The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

FRIDAY’S GAME:
Southland Vikings (16-10)
at Northwest Indiana Oilmen (15-11)

July 12, 2019 • 7:10 p.m. • Whiting, Ind. • Oil City Stadium
Broadcast: Oilmen Broadcasting Network (Facebook Live) 

Two teams that have had very different weeks face off in the final game before the All-Star Break on Friday night at Oil City Stadium. The Northwest Indiana Oilmen have won five consecutive games to climb 15-11, while the visiting Southland Vikings find themselves just one game ahead of the second-place Oilmen in the MCL standings after having dropped five of their last six. It’s a Miller Lite Pint Night at the ballpark with $2 Miller Lite Pints available at the stadium concession stand.

Game Notes

• The Oilmen have won five straight for the first time since a seven-game winning streak that crossed over the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason last year. The Oilmen won the final three regular season contests before sweeping their way through four playoff games.
• The Oilmen enjoyed a 10-run second inning on Thursday at Crestwood in an eventual 13-1 victory. They were one run shy of the team record of 11 runs scored in one inning, which was set in July 2013 against Rockford and matched in July 2018 against Joliet. The Oilmen have had two innings of nine runs or more within the last week as they also did so on Saturday against Southland.
• The Oilmen won the most recent meeting between these two teams 14-6 last Saturday, July 6. That allowed NWI to improve to 2-4 against Southland this season and snap a four-game head-to-head skid. The Oilmen are 38-35 all-time against the Vikings.
• RHP Brandon Laux gets the ball from manager Kevin Tyrrell on Friday. Laux has a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings of work this summer. This will mark his fourth game and first start. The Vikings will counter with left-handed pitcher Justin Rios. The Southland ace owns a 5-0 record and a sparkling 1.21 ERA.
• Jonny Vesevick racked up 11 strikeouts in his seven innings of three-hit, one-run ball in Thursday’s win over Crestwood. He came within one strikeout of tying the franchise record for strikeouts in a single game set by Max Franklin in 2017 and matched Jack Guzek (June 12 vs. Bloomington) for the most strikeouts by an Oilmen pitcher in a game this season. For the season, Vesevick now has 40 strikeouts, second only to Crestwood’s Eddie Wilkins (44) for the MCL lead.
• Jackson Dvorak is up to 22 RBIs, leapfrogging Malik Peters (21) for the team lead. Dvorak is tied for third in the league with Joliet’s Will Krushena behind only DuPage County’s Jack Anderson (25) and Bloomington’s Peyton Dillingham (24).
• This is the lone home game for the Oilmen in a stretch where the team is playing eight of nine on the road.