ROCHESTER, Mich. — Oakland (10-25, 5-10 HL) fell to Central Michigan (17-20, 9-12 MAC), 11-6, on Tuesday at Oakland Baseball Field. Despite collecting 11 hits, including a home run, the Golden Grizzlies' efforts were countered by Central Michigan's 14-hit performance. Central Michigan secured the win by scoring in six of the nine innings, while Oakland left 11 runners on base.

Redshirt-junior Sam Griffith was nearly perfect at the plate on the day, going 4-for-5, and driving in three runs. Redshirt-sophomore Tony Konopiots contributed with two hits, including a home run, and scored three runs as redshirt-sophomore Lucas Day added to the board with two hits and an RBI while also crossing the plate once himself. Fifth-year Kyle Revere made his presence felt by securing a hit, scoring a run, and successfully picking up a stolen base.

Central Michigan picked up two runs in the top of the first, scoring on RBI singles before Oakland got on the board when Revere stole home after reaching third on an inning-ending fielder's choice.

In the second frame, Central Michigan jumped up with a two-RBI double to pull ahead with four runs as Oakland countered in the bottom half with Konopiots' home run to deep center field, bringing a two-run ballgame.

Central Michigan extended its lead in the third with a two-RBI double as Griffith doubled in the fourth inning, driving in Day from second base to narrow the gap. A wild pitch allowed Central Michigan to add another run, keeping its lead at 7-3 through four innings.

Oakland closed the gap in the fifth inning. Sophomore Aidan Schuck scored from second on a single by Day, followed by an RBI single from Griffith, making it 7-5.

A two-run homer in the sixth inning increased Central Michigan's lead before Griffith doubled to drive in Konopiots in the seventh, but Central Michigan scored another run in the top frame.

The eighth inning remained scoreless for both teams as Central Michigan later tacked on an unearned run in the ninth, finalizing an 11-6 victory.

From Oakland's pitching staff, freshman Josh Rosenblitt allowed four earned runs over 1.2 innings, as sophomore Wyatt Ruppenthal and senior Jaxson Easterlin, each surrendering two earned runs in their respective outings of 1.1 innings of relief. Junior Owen Thomson managed to keep the Chippewas scoreless in his one inning of work, allowing just a hit after redshirt-junior Stephen Ruhle provided a brief relief appearance, picking up a strikeout and yielding no runs over 2/3 of an inning.

The boys in Black and Gold are back in The Den to take on Eastern Michigan for a rescheduled match-up tomorrow, April 22. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. ET.


How to Follow Oakland Baseball: For complete information on Oakland Baseball, follow the team on X at @OaklandBSB and head coach Brian Nelson at @CoachNelly11. The team is also on Instagram.