Baseball Advances to River States Conference Tournament - Oakland City University Athletics (2024)

• Box Score 1
• Box Score 2

Game Recap: Baseball | 4/25/2024 8:30:00 PM

In the RSC Opening Round, Oakland City hosted Alice Lloyd College in a best-of-three series. In two games on Thursday, the Mighty Oaks did not have much trouble with the Eagles and were able to secure their ticket to Chillicothe, Ohio, where the conference tournament will take place.

Game 1
The first game of the series started off well, as lead-off hitter Leyton Ivers went yard to take an early lead. Singles from Aron Busick, Fred Fernandez and Oliver Hamilton followed to bring in the 2-0. An inning later, the Mighty Oaks doubled their lead. Kendric Sorgius led off with a walk, a single from Sam Pinckert followed. On a single from Leyton Ivers, Sorgius was able to score. Pinckert later scored on a sacrifice fly from Aron Busick.

The visiting Eagles scored three runs in the top of the third, helping them come back into the game. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Oakland City grew it's lead significantly. A tremendous eight hits came in a row, coming from Sam Pinckert, Marcos Arocho, Leyton Ivers (RBI), Aron Busick, Noah Baugher (3 RBI double), Fred Fernandez (RBI), Oliver Hamilton (RBI) and Xander Willis. Pinckert and Ivers collected their second hits of the inning later on, giving the Oaks a 13-3 lead after four innings.

Alice Lloyd scored two more runs in the sixth, but the Mighty Oaks answered right away, with four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Kendric Sorgius reached base on an error, Sam Pinckert and Marcos singled, which loaded the bases. On a sacrifice fly from Aron Busick, Sorgius scored. Noah Baugher followed with a 2 RBI double to make it 16-5. Another double came off the bat of Fred Fernandez to make it 17-5, which ended up being the final score after seven innings.

Thomas King earned the win for Oakland City. He pitched four innings, giving up five hits and three runs (all earned). The starter walked three and struck out six. Owen Spears threw three innings in relief, earning the save. He surrendered six hits, while allowing two runs to score. Spears walked one while striking out three.

Game 2
The bats stayed hot in game two for the Mighty Oaks. Oakland City put up a five spot in the first inning. Leyton Ivers reached base on a single and Aron Busick got on base thanks to an error. After this, Noah Baugher, Fred Fernandez and Oliver Hamilton singled, doubled and tripled in order. Hamilton's courtesy runner, Blake Herrmann, scored on a fielder's choice form Sam Pinckert.

The score became 6-0 in the second and two more runs were added in the third. Oliver Hamilton led off with a double, Kendric Sorgius singled. Marcos Arocho drove in two runs with a single to left field to make it 8-0. The Eagles scored their lone run of the game in the fourth inning via a long ball. Xander Willis answered with a homerun in the bottom of the fifth to move the score to 9-1. An inning later, Marcos Arocho led off with a double. He scored on a Leyton Ivers single. After Noah Baugher walked, Fred Fernandez doubled home Ivers. Not much later, Oliver Hamilton connected for a two-run homerun, which made it a 14-1 ballgame. Oakland City would score one more run, making the final score 15-1 after seven innings.

The win went to Benjamen Simmons, making that his tenth victory of the year. He hurled five innings, allowing four hits, one run (earned), while walking three and striking out four. Tommy Johnson came in out of the bullpen and looked impressive. He faced six batters and struck them all out in a row.

Next up
With the two victories over Alice Lloyd College, the Mighty Oaks secured their ticket to the River States Conference in Chillicothe, Ohio. The eight-team double-elimination tournament starts on Thursday May 2. Oakland City will face off against Indiana University Kokomo at 4 PM on Thursday for the Mighty Oaks' first game of the tournament.