Diamond stunner: Rochester College pulls upset of Oakland
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — It may not be the equivalent of something biblical such as David vs. Goliath. But Rochester College’s victory on baseball diamond Friday was still something to remember.
It came against neighboring Oakland University, a NCAA Division I school.
The Warriors shocked the Golden Grizzlies in their home opener, bolting out to a 5-0 lead through 4 1/2 innings and holding on for a 6-3 non-league victory.
“It’s been a long time that we’ve beaten them in anything,” noted assistant coach Rick Desotell. “We knew we had to play a perfect game to beat them and we pretty much did that. I think we made one mistake, really.”
Sophomore Hunter Reams (Rochester High) moved to 2-0 on the mound with the biggest win of his collegiate career.
Nathan Billings (White Lake Lakeland) was 3-for-5 with two RBI and scored a run. David Woodson was also 3-for-5 and scored twice, Jeff Martinez (Waterford Mott) smacked a double and scored a run and Ryan Chipka was 2-for-4 for the Warriors (9-7), who outhit the Golden Grizzlies, 15-9.
Rochester College plated four run in the third, stringing together five hits including a pair of bunt singles.
Defensively, the Warriors were sharp, forcing Oakland to bounce into four double plays.
Down by five runs, Oakland did attempt a comeback, as Eric Ogg (Clarkston) ripped an RBI double and later scored on an RBI single from D.J. Jarrad, both in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
Nolan Jacoby scored Oakland’s third run in the sixth frame when Ryan reached on a bunt single and was caught in a pickle.
The Warriors added a key insurance run in the top of the sixth when Eric Ramirez brought home Nathan Billings on a squeeze bunt.
“We did all of the little things. We turned a bunch of double plays, we had bunt singles and squeeze play, timely hits and we were (crisp) in the field,” said Desotell. “I think we surprised them a little bit.”
Reams finished with a six-hitter over six innings of work.
“Hunter Reams is developing into a fine pitcher,” said Desotell. “He’s a kid that was kind of under the radar in high school and he’s really starting to mature. This was probably his best game.”
Greg Welke gave up eight hits and five earned runs over 4 1/3 innings to suffer the loss for Oakland.
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Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland County Cruisers, Oakland University, Rochester College
