Oilmen enjoy a rare rout
By Dave Melton Post-Tribune correspondent June 15, 2012 10:58PM
Updated: August 23, 2012 9:53AM
WHITING — After Thursday’s walk-off victory, the third such win of the season for the Northwest Indiana Oilmen, manager Justin Huisman asked his team, “Can we win by six next game?”
The Oilmen came close, defeating the Southland Vikings 9-4, running the Oilmen’s (10-3) record against Southland (4-6) to 4-0.
“They waited a while,” Huisman said, “but they finally got it done.”
A game that featured three lead changes was busted open by a three-run rally in the Oilmen’s half of the seventh inning. After NWI loaded the bases against the Southland bullpen, Alex Lincoln smashed an RBI single to right for the eventual game-winning run. The next batter up, Danny Britt, hit into a fielder’s choice to short stop. One run scored on the initial contact by Britt, and a second run scored on another Southland error — the fifth of the game.
“That’s always huge when a team makes errors, because that gives you some extra base runners,” said John Loeffler, who started that seventh-inning rally with a single. “Every inning, we want to get as many guys on base as possible.”
NWI had 10 hits, with three hits each going to Loeffler and No. 2 hitter Bennett Oliver.
Said Huisman: “I think a combination of walks, aggressive baserunning and some timely hitting put us ahead.”
While the Oilmen offense continued to hit, an even more encouraging sign came from the bullpen. After Tait Rauen departed in the sixth inning, Jack Cinoman and Josh Stowe combined for a scoreless 31/3 innings of work to keep the Oilmen ahead.
“Some of those guys in the bullpen have had rough outings,” said Huisman. “Some of that was their fault, sometimes we didn’t make the plays for them. But it was good for Stowe and Cinoman to get out there and throw good innings for us.”
