The Oskaloosa Indians baseball team used great defense and situational hitting to down the Knoxville Panthers 4-2, and extend their win streak to 5 games, in non-conference action on the road Monday night.
The scoring started in the top of the 2nd inning when Noah VandVeldhuizen stepped in with a runner on base. VanVeldhuizen crushed a two-run homerun to put the Indians ahead 2-0 going into the 2nd inning.
The Panthers put a runner across themselves in the bottom of the 2nd inning going against Noah VanVeldhuizen on the hill for the Indians. But, VanVeldhuizen (5 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 K, 5 BB) ended up putting a solid night together on both offense and defense to get himself the win in his first start on the mound this year.
Oskaloosa scratched across another run against Knoxville starter Rylan Cox (6 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 K, 1 BB) in the 3rd when Alex Dejong hit a double to bring home a run.
It was 3-2 going into the 5th inning when Oskaloosa sent in Sophomore Wyatt Krier to relieve Noah VandVeldhuizen on the mound. Krier (2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 3 BB) would immediately find himself in a jam.
He would get out of it however, when Alex Dejong made a terrific double-play to get Osky out of a bases-loaded, 1-out jam.
Another Noah VanVeldhuizen RBI in the 6th inning made it 4-2 Indians. That score would remain, and VanVeldhuzien would get the win as Krier got the save.
Head Coach Clint Gingerich said in the postgame interview that he used the non-conference game to experiment a bit and rest certain players. Gingerich added that he felt this current Indian squad was a great group to work with.
Oskaloosa baseball’s next game on the No Coast Network will be on June 25 when they take on the Pella Dutch in Little Hawkeye Conference play. That game, and all Indian games, can be heard on 99.5 FM and 740 AM KMZN and all over the word at kmznradio.com and the KMZN mobile app.
