The Peninsula Oilers defeated the Mat-Su Miners 5-4 on Friday in Alaska Baseball League play at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
The Oilers have now won the first four games of a five-game series against the Miners. Peninsula goes for the sweep Saturday at 6 p.m. Including exhibition games in the ABL Scouts Showcase, the Oilers have now won six of their last seven.
The Anchorage Bucs lead the league at 7-2, with the Oilers at 5-3. The Miners and Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks are both at 4-5, while the Anchorage Glacier Pilots are 3-8.
The Oilers had lost both of their games on the road to the Miners coming into this series, with Mat-Su totaling 19 runs in those two games.
Peninsula pitching continued to hold up Friday.
Ryan Hughes started with four scoreless innings, giving up two hits. Emerson Fleck then gave up a run on two hits in 2 1-3 innings, while Seth Bougher gave up three runs on five hits in 2 1-3 innings.
Nicholai Arbach came on in the ninth with two outs and runners on first and second, and preserved the victory by getting a fly ball to left field.
The Oilers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, but Mat-Su tied it in the top of the seventh.
Peninsula promptly took a 2-1 lead in the seventh when Brock Wirthgen, who finished 2 for 3, doubled to score Cole Dawson, who was 2 for 3 with two runs.
In the eighth, Dom Patrizi cracked a home run to again tie it.
The Oilers took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth with three runs. Then Mat-Su had two runs in the top of the ninth, but the rally came up short.
Kyle McDaniel also was 2 for 4 for the Oilers with a run. Drake Kerr was 3 for 5 with a run and an RBI for the Miners, while Brandyn Durand was 2 for 5 with a run.
