On March 26, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies baseball team faced the Cleary University Cougars and came away with an exhilarating 10-9 comeback win, marking their seventh win on the season.
Taylor Tomlin led the Golden Grizzlies in hits, notching three hits while batting in two runs during the game. Sam Griffith also had a solid showing, registering a pair of hits and two RBIs on the day.
From the mound, Tanner Ware was credited with the win after holding Cleary scoreless in the final inning. Ethan Glassman, who started the game off for Oakland, secured the most strikeouts in the matchup, tallying four.
The Cougars got on the board first after Hector Monti crushed the ball to center field for a triple with two men on, giving Cleary a 2-0 advantage in the first inning.
Before the Golden Grizzlies could answer, Cleary’s Ryan Rose grounded out in the third inning to send Gavin Kempai on third base home, making it a 3-0 ball game. However, at the bottom of the third, Oakland rattled off three straight hits and a walk to tie things up 3-3.
The Cougars responded in the following inning, quickly getting batters on first and third with a single out. On the next at-bat, Austin Vince would fly out, leading to Cleary taking back the lead at 4-3.
In the sixth inning, the Cougars gained some more breathing room after a passed ball brought Brodie Macka of the Cougars home, expanding the score to 5-3 in favor of Cleary.
Once again, the Golden Grizzlies answered at the bottom of the inning. After a pitch hit Carter Hain and the Cougars made an error that allowed Aidan Schuck to reach second, Griffith singled to center field, tying up the game in the process.
However, Cleary still had some juice left in them as the Cougars worked to reclaim their lead in the following inning.
After two walks and a single courtesy of Monti, the Cougars loaded the bases. But before any Cleary batters had a chance to up the ante, a wild pitch from Oakland occurred, resulting in every Cleary runner to advance, making it a 6-5 ballgame with the Cougars in control.
Cleary’s next batter, Vance, was walked, loading the bases for the second time this inning for the Cougars. Next, Kempai drilled a single to right field, which had enough distance for all Cougar runners to advance home, putting Oakland in a four-run deficit.
After two straight innings of scoreless baseball from the Golden Grizzlies, the team found themselves down 9-5 in the game’s final inning.
Trent Rice led off for Oakland in the ninth inning and promptly delivered a double as Tomlin and John Lauinger followed up with singles, allowing Rice to score. After that, Brandon Nigh grounded out, but not before Tomlin would reach home, leaving Oakland down 9-7 with just a single out.
Next, Hain brought Lauinger home with a single to put the game within reach. After Ben Clark followed up with another single, Hain advanced to third, leading to Schuck grounding out to send Hain home, making it a tie ballgame.
With two outs and Clark on second, Boston Halloran was brought in to pinch hit for Jack Lux, and Halloran delivered, hitting a walk-off single to center field to bring home Clark to give the Golden Grizzlies their only lead of the game and the win.
Next, the Golden Grizzlies will play the Youngstown State Penguins in a three-game series at Oakland Baseball Field. The series starts on Friday, April 4, and concludes on Sunday, April 6.