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Coming into Sunday’s ballgame against the Oilmen (8-4), the Hounds (14-3) had scored 52 runs in their past seven games. Tonight, they proved that they do not need to rely solely on their offense to pick up wins, as strong pitching from Josh Davis and Tyler Hasper carried the Hounds to a 2-1 victory over the second place Oilmen.

Tonight’s game featured a pitching duel right from the very start. Keith Mahler, the starter for the Oilmen, was on the mound looking to make his team one game closer to the top of the MCL. On the other hand, Josh Davis, the starter for the Hounds, looked to stop the streaking Oilmen, who came into the game winners of their last 5 MCL games.

After both pitchers sat the opposing teams down in order through one inning of play, the Hounds’ offense caught a spark in the second inning when Frankie Perrone reached base due to a throwing error by Kevin DeFilippis, the Oilmen’s third baseman. It didn’t take long for the Hounds to capitalize on that mistake, as Richie Gorski followed Perrone and drove him in from second base with a ground-rule double.

The Hounds took their 1-0 lead into the third inning behind the arm of Josh Davis. Davis, who went 5.2 innings, was in danger in the third inning when he loaded the bases. With the Oilmen’s 3-hole hitter coming up, the Hounds' defense turned to Davis to get the team out of the jam. Davis attacked Craig Dedelow, the hitter for the Oilmen, and retired him after he popped out to right. The Oilmen stranded three runners in that inning, a number that continued to grow throughout the game.

With momentum on their side, the Hounds’ offense did some more damage in the third. After a fielder’s choice at second base retired Alex Cain, Brian Lees stood on first base with one out. The next man up was Frankie Perrone, and he came up huge. Perrone would hit a double and his contact would score Lees from first. That was Mahler’s only earned run of the game, as he went five total innings, while only giving up three hits.

Davis was put in a tough spot again during the fifth inning. With runners on first and second, Dedelow got the best of Davis this time around and drove in a runner after a ground-rule double. Davis, however, would come back after the play to strike out the following Oilmen batter and end the inning, while leaving two runners on base.

As if the pressure in the fifth wasn’t enough, Davis loaded the bases in the sixth when he issued a two-out walk to Nick Vogelmeier. After the walk, Davis was yanked from the game, and in came Tyler Hasper to save the day. In one pitch, Hasper got Ryan Burvan, the leadoff hitter for the Oilmen, to pop out to Drew LaComb at second base. Once again, the Oilmen were unable to capitalize on another opportunity, as the team left three runners on base.

Hasper would take over the game after the sixth inning. He would pitch the remainder of the game for the Hounds, while giving up only two hits in his 3.1 innings of work. In the ninth inning with the tying run on second base, Hasper got Dedelow to fly out to center to end the game. The runner stranded on second was the Oilmen’s eleventh runner left on base this evening.

While the Oilmen failed to take advantage of their opportunities tonight, the Hounds’ pitching remained calm and confident in pressure situations. In a game that did not feature much offense for either team, Davis and Hasper on the mound for the Hounds kept the Oilmen’s offense guessing when it mattered the most.

At the end of the day, Davis picked up the win, Hasper earned the save, and the Hounds tallied their 14^th victory of the season. The Hounds, winners of six in a row, also increased their lead over the Oilmen in the MCL standings to 3.5 games.

The Hounds will be in action again on Tuesday, June 24^th, when they face the Chicago Zephyrs at 5:30 PM on the road.