MIDWAY, Ky. -- After rearranging their weekend schedule, the Midway baseball team opened their River States Conference series with Oakland City (Ind.) on Sunday with a twinbill at Tracy Farmer – Don Ball Stadium.
The Midway offense had their fair share of struggles in both ends of the doubleheader as they carded just six hits over the twinbill. Luckily for the Blue and Gold, they salvaged a split with a 3-2 victory in game one following a 14-0 defeat in game two.
After splitting the doubleheader, Midway moves to 14-20 overall and 11-3 in league play. The Mighty Oaks, meanwhile, move to 20-16 overall and 6-10 in RSC play.
They were scheduled to wrap up their three-game series on Monday but were forced to cancel based on the projected weather forecast.
Game 1: Midway 3, Oakland City 2
The Eagles struck first scoring two in the third and one in the seventh as they took a 3-0 lead into the final frame. The third stanza saw the Eagles push two runs across on one hit and one key Oakland City error.
Nick Eastham (Morehead, Ky.) pushed the games first run across with an RBI single to right. He later came around to score after Ryan Davis (Paris, Ky.) reached on a bases loaded walk.
Midway then tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an RBI single from Josh Halterman (Lexington, Ky.) as the home team took a 3-0 lead into the ninth.
Oakland City scored two in the ninth and had the tying run at third, but he was stranded there following a strikeout to end the game. Nik Malchesky (Chatsworth, Ga.) tossed the final 1.2 innings and picked up his fourth save of the season.
Blake Kincaid got the start for the Eagles and turned in a terrific performance. The sophomore from Columbia, Tenn. tossed six shutout innings allowing two hits with 10 strikeouts. Jose Aviles (Hatillo, Puerto Rico) pitched 1.1 shutout innings with two hits and two strikeouts.
Game 2: Oakland City 14, Midway 0
The nightcap saw Midway's offense go silent as they tallied just two hits. Oakland City had no problem offensively scoring 14 runs on 16 hits. The Mighty Oaks scored early and often with three in the third, two in the fourth, five in the fifth and four in the seven en route to the win.
Grant Hotchkiss (Richmond, Ky.) had a leadoff single in the bottom of the first as Midway didn't record another hit until the bottom of the seventh. Josh Halterman had a leadoff single in the seventh to account for Midway's second hit in the loss.
Skyler Lucas (Elizabethtown, Ky.) got the start for the Eagles and was handed his first defeat of the season. He allowed three runs on four hits in 2.1 innings of work. Dylan Burton (Somerset, Ky.) was the lone bright spot out of the bullpen with 1.1 scoreless innings.
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