Whiting, Ind. – June 17, 2023 – A pitching duel for seven innings turned to chaos in the final frames as a pair of Oilmen homeruns proved to be too much as the Vikings fell 8-5 in ten innings on Saturday night at Oil City Stadium.
Will Moell started on the mound for the Vikings and had his best outing of the season, tossing six plus shutout innings allowing just one hit while working around seven walks with five strikeouts. He was able to get big punchouts when he needed to as the Oilmen stranded seven runners on base in the first six innings.
Meanwhile, the Vikings were clinging to a 1-0 lead after Freddie Ragsdale III scored on an RBI single from Bryce Nevils in the third inning.
Jack Kienzle relieved Moell with a runner on first and nobody out in the seventh and was able to work around a one out walk of his own by inducing an inning ending double play.
After adding an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning to take a 2-0 lead, Kienzle found himself on the verge of stranding more Oilmen runners on base as they found themselves with men on first and second with two outs after two more walks. That is when the Vikings' luck would run out. Brendan Stressler cranked a three-run homer out to right field and on one swing the Oilmen had a 3-2 lead.
It turned out there was plenty of excitement still to come though, as Matt Merk reached on an error to lead off the ninth inning. A one out single from Colin Small put runners on first and second and after a Jimmy Gurgone strikeout, it was up to Freddie Ragsdale III.
Ragsdale hit a bouncer toward left field where Oilmen shortstop Ryan Little made a nice play to glove the ball a couple of steps into the left field grass, but Merk never hesitated around third base as he was running on contact and beat the throw to the plate to tie the game at three.
Collin Small, who had advanced to third on the throw to the plate, would then score the go ahead run on a delayed steal of home. He had started creeping toward the plate on the pitch and then took off as the catcher tossed the ball back to the mound and the Vikings had a 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Oilmen answered back after two more walks started the inning. After an out was recorded and a wild pitch moved runners to second and third, the Vikings opted to intentionally walk Chris Baker to load the bases for Ethan Rossi, who was hit by the first pitch he saw to tie the game 4-4.
The game would go to extra innings and although the Vikings used three straight hits to start the tenth inning and take a 5-4 lead, it would not be enough.
The Oilmen used a walk, an error and an RBI single to tie the game up and then a Jayden Comia three-run homer walked it off as the Oilmen won 8-5.
When asked after the game how the series split with the Oilmen would help the team's confidence, reliever Guershon Exi said that “it shows that we have talent and when everyone comes together and plays baseball, we can compete with these teams that are allegedly supposed to be the top teams, so that’s a nice feeling.”
Even after the tough loss, manager Sullivan Stickann was pleased with the effort from his team.
“I love the way that we fought,” Stickann said after the game. “Everybody was super locked in, even when we weren’t hitting and that’s what good teams do. We just didn’t find a way to win.”
The Vikings (7-9) will look to get back in the win column on Sunday when they head to Legacy Field to take on the league leading Lake County Corn Dogs (13-4). First pitch is at 4pm with Mike Kelly expected to start on the mound for the Vikings.
