Series Stats vs. Denison (PDF)

Granville, Ohio – Needing to win one of two games to advance to the NCAC Tournament, the Oberlin College baseball team was unable to do so as the Denison University Big Red topped the Yeomen 8-1 and 4-1 to punch their ticket to Chillicothe, Ohio next week.
 
Seeded No. 1 in the NCAC West Division, the Big Red fell to the Yeomen yesterday 3-2. The Yeomen, seeded No. 4 in the NCAC East, had 12 hits in that game, but today totaled just 10 over 18 innings.
 
Trailing 4-1 going into the ninth of game two, the Yeomen brought the tying run to the plate with one out as Ian Dinsmore and Brian Carney ripped back-to-back singles. However, junior reliever Connor Hanrahan induced two groundball outs off the next two Yeomen hitters to end the game and the season for Oberlin.
 
The two foes traded single tallies in the first inning and the Yeomen were blanked the rest of the way. Cruz led off the game by drawing one of his three walks and would ultimately score on the second wild pitch of the inning.
 
Denison's leadoff man Tanner Johnson belted a triple to get them going and he would then score on a groundout.
 
Yeomen senior starter Harrison Wollman battled his way through six innings, allowing just three hits. However, he fought through command issues all afternoon long as he walked six. Of his 110 pitches thrown, just 50 were in the strike zone.
 
The Big Red took a 2-1 lead in the third as Noah Hahn delivered a sac fly to right field.
 
Denison senior Ian Walsh got the start on the bump, but lasted just two innings as Head Coach Mike Deegan quickly changed course to freshman Mikey Rivera, which proved to be the right decision as he allowed just two hits over five innings of work. He walked five, but also struck out five.
 
Oberlin had a promising scoring chance go by the wayside in the fifth as the first two hitters of the inning walked, but Rivera retired the next three in order to leave them stranded. They were two of the 13 total that were left on base in the game by the Yeomen.
 
The Big Red would add on in the sixth as two walks coupled with a double and a sac fly added up to two more runs on Wollman's account as his day came to a close. Junior Kyle Dominy, who earned the save yesterday, worked the final two innings and allowed just one hit.
 
The Yeomen put two on with two out in the seventh, but couldn't find a timely hit to bring in a run. The Yeomen eighth started like the fifth as back-to-back walks to Sam Harris and Quin Butler chased Rivera from the game.  However, Hanrahan squashed the threat with a big punch-out and two groundouts.
 
In the ninth it was more of the same as Oberlin left six men aboard over the final three innings alone.
 
Carney had two of the Yeomen's five hits in the game.
 
In game one of the day the first-inning struggles for sophomore Sean Kiley once again proved to be prevalent as the Big Red roughed him up for four runs in the home-half of the inning, belting out five hits in the frame.
 
Oberlin's lone run of the game came in the third as Dinsmore sent a two-out RBI single back up the middle to score senior Brian Hemmert.
 
The Yeomen never got to Big Red hurler Perley Provost as he tossed a complete-game five-hitter on 105 pitches.
 
Kiley battled his way through five innings but not before surrendering seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits.
 
Denison capped off the victory by adding a single tally in the fourth and three in the sixth.
 
Oberlin will say goodbye to its 12 senior members who are graduating later this month.
 
Finishing at 14-26, the Yeomen will welcome back a strong core of pitchers and position players in 2017.