Comeback effort falls short in 7-6 Loss to South Dakota State
BROOKINGS, S.D. – Sophomore Mike Carson doubled twice and drove in two runs, but the Oakland University baseball team (11-24, 5-11) saw its comeback bid fall just short in a 7-6 loss to South Dakota State on Sunday at Erv Huether Field. The Golden Grizzlies outhit SDSU 16-11.
“Our young men played extremely hard today and showed their poise and heart,” said Oakland head coach John Musachio. “We will go home disappointed, not with our effort, but in knowing that if we had gotten a break in either of the last two games we could have easily come away with two wins and won the series.”
The Golden Grizzlies (11-24, 5-11) came close in a pair of comeback attempts. Trailing 7-4 in the seventh inning, Oakland opened with three consecutive singles to load the bases. However, the SDSU bullpen was able to get the job done by limiting the damage to just a pair of sacrifice flies by senior Dan Gliot and junior John Estes and preserve the Jackrabbits 7-6 lead.
Oakland trailed 5-4 in the sixth inning when Carson hit a double to left field. Senior Tommy Jablonski tried to score from first base on the play, but was thrown out at the plate to keep the score 5-4 in favor of SDSU.
The game started well for Oakland, which scored four runs in the first inning. After the first three batters loaded the bases, Carson drove in two runs with a double to the gap in center field. Senior Ryan Waldhart and junior Aaron Cieslak followed with productive ground ball outs that drove in runs.
The Jackrabbits (27-12,13-3) chipped away at the OU lead with single runs in the second and third inning before a three-run outburst in the sixth. Oakland was holding onto a 4-3 lead before back-to-back RBI-doubles by Billy Stitz and Joel Blake, the latter driving in Stitz with the go-ahead run. Stitz and Andrew Phelan were both 2-for-4 to lead SDSU.
For Oakland, Cieslak, Jablonski and junior Tim Ryan each went 3-for-5. Carson and sophomore Nolan Jacoby both had two hits each, with Carson leading OU with a pair of RBIs.
Senior Aaron Wick (3-6) went 5.2 innings and struck out four, but took the loss after allowing five earned runs. Kolton Emery (5-1) scattered 14 hits and allowed six earned runs over seven innings, but managed to earn the win. Trever Vermeulen (7) got the final four outs for SDSU to earn his league-leading seventh save of the year.
The Golden Grizzlies return home to host Western Michigan on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Category: Colleges / Other, Oakland University
