The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

FRIDAY’S GAME:
Crestwood Panthers (1-5)
at Northwest Indiana Oilmen (4-1) 

July 10, 2020 • 7:10 p.m. • Whiting, Ind. • Oil City Stadium
Broadcast: Oilmen Broadcasting Network (Facebook Live)

The Northwest Indiana Oilmen will look to remain unbeaten in games played at Oil City Stadium when they welcome the Crestwood Panthers to Whiting on Friday night. It’s a $2 Pint Night as fans attending the game can purchase domestic Miller Lite pints for the discounted price of $2 at the stadium concession stand.

Pitching Matchup – Northwest Indiana RHP Costa Sirounis (Indiana University / Munster, Ind.) vs. Crestwood LHP Max Engstrom (Indiana Wesleyan / Hickory Hills, Ill.)  

Game Notes

• A pitchers’ duel quickly turned into a blowout on Thursday at Oil City Stadium as the Oilmen posted 10 runs in the top of the eighth inning in a DuPage County home game that was moved to Whiting. That snapped a 1-1 tie and allowed the Oilmen to invoke the 10-run rule and win in eight innings. The 10-run inning was one shy of a franchise record, as the Oilmen scored 11 times in a single frame on July 23, 2013 vs. Rockford and July 25, 2018 vs. Joliet.
• Nick Anderson and Tyler Nelson continued to pace the Oilmen offensively with multi-hit days on Thursday. Anderson has had multi-hit outputs in three of his four Oilmen contests and owns a team-best .600 batting average. Nelson has started his Oilmen career with four straight multi-hit games and owns a .588 average.
• Jack Guzek put together his second straight strong start on Thursday and has not allowed an earned run over seven innings while striking out eight and yielding just four hits. As a staff, the Oilmen have an ERA of just 2.09 through five games.
• The Oilmen have tied the 2015 team for the franchise’s best five-game start to a season. The 2015 squad got off to a 5-1 start to the campaign and eventually moved to 8-2.
• Oilmen probable pitcher Costa Sirounis will make his first appearance on the mound this summer. He is a two-way player and has appeared in one game as a position player, going 0-for-3 with two walks.
• Crestwood probable pitcher Max Engstrom worked four innings on July 5 vs. Southland, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while taking the defeat.
• The Oilmen hold a 23-3 lead in the all-time series with Crestwood and have won six straight. In the last 23 meetings with the Panthers, the Oilmen are 22-1 with the lone loss coming on June 7, 2019 at Oil City Stadium. 

Season Notes

• The 2020 Oilmen roster features representatives from numerous Division-I institutions including the following conferences: Big 10, American, Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Summit League and the ACC.
• The Big Ten is well represented on this year’s roster, with players from five different conference members on the squad – Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa.
• This marks the Oilmen’s first season under the direction of Chris Cunningham, who is the fourth manager in team history. Cunningham is no stranger to the MCL, as the former professional ballplayer in the Tampa Bay Rays organization managed the Southland Vikings from 2011-2014. In his final two seasons, the Vikings won back-to-back MCL championships.
• Oilmen legend Matt Pobereyko is serving as the team’s pitching coach this season. He racked up an MCL-record 18 career saves in 2013 and 2014 including a single-season MCL record 13 in his final campaign with the Oilmen. Pobereyko is an active professional pitcher and has reached as high as Triple-A.
• As usual, the Oilmen are loaded with local talent. Three Oilmen players graduated from Andrean High School, one from Highland, three from Griffith, one from Valparaiso, two from Munster and two from Lake Central. Expanding to Illinois high schools, two Oilmen competed at Brother Rice, one at Oak Forest, one at Marist, one at Marian Catholic, three at Homewood-Flossmoor, one at Carl Sandburg, one at St. Rita and one at St. Laurence.