DAYTON, Ohio — The Golden Grizzlies (12-40, 5-19 HL) secured a decisive 10-2 victory over Youngstown State (15-39, 12-12 HL) in the first-round, single-elimination game on Wednesday evening at Nischwitz Stadium at Wright State. The Grizzlies tallied 13 hits, including two doubles and two triples, to control the lead throughout the nine innings.
"Offensively, we were able to get going real early, which allowed him [pitcher
Ben Green] to settle in and be aggressive in the zone. I thought that was good for him, and it was awesome to see," said head coach
Brian Nelson. "We are one game at a time, we can't let things get too big right now. We took care of step one, and we have a lot more to go."
Junior
Ben Clark scored two runs and added a triple to contribute to Oakland's offensive output, as fifth-year
Kyle Revere also scored twice while collecting two hits and an RBI. Redshirt-sophomore
Lucas Day recorded two RBIs, including a double, to bolster the team's scoring early on.
The visiting team began strong in the first inning, as Clark was hit by a pitch and advanced on a single by Revere. Redshirt-junior
Sam Griffith's sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, allowing Day's sacrifice fly to bring in the first run. Grad senior
Carter Hain's single and redshirt-sophomore
Tony Konopiots' infield hit extended the lead to 3-0 after the first inning.
In the third frame, Hain reached on a throwing error and scored on junior
Aidan Orr's RBI single, increasing Oakland's lead to 4-0. The Penguins responded in the fourth with an unearned run after a walk and a throwing error, but the Grizzlies maintained the advantage throughout.
The Golden Grizzlies plated two more runs in the fifth inning. Hain doubled and scored on Orr's triple, followed by Konopiots' sacrifice fly. The sixth frame saw Griffith score on Day's RBI double, extending Oakland's lead to 7-1.
In the eighth, Revere, Griffith, and Day reached base, and a hit-by-pitch to Hain allowed Revere to score. A sacrifice fly from sophomore
Aidan Schuck brought in another run, pushing the lead by eight runs. Youngstown State managed a solo home run in the ninth, but an unearned run from Clark, after reaching on an error, finalized Oakland's scoring at 10-2.
Freshman
Ben Green was dealing from the mound, putting on a career performance. The right-hander pitched 7.0 innings, allowed only three hits and no earned runs while mounting a career-high nine strikeouts at the plate. Senior
Jaxson Easterlin contributed 1.0 inning of scoreless relief, allowing just a hit while earning two punchouts, as junior
Ryan Donley closed the game with 1.0 inning of work, during which he allowed one run on one hit, while striking out a batter.
Now advancing in the bracket, Oakland will head into the double-elimination bracket and is set to face the No. 1 seed and host Wright State tomorrow, May 21 at 3 p.m. ET. Greg Rakestraw will have the call on ESPN+.
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.
