The Peninsula Oilers opened a road trip with an 11-9 loss to the Mat-Su Miners on Monday.
The Oilers now travel to Fairbanks, where they play the Goldpanners five times in four days, starting with a 7 p.m. game today. Peninsula is 7-8 in the Alaska Baseball League, 2 1-2 games behind the Anchorage Bucs in the American League.
Monday’s contest featured plenty of offense on both sides, with both squads finishing with 12 hits. The Oilers used five pitchers, while Mat-Su used six.
For the Oilers, Josh Rose had a pair of home runs, finishing 2 for 3 with three runs and three RBIs. Mylz Jones was 3 for 4, while Alex Rubanowitz was 2 for 3 with three runs and two RBIs, and Nick Thurman was 2 for 5.
But despite all the offense, the game may have been decided by defense. In the second, Miners center fielder Cameron Frost made a highlight catch on AJ Hernandez, robbing him of a likely two-run, inside-the-park homer.
The Oilers also lost a couple of runs in the first, when a line drive turned into a dead ball when it hit the umpire.
All that came back to haunt the Oilers in the eighth inning, when Mat-Su broke an 8-8 tie with three runs. Naturally, Frost had the big hit in the inning, a two-RBI double to right center.
The Oilers rallied with one in the ninth, but could get no more.
The Miners jumped out to a 7-1 lead after the third inning, getting to Tyler Gibson for seven runs and eight hits in two innings. The Oilers’ lone run in the first three innings was a home run by Rose.
Peninsula started the comeback with four runs in the fifth inning. Drake Zarate started the fifth inning with a walk, then Rose followed with a two-run home run. Ethan McGill then had a clutch two-out single to score Jake Sandlin and Rubanowitz.
The Oilers then grabbed an 8-7 lead with three more runs in the top of the sixth.
With one away, Rose was hit by a pitch, Nick Rogowski walked and Jordan Sanford singled to load the bases.
Rubanowitz singled to score Rogowski and Rose. Sanford was out at home when Jones failed to make contact on a suicide squeeze, but Jones made up for it with a single to score Rubanowitz.
Monday
Miners 11, Oilers 9
Oilers AB R H BI Miners AB R H BI
Sdln cf 2 1 1 0 Pnne ss 5 1 1 0
Rgski cf 0 1 0 0 Nwl rf 3 1 1 0
Snfd lf 5 0 1 0 Lchr dh 4 3 2 1
Rbwz 3b 3 3 2 2 Myr c 4 1 1 1
Jns ss 4 0 3 1 Frst cf 3 2 1 2
McGl 1b 5 0 1 2 Dckr 1b 3 1 1 1
Trmn dh 5 0 2 1 Blsr 2b 4 1 3 1
Hrdz 2b 5 0 0 0 Cnly 3b 2 1 1 1
Zrte c 3 1 0 0 Wrlh lf 5 0 1 2
Rose rf 3 3 2 3 —- — — — —
Totals 35 9 12 9 Totals 33 11 12 9
Oilers 001 043 001 —9
Miners 124 001 03X —11
2B — Sandlin, Rubanowitz, Panaccione, Frost, Wunderlich. HR — Rose 2, Locher. SF — Connelly. SH — Connelly. CS — Jones, Wunderlich. E — Zarate, Panaccione. LOB — Oilers 7, Miners 10. DP — Miners 2.
IP H R ER BB SO
Oilers
Gibson 2 8 7 6 3 1
Richey 3 2-3 2 1 1 2 2
Rieser 1 1-3 1 0 0 1 2
Sheridan, L 1-3 1 3 3 2 1
Flemming 2-3 0 0 0 2 0
Miners
Romo 3 3 1 1 1 1
Decker 1 1-3 1 3 3 3 1
Rodriguez 2-3 2 1 1 0 1
Reid 2-3 2 3 3 1 0
Oglesby, W 2 1-3 1 0 0 1 2
Arobio, S 1 3 1 1 0 0
WP — Richey, Rodriguez. PB — Meyer 2. T — 3:12.
