Purdue Fort Wayne
14-35, 10-12
Oakland
17-31, 8-13
IPFW Takes Pair from Oakland
5/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2010
Rochester, MI - The IPFW baseball team kept its hopes of a first-ever Summit League postseason bid alive on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of Oakland at the OU Baseball Field.
The Mastodons took Game 1 by the final of 6-2 and won the nightcap of the twinbill, 7-3.
With the 'Dons sweep and Southern Utah's split at Western Illinois, IPFW stands just a half a game out of the fourth and final playoff spot with five games left in the conference season.
In Game 1, IPFW got an outstanding pitching performance from junior starter Nick Optiz and homeruns from expected and unexpected sources.
It was the Golden Grizzlies that opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as Tim Ryan led off with his first homer of the season against Optiz.
IPFW got that run back in the top of the second as senior slugger Shaun VanDriessche blasted his school record 16th bomb of the season out of left field tying it at one.
Optiz and OU starter Connor Mielock put zeros up on the board from that point until the 7th inning. That is when IPFW chased Mielock from the contest. IPFW loaded the bases on an A.J. Christensen double, a hit batsman and a walk. Shortstop Will Faulkner would work a walk with the sacks juiced giving the 'Dons a 2-1 lead.
IPFW plated two more in the 8th inning as right fielder Daren Boss scored on a bases loaded wild pitch and designated hitter Brett Clark came home on an RBI ground out by centerfielder Kurt Dudley.
Leading 4-2 in the top of the ninth, the Mastodons added a pair of insurance runs on a two-run blast by left fielder Cody Galbraith. It was Galbraith's third dinger of the year.
Opitz gave way to sophomore reliever Cory Bluhm in the bottom of the ninth, and the Fort Wayne native closed it out for the 'Dons.
Optiz got the win (5-3) giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits. He struck out four.
OU reliever Mark Leichtman was tagged with the loss (1-5), giving up four runs on three hits in 2.0 innings of work.
Oakland also got on the board first in Game 2 on a Mike Carson RBI single in the first inning.
IPFW answered with a pair in the top of the second as Clark scampered home on a Jason Doerffler single. Doerffler would score himself on a double by Faulkner.
The 'Dons tacked on four more in the thrd on a Clark single and a three-run blast off of the bat of Dudley. It was Dudley's sixth homer of the year.
The Golden Grizzlies (17-32, 8-14 SL) fought back in the bottom of the frame plating a pair on a double down the right field line by Mielock, but that is all that IPFW starter Samuel Walker would give up.
Walker took a 6-3 lead into the 7th inning. He would get one more run from his offense in the top of the seventh as Boss chased home Garrett Segraves with an RBI single to center.
Senior reliever Scott Miciniski came on in the bottom of the seventh and retired the Golden Grizzlies in order.
Walker improved to 3-5 with the win. He gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked and struck out five.
Oakland starter Eric Wick fell to 2-5 with the loss. He was responsible for all seven Mastodon runs (five earned) in 6.2 innings. He fanned two and issued one free pass.
With the sweep, IPFW improves to 15-35 and 11-12 in conference action. The final game of the series will be Sunday afternoon at noon.
~Dons~
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Opitz, Nick (5-3)
L: Leichtman, Mark (1-5)
Batting:
2B: Christensen, A.J. 1
HR: Galbraith, Cody 1 ; VanDriessche, Shaun 1
RBI: Galbraith, Cody 2 ; VanDriessche, Shaun 1 ; Dudley, Kurt 1 ; Faulkner, Will 1
SH: Dudley, Kurt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Galbraith, Cody 1 ; Boss, Daren 1 ; Clark, Brett 1 ; Christensen, A.J. 1 ; VanDriessche, Shaun 1 ; Kohler, Jordan 1
CS: Boss, Daren 1
HBP: VanDriessche, Shaun 1
Batting:
2B: Carson, Mike 1 ; Gliot, Dan 1
HR: Ryan, Tim 1
RBI: Ryan, Tim 1 ; Gliot, Dan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ryan, Tim 1 ; Jarrad, D.J. 1
