Wick pitches Oakland to shutout of Western Michigan
KALAMAZOO – Senior Aaron Wick tied a career-high in strikeouts as he led the Oakland University baseball team to a 4-0 win over Western Michigan on Tuesday at Hyames Field at Robert J. Bobb Stadium. It was the second career shutout for Wick and the first of the season for the Golden Grizzlies.
“The team played really well today,” said Oakland head coach John Musachio. “Our entire group was focused and executed today. Aaron Wick was a senior leader on the mound and his complete-game shutout speaks for itself.”
Wick (2-3) scattered eight hits over nine innings, while equaling his career-best with eight strikeouts. The OU pitcher got key strikeouts to end both the third and fourth inning, stranding two base runners in each inning. Wick constantly pitched his way out of trouble, stranding 11 WMU runners. Wicks effort marks the first time that an Oakland pitcher has thrown a nine-inning shutout at the NCAA Division I level.
Senior D.J. Jarrad gave Oakland (4-10) the lead in the third inning when he singled to drive in sophomore Todd Dunham. The run snapped a streak of 34 consecutive scoreless innings for WMU pitchers. Jarrad was 2-for-5 at the plate and tripled in the ninth inning to drive in senior Ryan Waldhart.
The Golden Grizzlies took advantage of three errors by the Broncos in the sixth inning, as freshman Jake Morton scored without the benefit of a hit. Morton came in to score on an error by the WMU left fielder. Later in the sixth, sophomore Mike Carson singled up the middle to score sophomore Kyle Bobolts, giving Oakland a 3-0 lead. Bobolts (2-for-5), Carson (2-for-4) and Jarrad (2-for-5) had two hits each to account for six of Oakland’s eight hits.
Troy Forton was 3-for-4 to lead Western Michigan, while Jimmy Martinez (2-for-5) had a pair of hits. The Broncos’ starter Mike Moyer (0-3) suffered the loss, despite allowing just one earned run.
Oakland is back in action on Wednesday with a game at Toledo at 3:05 p.m.
Category: Colleges / Other, Oakland County Cruisers, Oakland University
