The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks pushed themselves to a winning season with a dominant 15-4 win over the Peninsula Oilers Tuesday evening at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks.
Both teams knocked out 14 base hits, but the Goldpanners took advantage of nine walks to capture the win, compared to just one walk that the Oilers received. Peninsula also left nine men on base.
A late grand slam by Cody Nulph in the bottom of the seventh capped a four-hit, seven-run inning, effectively sealing the victory. The Panners also had five runs in the fifth inning to distance themselves. Nulph hit two homers to bat in five runs, while teammate Brandon Caruso had a field day by hitting 4 for 5 with three runs and two RBIs.
Nick Thurman and Alex Rubanowitz each had three hits to lead the Oilers, while Jeff Paschke and Jake Sandlin provided two hits apiece.
The win leaves the Panners with a 6-5 American League record in the Alaska Baseball League, two games behind the Anchorage Bucs (12-7). The Oilers dropped to 7-9 (16-10-2 overall), 3 1-2 games behind the Bucs.
Jimmy Nesselt (2-2) received the loss on the mound for the Oilers, going 4 1-3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits, three walks and two strikeouts. Jace Puckett (4-0) recorded the win for the Panners by pitching 6 1-3 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits, one walk and six strikeouts.
Mylz Jones, who hit a triple later in the game, scored the opening run of the day in the second inning on a single from Paschke, but the Panners responded at the bottom of the inning when Tanner Pinkston scored on a sacrifice fly from Mike Wieland.
The trouble in the fifth inning started with a home run from Nulph, included a 2-run double from Scott Hurst, and ended with five runs scored on four hits. During the inning, Nesselt was taken off the mound in favor of Chad Rieser.
Both teams face each other again today at 7 p.m.
Tuesday
Goldpanners 15, Oilers 4
Oilers AB R H BI Panners AB R H BI
Sndl cf 5 0 2 0 Crso lf 5 3 4 2
Sfrd lf 5 0 0 0 Hrst cf 4 1 3 2
Rbnz 2b 5 1 3 0 Bynm cf 0 0 0 0
Jnes ss 4 1 1 1 Hyes rf 4 1 1 2
Thrmn c 3 1 3 0 Bzin dh 4 1 1 1
Pske 3b 4 0 2 1 Pnkn 1b 3 2 1 1
Hrnz 1b 4 0 1 1 Nlph ss 4 2 2 5
Gbsn dh 1 0 0 0 Wlnd c 3 1 1 1
Mnoz dh 3 0 1 0 Vlnva 2b 1 2 1 0
Rose rf 4 1 1 0 Mldr 2b 1 0 0 0
— Clrk 3b 3 2 0 0
Totals 38 4 14 3 Totals 32 15 14 14
Oilers 011 001 010 —4 14 0
Panners 010 052 70x —15 14 0
2B — Rubanowitz, Rose, Hurst. 3B — Jones, Caruso. HR — Nulph. HP — Thurman, Nulph. SF — Bozoian, Wieland. SB — Sandlin, Thurman, Rose. LOB — Oilers 9, Goldpanners 7.
Oilers IP H R ER BB SO
Nesselt, L 4.1 7 6 6 3 2
Rieser 1.0 2 2 2 3 0
Sheridan 0.2 1 0 0 0 1
McGill 1.0 4 7 7 3 0
Daugherty 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
Panners
Puckett, W 6.1 8 3 3 1 6
Chambers 2.2 6 1 1 0 4
WP — Nesselt, McGill, Chambers. HB — Rieser, Puckett. P-S — Nesselt 82-49, Rieser 42-24, Sheridan 11-9, McGill 36-18, Daugherty 14-9, Puckett 100-64, Chambers 51-33. T — 2:53.
