Princeton, Ind. — The Bethel Pilots (6-3) split the doubleheader with the Oakland City Mighty Oaks (9-1) by a score of 7-4 in game one and 6-4 in game two at Gil Hodges Field.
GAME 1
Bethel scored first in the top of the first from an RBI double by junior Eli MacDonald and scored Jeremy Wiersema to start the game with a 1-0 lead.
Junior Thomas Dolan belted a two-run homer to the left in the top of the second to put two insurance runs on the board to grow the lead to 3-0. In the bottom of the frame, Oakland City answered back with an RBI double to center by junior Alec Pruitt and swung in Xander Willis to make it a 3-1 game.
Andrew Miranda doubled to left center in the fourth inning to score Dolan on an RBI double to grow the lead to 4-1. The Mighty Oaks chipped away by scoring on a throwing error by Deisler to score Oakland City’s Garrett Causey to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
The game was tied at four in the bottom of the sixth frame on a two-run bomb to left center by Causey, who scored Payton Hall from first base.
Bethel took charge in the ninth inning with a two-RBI double by MacDonald to score Wiersema and Miranda, then Deisler hit a sac fly to center to score MacDonald to win game one 7-4.
Frank Plesac started the game, throwing six innings and letting up seven hits, four runs with three earned, and struck out five batters.
Brad VanOverberghe earned the win in three innings pitched, with no hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.
GAME 2
The Pilots struck first in the top of the first with a two-RBI single by junior catcher Dominic Deisler who scored MacDonald and Wiersema on a second and third in a one-out situation.
In the second inning, Wiersema singled to left field and hit in Silas Kaser, who pinch-ran for Corbin Greenslade from second.
The Mighty Oaks would strike back in the third inning with a single to center from Sam Pinckert to cut the lead down to 3-1.
In the fourth inning, the Mighty Oaks put up four runs, starting with an RBI triple to left center crossing Hall to make it a one-run game, then Chase Christie swung one through the right side to score Willis, and Oliver Hamilton homered to left to put two more on the board, which put the Mighty Oaks up 5-3.
Oakland City would homer in back-to-back innings with a home run in the fifth inning to center and add to the lead 6-3.
Bethel answered in the sixth by Tolson scoring on a throwing error, but it would not be enough, and the Pilots would lose 6-4.
Ty Mickiewicz would earn the loss, which makes him 1-1 on the season after throwing 4.1 innings, allowed seven hits and six runs with five earned one walk, and three strikeouts.
Andrew Gerber came in relief in the fourth to close out the frame allowing one hit, one walk, and struck out one batter in two outs.
Noah Borwege closed out the game in the seventh, not allowing a run, let up one hit, one walk, and struck out one batter.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
• Alex Stout would hit a season-high three hits in a game in game one, going 3-for-5.
• The Pilots had 22 hits on the day to Oakland City’s 15 hits.
• Bethel struck out a total of 18 times in the entire doubleheader.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Pilots venture south one last time before starting Crossroads League play on Feb. 24-25 to take on Toccoa Falls (Ga.) at TFC Field in Toccoa Falls, Ga. for a three-game series. Game one is set for a 2:00 p.m. first pitch.