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ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Ryan Fitzgerald went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, two runs scored, a stolen base and hit his third home run of the season as the Oakland baseball team fell short of a comeback in the series opener against Northern Kentucky 12-11 Thursday afternoon at the Oakland Baseball Field.

Oakland erased a 3-0 deficit in the second inning thanks to a Myles Zilinsky infield hit that scored Tyler Pagano. The Golden Grizzlies (15-36, 11-17 HL) scored two mores runs on a passed ball and error to even the game at 3-3.

The next inning, Oakland took a 5-3 lead with a pair of RBI-singles from Zilinsky and Matt DiLeo. Zilinsky finished the day going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs scored and drew two walks. Northern Kentucky (22-31, 15-13 HL) responded with six unanswered runs and lead 9-5 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning until Fitzgerald hit a two-run shot to right field to cut the NKU lead in half.

Down 12-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Oakland scored four runs on three RBI-singles from Mike McGee, Tyler Janish and Ben Hart but grounded out to second base with runners on second and third to end the game.

The Golden Grizzlies will continue the series tomorrow at 1 p.m.

#WEARtheBEAR