'This year has been an absolute blast'

FINDLAY – The University of Findlay's baseball team has players who aren't trying to do too much. The starting pitchers are comfortable handing the ball to the relievers. The hitters just want to keep rallies going. For UF, it's not about one player being a star. It's about doing enough to get the win. In other words, it's the type of team that coach Matt Palm loves. "This year has been an absolute blast," said Palm, who is in his fifth season leading the Oilers. "It's just a group that's enjoyable to be around, and I think when those things happen, you just sit back and try to enjoy the moment, enjoy the time." It also is fun when you're winning, and the Oilers have done plenty of that this spring. After taking three out of four games in Hillsdale last weekend, the Oilers are 27-15 and 18-6 in the G-MAC. They are in first place in the North Division, just ahead of Ashland, which is 16-8. Findlay will host Lake Erie for a doubleheader today. The Oilers have eight games remaining in the G-MAC schedule, and have an opportunity to do something the program has never done: win the division championship "We're kind of just taking it one game at a time," said Oilers senior centerfielder Casey Maruniak, who has a team-high seven homers and 52 RBIs. "Just, not worrying about what other people are doing, just focusing on ourselves, doing the best we can do every at-bat, every pitch." It's working for a team that was 24-27, and 16-14 in league games last season. So what is different about this squad? "There's a lot of older experience on the team… everybody's been through the program, they know how to go about their business," said senior reliever Colin Becker. "I think we all had a feeling that this could be a really special year." The bullpen has been a big reason why. Allen has five saves and a 2.90 earned run average. The Oilers also have received solid seasons from relievers Sebastian Stevens, Cam Tuttle and Connor Evanich. Findlay starting pitcher Carson Mellott – a Columbian graduate – said the bullpen really helped the team when the starters were struggling early on. "I think our bullpen has done a fantastic job of just winning those games early for us, and then we kind of got our starting pitching going in the middle to later in the year," he said. "That's been really huge for us." Palm agreed. "The bullpen, there's been four or five guys who have just been outstanding from start to finish throughout the year," he said. "I just think, when you look at an entire season, the teams that have the most depth are the ones that are going to be successful." And as the season has progressed, the starting pitchers have put up impressive numbers as well. The Oilers have won six of Mellott's last seven starts. He has a 5-2 record with a pair of complete games. The rotation also includes Ethan Mohr (5-1), Aidan Kiessling (4-4) and David Jimenez (2-1) "Early on in the season, we talked to our starting pitchers," Palm said. "We struggled in the beginning of the year, and then really (have been) unbelievable in conference with our starters." On offense, Findlay has been solid. The team is hitting .292, has hit 30 home runs, and has an 851 OPS. The Oilers designated hitter, Luke Senften, leads the team with a .366 batting average. Leadoff hitter and shortstop Nick Palm (a Calvert graduate and coach Palm's son) is batting .339 with 10 steals. Overall, six hitters are batting better than .300. "I think that hitting is very contagious, and (we're) passing it to the next guy," Maruniak said. "In those big moments, you're not trying to do too much, you're just trying to get it to the next guy." That approach – doing what is needed – is a big thing for UF. "(It's) just really understanding what needs to be done during that day, that practice and putting in that time and effort," Nick Palm said. Findlay will now see how far it can go. "Our ultimate goal is to dogpile every season, whether that's in the tournament, or whether that's in the regular season," Maruniak said. "So, obviously, looking ahead to that, that's what our goal is. Whatever that takes, however many wins that takes, that's our goal." Coach Palm, who led league championship programs at Heidelberg – including one that made a Division III World Series appearance in 2010 – said Findlay is keeping things simple. "We've worked hard to get better each day," he said. "That's our goal, to get a little better each day, so that we can be playing the best we can at the end of the season."