The Oilers sneaked their way to a fourth consecutive victory over the Mat Su Miners by a score of 5-4.
Oilers pitching staff was once again a major factor in last night’s Victory. Starting pitcher Ryan Hughes (Toledo) went four innings allowing only two hits, no runs and recorded three strikeouts in the process.
Miners starting pitcher Rocco Bernadina however was matching Hughes as the two battled back and forth, until the Oilers found themselves on the board first.
With two outs in the fifth, Cole Dawson (Arkansas Tech) looped a single into the outfield. Brock Worthgen (Cal Baptist) would follow up Dawsons work with a single of his own to put runners on 1st and 2nd base but still with two outs. This set up number nine hitter, Max Roffwarg (Swarthmore) to turn what seemed like nothing into something. A single to left field followed by an E7 would allow a speedy Cole Dawson to score from second base making it a 1-0 Oilers lead.
A scoreless sixth set up the Miners to potentially have a breakthrough inning. Miners hitters recorded 4 hits in the seventh, sending seven men to the plate, but only scored one run on poor base running and talented Oilers defense. Pinch hitter Nick Bisaccia was awarded the RBI that tied the game going to the bottom of the seventh.
The Oilers would score another run and retake the lead in the seventh thanks to smart base running and a booming RBI double from Worthgen, before Minors reliever Luke Smith got the outs he needed.
The Oilers 2-1 lead didn’t last long though as Dom Patrizi swung at the first pitch he saw and sent a ball well over the left field fence to tie the game at 2 headed into the bottom of the eighth.
The O’s bats caught fire in the eighth, plating three runs on three hits to take a 5-2 lead into the final inning of play. Oilers pitcher Seth Bougher (Johnson) ran into trouble in the 9th as the Minors scored two runs cutting the Oilers lead back to one with one out. Nicholai Arbach came in and shut down the Miners batters to keep the O’s win streak alive and well.
The Oilers wrap up there five game series against the Miners Friday 6/22/24, first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. local time.
The Sweeney’s Pregame Show begins at 5:40 p.m. Be sure to catch all the action on ESPN 1140 AM, 96.9 FM, and Radiokenai.com.
