Oakland swings past South Dakota State 10-3
BROOKINGS, S.D. – Junior Aaron Cieslak’s 3-run home run helped lead the Oakland University baseball team to a 10-3 win over Summit League-leading South Dakota State on Friday at Erv Huether Field. Every batter in the OU lineup recorded a hit as the Golden Grizzlies outhit the Jackrabbits 19-9.
“Today was a lot of fun,” said Oakland head coach John Musachio. “I thought our offensive approach was very good, as was Mark Leichtman. Anytime that your offense pounds out 19 hits and you have a senior on the mound you feel good. I give a lot of credit to our assistant coach, Matt Plante, who has helped with the development of our hitters.”
Oakland (11-21, 5-8) trailed 3-2 in the fourth inning when sophomore Todd Dunham tied the game with a leadoff home run. Sophomore Mike Carson then gave Oakland the lead with an RBI double that scored junior Tim Ryan. Senior Aaron Wick followed with a single up the middle that allowed Carson to score from second and gave OU a 5-3 lead.
Wick had another RBI-single in the sixth inning to give OU a 6-3 lead before Cieslak broke the game open with his 3-run blast over the left field fence. It was the only hit of the game for Cieslak, while Wick finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Wick was one of three OU players with three hits as senior Tommy Jablonski also went 3-for-5 and Carson was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
The cushion was plenty for Oakland senior Mark Leichtman (2-3) who threw seven strong innings and allowed just three runs on eight hits, while striking out four batters. Senior Jake Arendsen came in to pitch the final two innings and recorded three strikeouts while allowing just one hit. SDSU starter Stephen Bougher (4-3) gave up 15 hits and nine earned runs in the loss.
Wick drove in a run in the first inning and Senior D.J. Jarrad had an RBI single in the top of the second to give Oakland a 2-0 lead. However, South Dakota State responded by scoring all three of their runs in the bottom of the second. Joel Blake’s 2-RBI single gave the Jackrabbits a 3-2 lead. Blake and Beau Hanowski both went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead SDSU (24-12,10-3).
Carson added an RBI ground out in the eighth inning to score Jarrad making the final score 10-3. It was the second-highest hit total for Oakland this season, behind the 22 hit performance against Butler earlier in the season. Jarrad and Ryan were both 2-for-4, while seniors Dan Gliot and Ryan Waldhardt both went 2-for-5.
Category: Colleges / Other, Oakland University
