07/07/2016 9:29 AM -
THURSDAY’S GAME:
Northwest Indiana Oilmen (16-15)
at Bloomington Bobcats (10-13)
July 7, 2016 • 5:30 p.m. • Bloomington, Ill.
Radio: Online Only, NWIOilmen.com (5:10 pregame)
Pitching Matchup
NWI’s Jordan Petty (Purdue Northwest / Highland, Ind.) vs. Bloomington’s Mitch Weis (Illinois State / Ballwin, Mo.)
For Starters
In Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep of the Lakers, Jake Perreira became the second Oilmen player with a multiple home run game and first since Billy Miller on July 16, 2012 (an 11-5 loss to Southland). Perreira is the first player in Oilmen history to homer in consecutive plate appearances. He entered Wednesday 1-for-his-last-19 before cracking home runs in each of his first two at-bats. Perreira has seven extra-base hits this season, tied with Chase Dawson and Tommy Szczasny for second on the team behind Tyler Sroczynski. Perreira draws even with Sroczynski for the team lead in home runs with two. He becomes the third different Oilmen player with a five RBI game this year, joining Jordan Flint (June 9 vs. Southland) and Szczasny (June 26 vs. Admirals).
Inside the Oilmen
Starting pitcher Jordan Petty will make his first start in an Oilmen uniform on Thursday. Petty holds a 5.00 ERA in nine innings over five relief appearances this season. His efficiency is part of what has earned him the starting nod as he needed just 27 pitches to get through two innings against the Lakers on June 30 and 16 pitches to notched three outs against the Vikings on July 3. Petty will become the eighth different pitcher to start a game for the Oilmen this season. With two more two-hit games on Wednesday, Stefano Belmonte now has seven multi-hit games this year. Tommy Szczasny leads the team and ranks third in the league in RBIs with 22. He has an 11-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 17 of his 18 games this season.
Inside the Bobcats
The Bobcats have lost seven straight games, but haven’t faced an MCL opponent since June 29, a 12-4 loss to the Hounds. Bloomington has dropped nine of 10 to fall from first place to the outside of the playoff picture. Starting pitcher Mitch Weis has not allowed an earned run in 14 innings against the Oilmen this year. Overall, he’s got a 2.12 ERA, 2-1 record, 34 strikeouts and nine walks in 34 innings over five starts. Weis had one bad outing, allowing 10 runs (seven earned) in four innings against the Admirals on June 17. In his four other games, he’s allowed one earned run in 30 innings. Weis’s last start came against the Admirals on June 24 when he struck out 11 in seven shutout innings while surrendering just four hits. Weis has been named MCL Pitcher of the Week twice this season and was named honorable mention on two other occasions. The Bobcats have an 0.25 team ERA (1 ER in 36 innings) in home games against the Oilmen, but did allow 17 runs in their lone trip to Oil City Stadium.
About the Matchup
O’Neil Park has become a house of horrors for the Oilmen this season. The Oilmen are 0-4 at Bloomington, but all four of those meetings came in the first week of the year. This will be the first time the Oilmen have visited the Bobcats since June 3. The Oilmen won the most recent meeting 17-1 on June 16 at Oil City Stadium. The Bobcats and Oilmen face off once more in the regular season, July 29 at Bloomington.
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