In the Oakland baseball team’s first homestand of the season, the Golden Grizzlies came away victorious, winning two games against the Northern Kentucky Norse in a three-game series that started on Friday, March 21, and ended on Sunday, March 23.
Game 1: Oakland 7, Northern Kentucky 6
The first game of the series was a back-and-forth affair between both teams.
Northern Kentucky struck first following a two-run homer from Josh Williams in the second. However, the Golden Grizzlies responded in the following two innings, as Carter Hain made it home in the second, and Taylor Tomlin scored after an error from the Norse, tying up the game.
The rest of game one saw the Norse, at times, pull away from the Golden Grizzlies, who responded to nearly every run Northern Kentucky put on the scoreboard. Heading into the ninth inning, the Norse had a 6-4 lead.
The final inning started great for Oakland, as Aidan Orr was walked, and Ben Clark was hit by a pitch. Then, Sam Griffith singled to the right side to earn a run, leaving the Golden Grizzlies down just one.
After Norse pitcher Aaron Massie walked John Lauinger, the bases were loaded for the Golden Grizzlies. Tomlin would hit a single, but Clark got caught at home. Still, Brandon Nigh would fly out on the next at-bat to bring home Griffith, tying the game up at 6-6.
With a tie game and two outs, Matthew McGann stepped up to the plate next and hit a walk-off single, snapping a nine-game losing streak while granting Oakland its first conference win of the season.
Game 2: Oakland 10, Northern Kentucky 0
In the second game of the series, the Golden Grizzlies played their most complete game to date.
After two innings of scoreless baseball, Oakland got the game rolling in the third. With two runners on, Griffith would ground out to bring Clark home. After Tomlin was walked, Nigh doubled to right field to boost the Golden Grizzlies score to 3-0.
From there, the Golden Grizzlies didn’t stop, adding more runs courtesy of Nigh, Griffith and Lauinger to their total in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings. By the eighth inning, with a score of 10-0, the game was called early in favor of Oakland.
In what was a great display from the Oakland batters, the pitchers also impressed. On the mound, a trio of pitchers, including Grant Garman, Blake Sehlke and Tanner Ware, gave the Norse little breathing room throughout the contest. The three combined for 10 strikeouts while giving up just four hits.
Game 3: Oakland 3, Northern Kentucky 13
In the final game of the series, the Norse got the better of the Golden Grizzlies.
Northern Kentucky was relentless offensively in this matchup, tallying 15 hits while cycling through eight different Oakland pitchers. The Norse’s most dominant inning came in the top of the seventh when Williams hit a grand slam, nearly enforcing the 10-run rule in the process.
However, Oakland did show some fight in the sixth inning as Tomlin brought home Trent Rice and Lauinger with a single. Later in the inning, McGann would ground out to second, sending Tomlin home to give the Golden Grizzlies their three runs.
Still, it was a successful series for the Golden Grizzlies, who picked up some much-needed conference wins as the season continues.
Next, the Golden Grizzlies will host a non-conference home game at the Oakland Baseball Field against Cleary University on Wednesday, March 26, before hitting the road to play the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons in a three-game series that starts on Friday, March 28, and ends on Sunday, March 30.