Spring means many different things to different people. For some, it means the return of some green in our bland midwestern color palette. For others, it’s about Easter and hunting eggs with your family. But for me, it means the beginning of one of my favorite sports, baseball.
Seeing as professional baseball doesn’t start until early April, my cravings for baseball became fixed on Oakland University’s team. So how have the boys fared over the first 11 games of the season, from the opener against Saint Mary’s in mid-February to a trip to Miami, Ohio?
Preseason Expectations
Before the season started, Perfect Game, a baseball publisher, named four Grizzlies to their preseason all-conference team. Starting catcher Brandon Heidal, infielder and pitcher Brandon Nigh, reliever Brandon Decker and ace pitcher Hunter Pidek all found themselves on the list, joined by freshman pitcher Brody Krzysiak for Freshmen of the Year.
Oakland was picked to finish third in the Horizon League by the conference’s six head coaches. Coming off of two consecutive conference championship appearances, Oakland is looking to break through and bring a championship to Rochester.
Games 1-3 Against Saint Mary’s College of California
The Grizzlies opened their season with a trip out west to Moraga, California, where they took on the Gaels in three games.
In the first game of a doubleheader on Feb. 16, Hunter Pidek pitched a beautiful seven-inning shutout with four strikeouts. First baseman Lucas Day had a big day at the plate, with four runs batted in, including a home run. Center fielder Reggie Bassey went 5-5 on his at-bats, adding three stolen bags. Reliever Shane McAlinden would come in for Pidek and finish the game with two shutout innings. Pidek would earn the victory with a 5-0 win.
Later that day, in the second game of the doubleheader, the Gaels’ bats erupted to the tune of 13 runs. Oakland’s Brandon Decker could only make it through four innings, giving up six hits and four runs. The relief staff didn’t fare much better, giving up an additional nine runs from five homers. The Grizzlies couldn’t get much going on offense, either. A double from designated hitter John Lauinger scored the only two runs in the game. A 2-13 loss ended the first day of the season.
Two days later, Oakland again took the field with a chance to win the series. As the innings passed by, it appeared the Grizzlies were facing a repeat of Game 2. Going into the eighth inning, they faced an 11-1 deficit. Starter Sean Fekete got beat up in three innings, allowing eight hits and five runs. Freshman Brody Krzysiak was called upon to stop the bleeding but allowed five runs of his own in 2.1 innings. Finally, in the eighth inning, Oakland was able to get to Gaels reliever John Damozonio with five runs in the inning. Multiple Grizzlies hit single after single to trim the lead. Finally, in the ninth, Lucas Day hit his second homer of the season to make it an 8-11 game with the Gaels on top.
Games 4-6 at Eastern Kentucky University
The next stop on the nonconference schedule was EKU in Richmond, Kentucky. Game 4 saw Pidek again take the mound for the Grizzlies. Colonels’ catcher Silas Shaffer hit a homer off Pidek in the second inning before a single brought two more Colonels home. Pidek would finish the day with six earned runs in just under five innings. Oakland catcher Brandon Heidal hit a home run of his own to go with three hits from center fielder Bussey, but the Grizzlies fell short 5-11.
Looking to get back in the win column, Brandon Decker started Game 5 and had a much better outing in his second start. In 6.1 innings, he gave up only two runs. Right fielder Ian Clearly had a day at the plate, going 3-4 with two doubles for two RBIs. Lucas Day hit yet another home run and finished with two RBIs of his own. Oakland would win 5-4, with Aidan Manzella earning the save despite giving up two runs in the ninth inning.
Again facing a chance to win the series, Oakland wanted to put an exclamation point on the early season and get back to .500. And put an exclamation point, they did. Heidal hit a grand slam in the first inning, which was then followed by an eight-run third inning. Multiple Grizzlies had exceptional days at the plate, but Sam Griffith excelled, going 3-5 with 4 RBIs, one short of Heidal’s five. In total, 10 different Grizzlies had RBIs for a total of 19 runs. The game was called in the seventh inning, a 19-5 Oakland victory.
Games 7-8 Against Bellarmine and Cincinnati
Staying in Kentucky, Oakland was supposed to play against the Bellarmine Knights on Feb. 28, but the game was canceled.
The team would then travel to Ohio to play the Cincinnati Bearcats a day later. Freshman Shane McAlinden would make his first start of the season but struggled over three innings. He would give up four runs with six hits and three walks. The Grizzlies recovered from an early 4-0 deficit in the fourth with two runs created by Reggie Bussey. The center fielder reached on a fielder’s choice, then stole a bag and caused a throwing error at home. The Bearcats would take a few more runs, taking a commanding 8-2 lead over Oakland reliever Tanner Ware, who gave up four runs in 2.2 innings. A slight comeback in the seventh brought the game to 6-8 behind an Aiden Orr double for two RBIs, but the comeback couldn’t be completed. The one-game stand against the Cats ended with a 6-9 loss.
Games 9-11 at Miami of Ohio
Continuing in Ohio, the Grizzlies traveled north to take on the Miami University RedHawks.
In Game 1 of the three-game series, Hunter Pidek got pummeled. the starter let up 10 runs on 10 hits in just 1.2 innings. The game was a wash from there. It was 2-21 in the RedHawks favor going into the seventh inning. A late ninth-inning run brought the game to a final score of 7-21. The lone bright spots were four walks for center fielder Bussey and outfielder Trent Rice’s three stolen bags.
It appeared that Miami would again get the upper hand on Oakland, taking an early 4-0 lead off Brandon Decker. But a big third inning for the Grizzlies, punctuated by a Brandon Heidal triple, tied the game at four apiece. Oakland couldn’t quite take the lead, however, and freshman Brody Krzysiak let up four more runs in relief. The Grizzlies would suffer a 6-8 loss, stranding nine men on base.
Unfortunately for Oakland, Game 3 wouldn’t go any better. Sean Fekete got pulled after only two innings, allowing six runs. The RedHawk bats could not be silenced, ringing up 17 runs to Oakland’s nine. Third baseman Brandon Nigh led Oakland with three RBIs.
What’s Next?
Oakland will go back to Michigan to take on U of M in one game, then travel down to Texas to play a three-game series against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
