The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

Joliet, Ill. – May 30, 2014 – The Northwest Indiana Oilmen opened up a seven-run lead after two innings and cruised to a 13-2 rout of Joliet on Friday at Joliet Junior College. The Oilmen took advantage of sloppy Admiral defense as four errors in the first two innings led to six unearned runs against Joliet starter Tomas Aguilar.

Aguilar was tagged with the loss after allowing nine runs, three of which were earned, in five innings of work. NWI starter Cameron Linck (Hill College) tossed seven innings of one-run ball to pick up the win in his Oilmen debut.

Illinois State outfielder Jack Czeszewski clubbed three doubles to lead the Oilmen, while Western Michigan’s Nate Schneider went 1-for-2 with a double, stolen base, run scored, three RBIs and three sacrifice flies.

The Oilmen scoring started right away when Czeszewski cracked a run-scoring two-bagger with no outs in the first. Rob Blissitt, who had reached on an error to lead off the game, came around to score. A moment later, Kevin DeFillippis trotted home on a Schneider sacrifice fly.

DeFillippis participated in the five-run second inning with a run-scoring single. He reached base four times in the game with three walks to go along with the base hit. Eight of the nine batters in the NWI lineup had at least one hit in the game, while all nine batters reach base at least once.

Whiting native Andrew Lowe came on to pitch the ninth inning, sealing the victory by retiring the side in order in his Oilmen debut. In the process, he became the second Whiting High School graduate to play for the Oilmen, joining Elliot Bajda from the 2012 team.

The Oilmen improved to 2-0 on the season, starting the season with back-to-back wins for the first time in team history. Joliet, playing in its first season since being rebranded after being formerly known as the Rockford Forester, is now 0-2. The Oilmen are now 11-1 in head-to-head meetings with the Joliet/Rockford franchise. The Oilmen have now won 10 straight games against the team after sweeping the season series from the Foresters last season.  

The Oilmen return to action on Saturday as they visit the DuPage County Hounds at 6 p.m. for the first meeting of the year between the two teams. The game can be heard on AM 1230 WJOB and NWIOilmen.com.

The Oilmen return home on Wednesday, June 4 for the first of three straight home dates. The Oilmen host Oilman Stan’s Birthday Celebration as they battle the Michigan City Lakers on Friday, June 6 at 7:10 p.m.