06/29/2016 12:43 PM -
WEDNESDAY’S GAME:
Michigan City Lakers (8-13)
at Northwest Indiana Oilmen (13-12)
June 29, 2016 • 7:20 p.m. • Whiting, Ind.
Radio: AM 1230 WJOB, 104.7 FM, NWIOilmen.com (Pregame 7 p.m.)
Pitching Matchup
NWI’s Luke Jaksich (St. Joseph’s College / St. John, Ind.) vs. Michigan City’s Jerome Burton (University of Paris)
For Starters
The Oilmen continued their success on June 28 over the years, improving to 4-0 all-time with Tuesday’s 13-4 win over Joliet. The Oilmen have outscored the opposition 40-6 in those games. The Oilmen also knocked off the first-place Admirals for the second time this week and pulled with 1 ½ of the top spot in the Midwest Collegiate League. Luke Jaksich gets the nod on Wednesday, his second start of the year. Jaksich’s first start also came against the Lakers, when he notched the win on June 8 by allowing four runs on seven hits, three walks and eight strikeouts in five innings. Jaksich has made three relief appearances since, most recently five innings against Southland on June 23. Overall this season, Jaksich owns a 1-0 record with a 5.02 ERA, 11 walks and 14 strikeouts.
Inside the Oilmen
Chase Dawson notched three hits on Tuesday to move into the team lead with 25. Dawson also leads the team in doubles with six and ranks second in batting average at .391. He has eight multi-hit games and four games with three hits or more. He’s reached base safely in all 15 games he’s played with the Oilmen. Tyler Sroczynski narrowly extended his hitting streak to 13 with a run-scoring double in his final plate appearance on Tuesday after going 0-for-his-first-4. Srocyznski came around to score his league-leading 26th run of the season. After having an eight-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday, Zack Forney bounced back with two hits on Tuesday. He’s got multiple hits in four of his last five and five of seven. Marshawn Taylor has at least one hit in all four games he’s played with the Oilmen and multiple hits in three of those games. He posted three hits and three RBIs yesterday to lead the Oilmen offensive outburst. Hunter Clark tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday and has now pitched 13 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. He’s the only pitcher in the league with more than eight innings of work that has not yielded an earned tally. Clark has seen considerably more action than he did last year with the Oilmen. He’s already surpassed 13 innings, a mark he didn’t reach until July 26 last season. In his two-year Oilmen career, Clark has allowed three earned runs in 30 2/3 innings, good for an 0.80 ERA.
Inside the Lakers
The Lakers are coming off a 7-4 win over the Oilmen on Monday night. They banged out nine hits, limited the Oilmen to three and were the beneficiary of 11 walks issued by Oilmen pitching. Max Kerr and RJ Zambrano had two hits apiece. Starting pitcher Jerome Burton has seen MCL action once this season, when he tossed three scoreless frames of relief against the Oilmen on June 7, allowing only one hit and no walks.
About the Matchup
The Oilmen lead the season series 3-1 and the all-time series 13-10. These two teams will see a lot of each other this week, as Wednesday marks the second of three meetings, with the third taking place on Thursday night at Oil City Stadium.
Click "download attachment" to view full Oilmen Game Notes.
