The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

Whiting, Ind. – June 5, 2014 – Missed opportunities with runners in scoring position were a theme for the Oilmen in Thursday’s 6-3 loss to DuPage County.

The Oilmen jumped on the scoreboard in the first inning with two runs courtesy of two walks, a hit batsman, an error and a wild pitch.  The Hounds responded with three in the second and two more in the third against Oilmen starter Danny Pobereyko, who departed after three frames and took the loss.

From there, University Illinois-Chicago right-hander Tomas Michelson settled down and cruised through five innings with no further damage to earn the victory.

The Oilmen stranded 10 men on base and missed golden scoring chances in the third and fifth. In both cases, NWI had two men in scoring position with one out, but walked away empty handed.

“In that situation, you have to take what the pitcher gives you,” Oilmen manager Justin Huisman said. “It’s basically situational hitting; you can’t go up there and not have a plan. You don’t have to look for the perfect pitch, just something good enough to get the job done. Tonight we weren’t able to do that.”

The Oilmen threatened again in the ninth inning after Kevin DeFilippis scored as Jason Gasser skipped one into left field. Nate Schneider represented the tying run with one away, but Trent Carrier induced him to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

Richie Gorski was the star of the Hounds offense with two run-scoring triples. Gorski was cut down at the plate while trying to stretch his second triple into an inside-the-park home run.

The Hounds remain undefeated at 5-0, while the Oilmen drop to .500 at 3-3. Huisman said the sample size is not yet large enough to be indicative of where the teams will finish the season.

“It’s too early to tell,” Huisman said. “They play good defense. They threw a couple of decent arms at us. It’s early in the summer, so there’s no telling what it’s going to be like.”

Anthony Gomez tossed three scoreless innings in relief of Pobereyko, bouncing back after allowing four runs on Sunday against Lexington. Gomez did not see game action this spring.

“There’s still some rust,” Gomez said. “I’ve got to get back in game form because I’m just not in game form yet. It’s all coming together. It feels really good just to get back on the mound and compete.”

Schneider, Gasser and Ryan Burvan had two hits each to pace the Oilmen offense.

The Oilmen will host Oilman Stan’s Third Birthday Celebration on Friday night at 7:10 during a nonleague game against the Michigan City Lakers. All children will receive free admission as part of BP Family Friday.