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Dads See Young Hawks Sweep Again |
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Written by Steve DeDoes for Toledo Hawks Baseball
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Tuesday, 21 June 2011 06:47 |
4-0 Weekend for the Gold
On Father's Day, the Gold birds from Toledo got more great starting pitching, and some timely hitting, enabling them to score a doubleheader sweep of the Allegheny Athletics. After a late comeback allowed the Hawks to swipe the first game by a 3-2 score, they jumped out to an early lead in game two, then rode home to a 4-1 victory.
Game 1 saw a crisp pitching duel between the Hawks' Brett Kuebler (Siena Heights/Toledo) and the Athletics' Ryan Oglesby (Slippery Rock University). Allegheny touched Kuebler for a single run in the fifth, and looked to be headed toward a shutout win...but Eric Croak (Toledo/Toledo) cranked a two-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to vault the Kuebler and the Hawks to a dramatic victory.
Prior to the sixth, the Hawks only had singles from Blake Schmenk (Owens CC/Perrysburg) and Mike Lollo (Siena Heights/Allen Park, MI) to show for their efforts against Oglesby. But in the sixth, a two-out walk by Drew Kuns (Bowling Green/Oregon) was followed by a crucial error by the Athletic infield. Croak sent a smash down the right-field line that cleared the fence inside the foul pole to hang three unearned runs on the hard-luck Allegheny starter. Oglesby yielded a hit to Ryan Williams (Tiffin/Maumee), and then after another error and a walk, he exited with the impending loss.
Kuebler encountered trouble in the seventh, loading the bases with none out--but a groundout and two strikeouts finished off a complete-game, seven-hit performance. Kuebler walked only one batter, while striking out four. All of his K's came over the last three innings as he buckled down to earn the win.
Game Two saw Ricky Volante (Lake Erie, Tappahannock, VA) take the ball and the hill for the Hawks. After striking out the side in the first, Volante saw his teammates push three first-inning tallies across the plate. Cory Lehman (Siena Heights/Rossford) led off by reaching on an error and promptly swiping second; he scored on Schmenk's RBI single. Schmenk came home on a passed ball after a single from designated hitter Kuns, and then Kuns plated when Williams added a single of his own.
The Hawks attack was limited after that, as the starter for Allegheny was able to adjust after leaving the ball up in the strike zone in the first. Lollo reached with one out in the second and scored on Schmenk's single, and the Hawks added singles by Lehman, Kuns, and Oberlin College teammates Steve DiNanno (Northbrook, IL) and Mattie DeDoes (Ann Arbor, MI).
Volante went six innings, allowing a run in the fourth on back-to-back doubles to left. Besides that, he was in control, allowing a total of four hits and one walk while adding one more strikeout to his opening inning troika. Tim Corbey (Dayton/Toledo) notched a save by working a quick seventh, walking one while striking out two.
With a 4-0 weekend highlighted by pitching exploits, the Hawks move to 10-2 in the Tri-State league with a 13-2 overall mark.
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