ROCHESTER, Mich. – The finishing touch on the program's second-straight second-place finish in the Horizon League standings, the Golden Grizzlies concluded their regular season with an 8-6 Senior Day victory over the Northern Kentucky Norse at the Oakland Baseball Field on Saturday, May 20.

This second-place spot in the Horizon League standings came all the down to the regular season's final day, as Saturday's showdown was a winner-take-all affair with the Golden Grizzlies finishing at 27-29 (18-12) and Northern Kentucky at 29-25 (17-13).

Senior left-hander Travis Densmore made his 14^th start of the year for Oakland and kept the Norse off the scoreboard until the fifth inning, finishing his afternoon with a line of two runs on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts over 4.2 innings.

Picking up his team-leading seventh win, junior righty Brandon Decker handled the final 13 outs, allowing four runs on six hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.

Senior left fielder Ian Cleary began the scoring with a two-run home run in the first, his fourth of the season, and sophomore third baseman Brandon Nigh went 3-4 with two RBI and junior right fielder Lucas Loos had another multiple-hit game, bumping his batting average to .319.

Falling to 5-3, Vandalia, Ohio sophomore right-hander Kaden Echeman started and went the first two frames for Northern Kentucky, giving up four runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Working the third and fourth after taking over for Echeman, Huntington, California freshman Matthew Lopez, a fellow righty, paced a four-reliever effort for the Norse.

Tallying a game-high-tying three hits, Mason, Ohio junior first baseman Liam McFadden-Ackman homered for the second-straight day for Northern Kentucky and Wapakoneta, Ohio senior third baseman Manny Vorhees also had multiple hits.

SENIOR DAY CEREMONY
Leading into Saturday's exciting win were the pregame Senior Day festivities that saw the Golden Grizzlies recognize six outstanding young men playing their final home game and their families and girlfriends for everything they have done for the program.

Public address announcer Kevin Beers introduced each of the six families individually and read their accomplishments and favorite memories from their time playing for Oakland thus far as the coaching staff presented them with a framed Golden Grizzly jersey with their number.

Here are the six student-athletes honored Saturday:

• Peyton McGregor – Joined by two of his Oakland teammates, Thomas Green and Ryan Dykstra
• Chase Keeney – Joined by his father, Cory
• Christian Stelling – Joined by two of his Golden Grizzly teammates, Brett Hagen and Jake Matthaidess
• Luke Malmanger – Joined by his father, Dennis
• Jared Miller – Joined by his mother, Julie Miller, and Kaela Trujillo
• Gabe Lux – Joined by his parents, Tami and Kevin, and his girlfriend, Caroline

GRIZZVISION WITH HEAD COACH JORDON BANFIELD

#GrizzVision with Head Coach @JCBanfield after an 8-6 victory over NKU on Senior Day to clinch a first round bye in the @HorizonLeague Tournament next week. pic.twitter.com/CKZHtcWAwk

— Oakland Golden Grizzlies Baseball (@OaklandBSB) May 20, 2023

UP NEXT
At Nischwitz Stadium on the campus of Wright State University in southwestern Ohio, the 2-seed Golden Grizzlies will return to action on Thursday, May 25 at 3 p.m. in Game 4 of the 2023 Horizon League Tournament.

Along with the 1-seed Wright State Raiders, Oakland was one of two teams to receive a Wednesday, May 24 bye and the Golden Grizzlies will play the highest remaining seed of the first-day games between the 4-seed Youngstown State Penguins and 5-seed Milwaukee Panthers at 12 p.m. and 3-seed Northern Kentucky and the 6-seed Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons at 4 p.m.

A link to the Horizon League's official tournament release, which includes their Championship Central, is available here.