Baseball Game Preview: Oil City Oilers vs. Grove City Eagles

Oil City is 1-9 against Grove City since May of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Oilers will be playing at home against the Eagles at 4:00 p.m. Grove City took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Oil City, who comes in off a win.

Having struggled with seven losses in a row, Oil City turned things around against Franklin on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged out the Knights 3-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Oilers have posted since May 1, 2024.

Will McMahon

Batters Struck Out

04/23/25 @ Franklin	11
04/17/25 @ Titusville	6
04/09/25 vs Hickory	11
04/01/25 @ Grove City	8
03/27/25 @ Lakeview	3
+ 2 more games

Will McMahon was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out 11 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (and only one walk). With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 5.1 strikeouts per game. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.

McMahon wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Zach Love, who went 1-for-4 with two stolen bases and one run. Those two stolen bases gave Love a new career-high. Ryan Jackson also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.

Meanwhile, Grove City was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 5-4 heartbreaker at the hands of Franklin.

Grove City also got a good showing from Max Nardulli, who tossed 2.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Nardulli has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.

Grove City's loss dropped their record down to 2-8. As for Oil City, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-5 and their overall record up to 2-8.