Sophomore Daniel Lucak took the mound in this game and he sat down St. Margaret’s in order to retire the side in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, the Patriots were able to knock in two runs on Daniel Lucak’s two out triple after St. Margaret’s put Senior Patrick Zajac and Junior Hayden Higger on base. The first inning ended with Oxford up 2-0. St. Margaret’s threatened in the top of the second after Lucak walked the leadoff batter. They had runners on the corners with just one out. But Oxford’s defense came up big on the next play as they were able to hold the runner on third and get the runner at second for the second out of the inning. Lucak got the next batter to ground out to second for the final out.

Oxford struggled to get things going in the bottom of the inning as St. Margaret’s retired the first two batters. Sophomore Nick Foutris stepped up and hit one right back up the middle for a base hit to keep the inning alive. He then tried to steal second base but was thrown out to end the inning 2-0.

The third inning began with an error by Zajac as he couldn’t handle a grounder allowing the runner to reach base. He then tried to steal but Hayden Higger threw him out for the first. Lucak was then able to get the next two batters out to end the third and keep St. Margaret’s scoreless.

Junior Steve Criss led off the bottom of the third with a fly ball which the Margaret’s outfielders could not handle allowing it to drop. Criss then advanced on a fielder’s choice by Sophomore Lucas Sardo. St. Margaret’s proceeded to hit Zajac with a pitch once again putting two men on. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance putting men on second and third. They walked Hayden once again and the bases were loaded with just one out. Lucak stepped up to give himself a little insurance. He hit a grounder to the third baseman who threw it away allowing 2 more runs to score. The next two Patriot batters struck out and grounded out to end the inning but the damage was done, Oxford leading 4-0.

Lucak struck out the leadoff batter swinging to begin the top of the fourth. The next batter grounded out to short for the second out. But St. Margaret’s threatened once again with back-to-back singles putting runners on the corners once again. But Lucak got the next runner to ground out to second and escape any harm.

The bottom of the fourth began with Sophomore Kevin Warren beating out an infield single. Foutris tried to bunt him over to second but they got Warren at second on the fielder’s choice. Criss then singled past the shortstop to put runners on first and second with just one out. A wild pitch allowed the runners to advance and take away the possibility of a double play. Sardo stepped up and hit a single right back up the middle to allow one runner to cross and put runners on the corners. Oxford then tried a double steal but St. Margaret’s defense stepped up and tagged out both runners to end the inning 5-0.

Junior Douglas Uselton came in to relieve Lucak who pitched an outstanding 4 innings of shutout baseball. The leadoff batter got an infield single as Zajac dove for it but couldn’t make the play. Uselton proceeded to walk the next batter putting two on with no outs. Zajac now takes over for Uselton and immediately gets a double play on a line out to. A single into left put runners on the corners with 2 outs, but Zajac escapes as he strikes out the next batter looking.

The bottom of the fifth led off with Zajac getting hit in the back for the third time. He proceeded to steal second but that’s all the Patriots can manage as the next three batters are retired to end the inning 5-0.

St. Margaret’s threatened once again in the sixth as back-to-back errors put two on with no out. But a ground ball to short allows the Patriots to turn the double play to escape danger. An ensuing infield single though allows St. Margaret’s to get a runner across to end the shutout. Then next batter strikes out swinging to end the inning 5-1.

The Patriots aren’t able to get any offense going in the bottom of the sixth as they are put down in order for a quick half of the inning.

But Zajac came back strong in the top of the seventh and got all 3 batters to ground out and end the game with the Patriots winning it 5-1.

Oxford played good baseball as they were able to get some production from their bats and got a quality start from Lucak. If they perform like this every game, they are going to be tough to beat.