07/27/2018 9:27 PM -
SATURDAY’S GAME:
NWI Oilmen (24-18)
at Crestwood Panthers (6-28)
July 27, 2018 • Noon CT • Midlothian, Ill.
Broadcast: Oilmen Broadcasting Network (Facebook Live)
Pitching Matchup
NWI RHP Chad Patrick (Purdue Northwest / Hebron) vs. Crestwood RHP Chris Torres (Wabash Valley CC / Chesterton, Ind.)
For Starters
The regular season ends the same place it started for the Northwest Indiana Oilmen as they visit the Crestwood Panthers on Saturday afternoon. Howie Minas Field was the site of an opening night affair between the Oilmen and Panthers that occurred way back on Memorial Day. The Oilmen prevailed 15-4 in a game that saw Panther pitching issue 22 walks. Saturday’s finale serves primarily as a tune up for the postseason, which will start with a best-of-three series with the Southland Vikings. Oil City Stadium will host the entire series, but the Oilmen still have a chance to pass the Vikings in the standings and garner last at-bats for Games 1 and 3. To keep that hope alive, the Oilmen need to win and root for DuPage County to beat Southland on Saturday. However, all eyes in the MCL will be on Wayne L. King Junior Field, where the Bobcats need to at least split a doubleheader with the Generals to clinch a playoff spot. Joliet still controls its own destiny as the Generals can win out this weekend and earn the right to play at DuPage County on Tuesday.
Inside the Oilmen
The Oilmen will send Chad Patrick to the mound for a postseason tune-up. He has worked 18 1/3 innings and owns a 1.47 ERA and 2-1 record. Patrick has racked up 31 strikeouts against 14 walks over his five outings. Statistics registered in the postseason do not count in the Oilmen record book, so Saturday will mark the final day for Oilmen players to climb the all-time lists in a variety of categories. The Oilmen have scored 14 runs or more in three of their last four games. They are coming off a 16-6 trouncing of the DuPage Hounds on Thursday. The Oilmen are 3-3 all-time in regular season finales.
Inside the Panthers
The season ends for the Crestwood Panthers on Saturday afternoon at Howie Minas Field. Crestwood has scuffled to a 6-28 record through 34 games in its second MCL season. The Panthers are attempting to get up to seven wins, the number both the Chicago Zephyrs and Rockford Foresters finished with in 2013. No MCL team has won fewer than eight games since. As they attempt to end a trying season on a high note, the Panthers will turn to Wabash Valley right-hander Chris Torres, a local to Northwest Indiana who hails from Chesterton. If Wabash Valley sounds familiar to diehard Oilmen fans, that’s because NWI inked two Wabash Valley players prior to the 2015 season. One of them never played a game in an Oilmen uniform – Josh Van Beek, who suffered an injury preventing him from throwing that summer. The other did play in an Oilmen uniform – in fact, he set the record for games played with the Oilmen: Tyler Sroczynski. Torres has logged 20 innings and is 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA.
About the Matchup
The Oilmen hold a perfect 7-0 record against the Crestwood Panthers this season. They have nipped Crestwood on two occasions by winning one-run games. The Oilmen own a 15-game head-to-head winning streak with the Panthers dating back to June 18, 2017. NWI leads the all-time series 16-2.
Click here to view full PDF Oilmen Game Notes.
