Oran makes Notre Dame pay for mistakes in 8-3 win

The ability to pounce on mistakes made the difference on Friday as the Oran Eagles downed the Notre Dame Bulldogs 8-3.

“It was like a battle the entire game,” Oran coach Joe Bickings said. “We just grinded out at-bats and we grinded out in the field. I always tell them that pitching, defense and timely hitting wins games.”

Oran jumped on the board first, putting pressure on the Bulldogs in the top of the first inning.

After a pair of walks by Notre Dame starter Houston Crawford, Nolan Loper grounded a ball to Notre Dame’s Logan Landewee that ended up being mishandled, resulting in a pair of runs scoring for the Eagles.

“You have to,” Bickings said of capitalizing on mistakes. “If you don’t do that, the other team will. Us being able to do that was very, very big.”

Following the error, Crawford settled in for the Bulldogs.

In the bottom half of the first, Oran starting pitcher Gabe Dirnberger cruised through the first three hitters of the Notre Dame lineup to preserve the 2-0 lead.

In the ensuing Eagles at bat, Crawford worked around a two-out walk and a single to keep the Bulldogs close.

Perhaps the best scoring chance for the Bulldogs came in the bottom of the second when Brycen Clark led the inning off with a single.

Following Clark’s single was Jack Evans drawing a walk and then Channing Pattengill dropped a bunt down to give Notre Dame second and third with just one out.

Dirnberger wasn’t fazed by the threat as he struck out Brett Dohogne and got Chase Lawson to ground out to retire the side.

“That was huge for him,” Bickings said. “He’s a senior and he’s a kid that we expect to go out there and compete and be a bulldog for us. It’s good to see him turn that corner and we expect big things out of him.”

In the end, Dirnberger spun a gem for the Eagles, tossing six innings, while allowing no runs on just three hits while punching out five.

“He got ahead early and he was pounding the strike zone,” Bickings said. “He didn’t walk many and when he did get in trouble he relied on a really good curveball and changeup to get outs.”

After Crawford tossed five innings allowing two unearned runs on three hits, the Bulldogs handed the ball over to Hunter Bonham for the sixth inning.

The scoring threat in the bottom of the second was the last real chance either team had until the aforementioned sixth inning.

Bonham walked the first two Oran batters in the sixth and after a groundout, walked the bases loaded with just one out.

With Kole Burger batting with the bases loaded for the Eagles, Bonham once again threw four wide ones, pushing a run across to make it 3-0 Oran.

The walk to Burger spelled the end of the day for Bonham as he recorded just one out and exited with the bases loaded.

The final line for Bonham was 0.1 innings pitched, four walks and four earned runs.

Parker Lorenz entered to relieve Bonham and despite the ball never leaving the infield, Oran scratched across four more runs to take a commanding 7-0 lead.

“Baseball is a funny game,” Bickings said. “We didn’t hit the ball out of the infield and we scored four runs. It’s just quirky and it happens and we’re glad to be on that side of it.”

The Eagles' offense kept producing in the top of the seventh, as Rolen Heuring singled home Nolan Loper to extend the lead to 8-0.

However, Notre Dame didn’t go away without a fight as the Bulldogs loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom half of the seventh.

The Eagles removed Dirnberger and gave the ball to Nolan Loper who struck out the next two batters before walking Logan Landewee to score the first Bulldogs run of the game.

After the walk, TJ Bolen ripped a two-run single to extend the game and make it 8-3.

Loper retired the next batter to stop the rally and give the Eagles an 8-3 victory.

Notre Dame (10-8) has a quick turnaround as they are back in action at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, when the Bulldogs take on Kelly and Triad in the Notre Dame Showcase.

Oran (9-4) returns to the diamond at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22, when the Eagles host Chaffee.

“We’re eight miles apart and it’s a conference rivalry,” Bickings said. “Every time we play it’s a very, very good game.”