COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Dominican baseball team rallied from a four-run deficit to win its season finale against Findlay, 6-5, in Panther Valley. 

The Panthers opened the final day of the 2022 campaign with a 4-2 loss to the Oilers, but scored six of the final seven runs in the night cap. Senior Thomas Staab (Bellville, Ohio), junior Alex Brill (Amherst, Ohio) and sophomore Michael Knapp (Elyria, Ohio) each collected three hits to lead ODU over the doubleheader. 

GAME ONE

Staab supplied all of the scoring for the Panthers in the opener, hitting a two-run homer to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning. Findlay though, scored four runs over the first two innings to earn the victory. 

Each team finished with four hits in the game, with Staab and Jack Mathey (Copley, Ohio) each posting multi-hit performances. Billy Criblez (Mantua, Ohio) tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball in relief. Michael Leseicki (Urichsville, Ohio) recorded the final two outs. 

GAME TWO

The Oilers (18-31, 13-17 G-MAC) followed up their Game One performance with four more runs over the first three innings in the second half of the twinbill. Marshall Flynn (Heath, Ohio) rebounded from the slow start, allowing four runs, three earned, over 6.0 innings of work. Flynn stuck out a career-high 11 batters, and conceded five hits to Findlay. 

The first three Panther batters reached in the fourth inning, a rally that included a double from Knapp. Knapp would later score on a wild pitch. David Silva (Tontogany, Ohio) and Zac Wilson (Hamilton, Ohio) each drove in a run as well, with the latter coming on a suicide squeeze. 

ODU then tied the game on another squeeze attempt in the fifth, this time a sac bunt from Brennen Hunt (Ashland, Ohio). Staab then gave ODU its first lead of the day with a double in the seventh. The Panthers led 5-4. 

Both ODU and Findlay each scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning, with Silva scoring what would be the game-winning run in the bottom half of the frame. 

Lane Marshall (Wooster, Ohio) entered on the mound to record the final out of the eighth inning. The left-hander then retired the Oilers in order in the ninth to earn his third win of the season. 

Brill and Knapp combined for five of ODU's eight hits in the contest. 

SEASON WRAP-UP

The Panthers conclude the 2022 season with a 23-37 overall record. ODU also compiled a 14-18 Great Midwest mark 14-18, tying for seventh in the standings, one spot shy of a postseason conference tournament qualification. 

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu