SW Indiana News

Mighty Oaks Split with Baptist Bible College During Spring Break

For their Spring Break trip, the Mighty Oaks baseball team traveled to Branson, Missouri. During their time there, they took on the Baptist Bible College Patriots on Monday and Wednesday. Two slugfests resulted in a split series.

Game 1

The first game versus the Patriots turned out to be a slugfest. The Oakland City offense was the first to score. Lead-off hitter Aron Busick started the game off with a double, he was able to on a wild pitch and a passed ball, giving the Mighty Oaks a 1-0 lead.

The home team came back and scored twice in the bottom half of the first inning.

A single from Garrett Causey and an RBI double from Oliver Hamilton tied the game back up at two, in the top of the second inning. Five runs were scored by the Patriots in the bottom half of this inning, making it a 2-7 ballgame.

Where Oakland City had a hard time produce more offense, the home team scored three more in the third inning. Things were not looking too hot for the Mighty Oaks, as the score was now 2-10 after three innings.

The fifth inning turned out to be a game changer for Oakland City. Garrett Causey singled home a run, Oliver Hamilton followed with another RBI single. Pinch-hitter Alec Pruitt also found a hole, scored two with another base hit. Aron Busick also singled, scoring another run for the Mighty Oaks. Walks for Treven Madden and Conner Oxley, with the bases loaded, tied the game at ten. Another single for Causey in the inning, gave the visitors an 11-10 lead.

The home squad didn't give up after suffering a nine-run inning. Once again, the game was tied. 11-11 was the score after five innings.

In the seventh inning, the bases loaded up again for Oakland City. Xander Willis and Oliver Hamilton drew back-to-back walks, allowing two runs to score. A sacrifice fly from Mason Simon, allowed Conner Oxley to score and make it a 14-11 ballgame. This last Oakland City run turned out to be an important one.

The Mighty Oaks defense gave up two more runs in the eighth, but that would be the last time the Patriots scored. The final score of this slugfest in Ozark, Missouri was 14-13.

The Oakland City offense was led by Garrett Causey. He went 4 for 6 with two RBIs.

Five pitchers toed the rubber for the Mighty Oaks. Owen Spears started on the bump. He went 1 inning, allowing five hits and seven runs (all earned), while walking two and striking out one. The relief pitchers were Colin Kapust (2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO), Blake Mincey (2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO), Milan van der Breggen (W, 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO) and Evan Price (S, 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO).

Game 2

After a day off, where the team spent their time doing several activities in Branson, they came back on Wednesday for another game at U.S. Baseball Park.

The Mighty Oaks took an early lead. Noah Baugher, who got hit by a pitch, advanced to second base on a stolen base and was able to move to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Treven Madden (HPB) and Conner Oxley (walk) loaded the bases. Garrett Causey brought home the first Oakland City run with a fielder's choice. An RBI single from Sam Pinckert followed, making it a 2-0 ballgame. The Patriots were able to tie the game up at two in the bottom half of the inning.

Just like the first game of the series, it turned out to be a slugfest. The Mighty Oaks scored two more runs in the second inning. A triple from Aron Busick brought home Jared Kirkman, who got on base due to an error. Busick scored on a single from Noah Baugher.

In the third inning, Baptist Bible College tied the game up once again. Going into the fifth, the score was 4-4.

One inning later, the home team took the lead. They would grow their lead in the fifth inning. Seven runs were scored, making it a 4-12 ballgame after five innings.

The Mighty Oaks didn't give up, an RBI single from Noah Baugher and a 3-RBI double from Conner Oxley, put the visitors back in the game. Mason Simon walked with the bases loaded, putting the score at 9-12. In the bottom half of the sixth, the Patriots scored one more. This would be the last time the home team scored.

After a couple innings of scoreless baseball, the Mighty Oaks tried to put together a rally in the ninth inning. An RBI single from Conner Oxley started the rally. Garrett Causey walked home another run, putting the score at 11-13. The Oakland City offense wasn't able to create any more offense, leaving the score where it was at and splitting the series with Baptist Bible College.

Oakland City's offense was led by Noah Baugher who had three hits and Conner Oxley who had four RBIs on two hits. The pitchers for the Mighty Oaks were Hunter Callahan (3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO), Konnor Kreinbrook (1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO), Tommy Johnson (0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO), Tyler Butler (0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO), Garrett Whiteker (2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO) and Christian Burgrabe (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO).

After this trip to Missouri, the Mighty Oaks head back to campus to prepare for an important series of River States Conference. The Rio Grande RedStorm will be heading to Southern Indiana for a three-game series at League Stadium. Games will take place on Sunday (doubleheader) and Monday. Last year, during the regular season, the RedStorm took two out of three games. In the RSC Tournament however, the Mighty Oaks were able to beat the team from Ohio. This was the first win in the conference tournament in the university's history.

Original source can be found here.