ROCHESTER, Mich. – Returning to Horizon League play after squaring off with the Central Michigan Chippewas on Tuesday, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies will welcome in the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons for a three-game set from Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8.

Normally, these three-game Horizon League series are held Friday-Sunday, but with the Easter holiday falling on April 9, this weekend's action was moved up a day.

Separated by a lone game in the loss column, the Mastodons and Golden Grizzlies enter Thursday in third and fourth place in the Horizon League, respectively.

SERIES SETUP

• Who – Oakland (10-17, 4-5 Horizon League) vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (8-21, 5-4 Horizon League)
• When – Thursday, April 6 at 2:30 p.m., Friday, April 7 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 8 at 2 p.m.
• Where – Rochester, Michigan (Oakland Baseball Field)
• Watch – Friday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ (subscription required) and can be accessed at this link
• Live Stats – goldengrizzlies.com
• Twitter - @OaklandBSB & @MastodonBSB

SERIES HISTORY

• Overall Record – Oakland leads, 21-18 (2008-22)
• Record in Rochester – Golden Grizzlies lead, 13-8 (2008-22)
• Current Streak – Oakland W4 (March 25-April 24, 2022)

STARTING PITCHERS
Thursday

• Oakland – Redshirt senior RHP Bryce Konitzer: 6 starts, 1-2, 7.71 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, .320 BAA, 23.1 IP, 31 H, 20 ER, 9 BB, 21 SO
• Purdue Fort Wayne – Junior RHP Mac Ayres: 9 games (5 starts), 1-1, 7.23 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, .242 BAA, 23.2 IP, 24 H, 19 ER, 20 BB, 25 SO

Friday

• Oakland – Sophomore RHP Hunter Pidek: 6 games (5 starts), 0-1, 4.91 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, .260 BAA, 25.2 IP, 27 H, 14 ER, 10 BB, 25 SO
• Purdue Fort Wayne – Freshman RHP Owen Willard: 8 games (2 starts), 0-1, 7.56 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, .302 BAA, 16.2 IP, 19 H, 14 ER, 11 BB, 15 SO

Saturday

• Oakland – Senior LHP Travis Densmore: 7 starts, 2-3, 7.02 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, .297 BAA, 33.1 IP, 41 H, 26 ER, 12 BB, 32 SO
• Purdue Fort Wayne – Senior LHP Jacob Myer: 8 games (6 starts), 0-2, 8.80 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, .302 BAA, 29.2 IP, 39 H, 29 ER, 15 BB, 23 SO

OAKLAND OVERVIEW

• The Golden Grizzlies have won two of their three Horizon League series thus far in 2023, opening conference play by taking two from the Youngstown State Penguins in Niles on March 16 and 17, suffering a sweep at the hands of the Wright State Raiders in Fairborn on March 25 and 26 and winning the latter two games over the Milwaukee Panthers in Rochester from March 31-April 2
• Going 2-4 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI, senior outfielder Ian Cleary is Oakland's leading hitter at .293 (24-82), followed by graduate student first baseman Gabe Lux at .291 (23-79) and redshirt senior shortstop Thomas Green at .287 (31-108)
• Sophomore third baseman Brandon Nigh has hit safely in three-straight games and is up to .247 (18-73) with two doubles, a home run, four RBI and a trio of stolen bases

PURDUE FORT WAYNE OVERVIEW

• Previously serving as the head coach of the Purdue Boilermakers in the Big Ten Conference (B1G) from 1999-2016 and now in his fourth season at Purdue Fort Wayne, the Mastodons are led by head coach Doug Schreiber
• Like the Golden Grizzlies, Purdue Fort Wayne has won two of their league series to this point, beginning conference action by dropping a pair of games to Wright State before winning their last two sets over the Northern Kentucky Norse and Youngstown State, with the former being a sweep
• Noblesville, Indiana left-handed-hitting senior second baseman Cade Nelis is the lone Mastodon hitting above .300 at .319/.462/.457 with seven doubles, two home runs and nine RBI
• Peoria, Illinois graduate student first baseman Braedon Blackford, a fellow left-handed hitter, leads the Horizon League with eight home runs, highlighted by two multiple-big fly efforts
• Junior Kevin Fee (13 appearances), sophomore Byrce Martins (11) and graduate student Brendan Reid (9), all of whom are right-handers, have been top options out of the bullpen for Schreiber