A two-run homer by Matt Gelalich spurred the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks to a 4-2 win over the Peninsula Oilers Tuesday evening at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks.
The win allowed the Panners (3-7 AL) to close within two games in the tight American League standings. The Oilers dropped to 6-6 in the AL and to 8-9 overall in the Alaska Baseball League. The loss left the two sides tied at two wins and two losses apiece for the current six-game series, with two games left to play today and Thursday at 7 p.m.
Gelalich opened the scoring with his long ball in the bottom of the third that put Fairbanks up 2-0. The Panners added two more runs in the fourth, starting with a sacrifice fly by Austin Bush that brought hometown favorite Scooter Bynum home, then continuing with a double by Mahlik Jones that scored Spencer Nielsen. Jones got to third base courtesy of an error by Brent Diaz.
The Oilers recorded only four hits, led by the 2-for-4 day by Loyola Marymount sophomore Ted Boeke, who knocked out the first home run of the summer for the Oilers in the fourth inning. Washam is currently hitting .371 for the summer, tops for the Oilers and fourth in the league.
However, the Oilers continued to struggle with runners in scoring position, as the visiting team left nine men on base.
Louisiana native Jordan Washam helped close the gap in the top of the seventh with a sacrifice fly that scored Blake Wilfong, but that would be as close as the Oilers got. Washam
Conner Dotson (2-1) was credited with the loss on the mound for Peninsula, going 5 1-3 innings and giving up four runs on four hits. Dotson only walked two batters but didn’t record a single strikeout.
Joe Fernandez (2-0) threw the first six innings for Fairbanks with two hits, two runs, five walks and five strikeouts. John Schreiber picked up his third save of the year in finishing the final inning with no hits or walks.
Tuesday
Goldpanners 4, Oilers 2
Oilers AB R H BI Panners AB R H BI
Wshm 2b 3 0 0 1 Glch cf 4 1 1 2
Sfrt 3b 4 0 1 0 Csto lf 4 0 0 0
Olvr 1b 4 0 0 0 Mtnz c 4 0 1 0
Bke ss 4 1 2 1 Bynm rf 2 1 0 0
Ruhm rf 2 0 0 0 Nlsn ss 4 1 1 0
Diaz lf 3 0 0 0 Bush dh 3 0 1 1
Wlfg c 3 1 0 0 Jnes 3b 3 0 2 0
Hrsn dh 4 0 1 0 Vrln 1b 3 0 0 0
Wlsn cf 2 0 0 0 Rnld 2b 3 1 1 0
Totals 29 2 4 2 Totals 30 4 7 3
Oilers 000 100 100 —2 4 1
Panners 002 200 00x —4 7 1
HR — Boeke (1), Gelalich (1). HP — Wilson (4). SF — Bush (1). SB — Wilson (6). E — Diaz (1), Nielsen (9). LOB — Oilers 9, Goldpanners 5.
IP H R ER BB SO
Oilers
Dotson, L 5.1 4 4 4 2 0
VanStone 1.2 2 0 0 0 2
Holden 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
Panners
Fernandez, W 6.0 2 2 2 5 5
Cardona 1.0 1 0 0 0 0
Franks 1.0 1 0 0 1 0
Schreiber, S 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
T — 2:31.
