The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
Joliet Generals (12-15)
at Northwest Indiana Oilmen (19-16)

July 30, 2019 & July 31, 2019 • 7:10 p.m. • Whiting, Ind. • Oil City Stadium
Broadcast: Oilmen Broadcasting Network (Facebook Live) 

A stretch of six consecutive days with Northwest Indiana Oilmen home games to close out the regular season begins on Tuesday night at Oil City Stadium. The Oilmen will play a Joliet team that is fighting for its playoff hopes on both Tuesday and Wednesday. A pair of Oilmen wins this week could all but secure a playoff berth for Northwest Indiana, while a pair of NWI defeats would give Joliet life and put the Oilmen in position to fight for their lives over the weekend.

Game Notes

• The Oilmen are expected to send RHP Brandon Laux to the mound on Tuesday night. He will face the Generals for the first time this season as he enters the week having logged 14 1/3 innings of work while posting a 1.88 ERA. Laux last pitched on July 12 vs. Southland, allowing just one run in 4 1/3 innings in his first start of the year. For the season, Laux has walked seven and struck out 12.
• The Oilmen will be opposed by RHP Jake Ostrowski, who holds a 4.50 ERA and 3-0 record in 32 innings for the Generals. He has issued 14 walks and recorded 28 strikeouts over six games, all starts. Ostrowski last pitched on July 22, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks in five innings against Crestwood. This will be his first time pitching against the Oilmen this summer.
• When the two teams meet on Wednesday, the Oilmen are expected to go with left-hander Jordan Petty. The Highland High School graduate has seen his fair share of the Generals as this week mark his fourth straight start against the team. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out 11 in six innings on July 24 to pick up the win. Petty stands at 2-1 with 12 walks and 24 strikeouts in 21 innings over five games, four starts.
• The Oilmen lead the season series 3-1 entering the final two meetings with Joliet this week. The Oilmen recovered from an 11-10 loss on July 17 in Joliet by downing the Generals 11-2 last Wednesday, July 24 at Oil City Stadium. The Oilmen hold an 8-5 lead in all-time set that began last season.
• The Oilmen need two more wins to clinch their eighth consecutive winning season in their eighth year in existence. They enter the final week with a .543 winning percentage, which would be the lowest in franchise history. However, their previous low came in a season where they went on to win the MCL Championship, .553 in 2016.
• Going into the final week of the season, Oilmen pitcher Jonny Vesevick has 48 strikeouts. The single-season Oilmen strikeout record is 55, achieved Enrique Zamora in 2015. Playoff games do not count toward the MCL regular season stats or the Oilmen record book. Vesevick’s 48 strikeouts have come in 35 innings, while Zarmoa needed 49 innings to get to 55 in his record-setting 2015 campaign.
• Malik Peters enters the final week of the season with 20 stolen bases, but he is still eight away from tying the record set by Tyler Sroczynski in 2017. Ben Berenda has 26 bases on balls and Justin Conant is at 25, but both are a ways from the record of 35 set by Chris Baker in 2017. Peters and Conant are tied for the team lead in hits with 37. Only two Oilmen have gotten to 50 – Sroczynski in 2017 (53) and Leiff Clarkson (50) in 2013.