The Peninsula Oilers split a doubleheader with the Anchorage Bucs at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage on Tuesday, setting up a final day of the regular season today that will determine if the Oilers host a first-round playoff series.
By losing the first game 1-0 and winning the second 2-1, the second-place Oilers improved to 23-20 in the Alaska Baseball League, while the Bucs fell to 20-23. Combined with the Mat-Su Miners’ 8-0 victory over the Chugiak Chinooks, Tuesday led some clarity to the ABL postseason.
The Miners clinched the regular season title and will host a first round series against the No. 4 seed Bucs. Those games are all nine innings and will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, 2 p.m. Friday and an if-necessary game at 6 p.m. Friday.
The Oilers will face the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in the other first-round series, but the big question is where.
The Pilots are 22-21 in the league and finish league play today against the Chinooks, while the Oilers play at 6 p.m. at the Miners.
A Pilots loss or an Oilers win means the Oilers get to host the first round. But if the Oilers lose and Pilots win, leaving both teams at 23-21, the Pilots get to host due to a 4-7 advantage in head-to-head competition.
John Kennedy, general manager for the Oilers, said that if the Oilers host, the games will be Thursday and Friday. But as of Tuesday night, Kennedy said the game times had not been finalized.
The pitching staffs sparkled during Tuesday’s doubleheader, with each squad giving up just eight hits over 14 games.
Oilers starter Hasten Freeman took the hard-luck loss in the first game, giving up just four hits and striking out six over six innings.
Freeman’s only blemish came in the first inning, when LJ Hatch scored on what was ruled a wild pitch by the official scorer.
Sean Sparling matched Freeman’s solid effort for the Bucs, going six innings and giving up just two hits while striking out seven.
The big chance for the Oilers came in the top of the fifth when they loaded the bases with nobody out, but failed to score.
Wyatt Mills pitched a perfect final inning for the save.
In the second game, Yi-Hsin Huang, normally a reliever, came through with a huge start for the Oilers.
Huang went five innings and gave up four hits and just one run — coming on a home run by Cole Maltese in the second inning.
That bomb by Maltese tied the game at 1, after a Brody Wofford ground ball scored Darius Hill in the top of the first.
The winning rally came in the sixth against Bucs reliever Zach Reid. Seth DeWitt walked to lead off, then Brian Ruhm came on to run for him. Ruhm advanced to second on a wild pitch, then Brody Wofford got him to third.
After Daniel Szpik struck out, Marshall Boggs came through with a two-out single to give the Oilers the edge.
Austin Piscotty pitched a perfect final two innings for the save.
The win put the Oilers at 4-5 for a brutal stretch of 10 road games in six days that concludes today against the Miners.
Tuesday
Bucs 1, Oilers 0, Game 1
Oilers AB R H BI Bucs AB R H BI
Hill cf 3 0 0 0 Trjo ss 3 0 1 0
Dwsn ss 3 0 0 0 Htch cf 3 1 1 0
Whm c 3 0 0 0 Rnds 1b 2 0 1 0
DWt dh 2 0 0 0 Hrrs lf 2 0 0 0
Wfrd lf 3 0 1 0 Arda dh 2 0 0 0
Cprn 2b 3 0 1 0 Ttm 3b 2 0 0 0
Spk rf 2 0 0 0 Jhsn rf 2 0 1 0
Bggs 1b 3 0 0 0 Ksls 2b 2 0 0 0
Sfrt 3b 2 0 0 0 Rbps c 2 0 0 0
Totals 24 0 2 0 Totals 20 1 4 0
Peninsula 000 000 0 —0
Anchorage 100 000 X —1
2B — Wofford. E — Sparling. LOB — Oilers 5, Bucs 2. DP — Oilers 1.
IP H R ER BB SO
Oilers
Freeman, L 6 4 1 1 0 6
Bucs
Sparling, W 6 2 0 0 2 7
Mills, S 1 0 0 0 0 1
WP — Freeman. HB — Freeman.
Oilers 2, Bucs 1, Game 2
Oilers AB R H BI Bucs AB R H BI
Hill cf 3 1 1 0 Trjo ss 4 0 0 0
Dwsn ss 2 0 1 0 Htch cf 1 0 0 0
Whm 1b 4 0 1 0 Arda 1b 2 0 1 0
DWt dh 2 0 0 0 Jnsn rf 3 0 0 0
Rhm pr 0 1 0 0 Mlts lf 3 1 1 1
Wfrd lf 3 0 0 1 Hrd dh 3 0 1 0
Spk rf 3 0 0 0 Gnte c 2 0 0 0
Bgs 2b 3 0 1 1 Ksls 2b 3 0 0 0
Hbr c 3 0 1 0 Hmza 3b 3 0 1 0
Sfrt 3b 2 0 1 0 —- — — — —
Totals 25 2 6 2 Totals 24 1 4 1
Peninsula 100 001 0 —2
Anchorage 010 000 0 —1
2B — Homza. HR — Maltese. SH — Hill, Hatch. E — Dawson. LOB — Oilers 7, Bucs 6.
IP H R ER BB SO
Oilers
Huang, W 5 4 1 1 2 2
Piscotty, S 2 0 0 0 0 0
Bucs
Robinson 4 3 1 1 2 6
Bies 1 1 0 0 1 0
Reid, L 2 2 1 1 1 1
WP — Reid. HB — Huang.
