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Oilmen Blank Panthers on Monday

05/30/2022 4:04 PM -

Hammond Ind.- The Northwest Indiana Oilmen got back in the win column in dominating fashion Monday afternoon by taking down the Crestwood Panthers 14-0 in seven innings.

NWI pitchers limited Crestwood to just three hits and zeroes across the run column in the shutout. Matt Lelito (Andrean/ Kankakee CC) made his first start of the season and picked up the win while hurling five scoreless frames and striking out seven. Mike Bernas (Orland Park/ Saint Leo) shut the door by throwing two scoreless innings of relief ball and adding a pair of strikeouts. The Panthers were able to get 10 men on base but none were able to cross the plate due to the changing approach of both pitchers.

“Matt had a little bit of command issues early but pitched out of some self-inflicted jams by getting a bunch of strikeouts.” Oilmen Manager Adam Enright said. “The pitching staff did what we needed them to do today by not allowing any runs.”

The Oilmen offense scored 10 plus runs for the second consecutive game. It was a group effort as nine of the 10 batters that picked up the lumber reached base. Nick Anderson  and Jack Zebig (Plainfield/ Maryville) led the way with three hits apiece. Joe Cosenza (Downers Grove/ College of DuPage) drove in three runs on two hits including a homerun to center field in the seventh inning. David Marshall (Downers Grove/ College of DuPage) flashed his speed on the basepaths by legging out two triples.

“We’ve been changing our approach at the plate by putting ourselves in a position to do as much damage as possible instead of settling for just base hits or only looking for those base hits.”Enright added.

The Oilmen will look to string together another win when they take on the Panthers again on Wednesday at 5:00 P.M. The game will be broadcast on the Oilmen broadcasting network including Facebook live, Region Sports Net, and AM 1230 WJOB.