough, however, as Findlay would lose the first game of the series 5-3.
Junior Anthony Kyle took the loss and will finish the year with a 3-3 record as he tossed five innings and allowed five runs, three earned, on eight hits. He walked two and struck out eight.
Needing a sweep of the final three games to make the conference tournament, Findlay got off to a poor start as their starting pitcher Ryan Mohr would give up three runs in each of the first two innings, putting the Oilers behind 6-0 after two innings.
With their backs against the wall, Findlay showed some fight in the third as Gould reached with a leadoff single and, with two outs, sophomore Cole Kwiatkowski walked. The next batter was senior Tyler Burley who launched a ball over the fence in left field for a three-run shot, his fourth home run of the season.
Trailing 6-3 in the fourth, sophomore Nate Brooks was hit by a pitch to start the inning and was followed by a ground-rule double by sophomore Cam Farrar. Gould hit a sacrifice fly and senior Ryan Johnson got an RBI groundout to make the score 6-5 in favor of Hillsdale.
Findlay would take the lead with two runs in the sixth as Gould had an RBI single to score Brooks, who started the inning with a hit-by-pitch. Later, a wild pitch sent Cam Farrar home to give the Oilers a 7-6 advantage.
The back-and-forth game continued as the Chargers tied the game on a wild pitch and then hit a two-run home run to take a 9-7 lead with just one inning to play.
The Oilers got an RBI single from Brooks and then Cam Farrar lifted a sac fly to center field, scoring Ethan St. Clair who walked earlier in the inning.
After picking up two runs when they needed it most, the Oilers elation quickly turned sour as, in the bottom of the seventh, Hillsdale got a leadoff single from Cooper Peterson and then Aidan Brewer went deep to left for a walk off home run, ending the game and the Oilers' postseason hopes.
Senior Jordan Bekier took the loss as he threw in the sixth and seventh innings and allowed the walk off home run. Starter Ryan Mohr lasted two innings and gave up six runs on six hits while walking three and not recording a strikeout.
Burley finished the game with two hits, three RBI, and two runs scored while Gould had two hits, two RBI, and a run scored.
The Oilers will wrap up their season tomorrow in Hillsdale as they play a doubleheader that begins at 1:00 pm against the Chargers.