Oilers force their way past San Diego

Peninsula advances in NBC tournament on a 3-1 win

Eddie Orozco threw 5.1 innings of three-hit baseball.

The Oilers must not have partied too hard after last night's 8-0 trouncing of the Rock City Red Sox in Wichita, because they were able to get out of bed in good enough form to dispatch the San Diego Force in today's early game by a final score of 3-1.

This win came thanks in no small part to the efforts of right-hander Eddie Orozco (UC Riverside), who three-hit the Force through five and a third innings, striking out 4, walking 2 and allowing no runners to cross the plate. Matt Applegate (Kansas State) finished out the sixth and seventh innings perfectly, Erik Draxton (CS Bakersfield) gave up the only run on one hit (a homer), and Chad Smith (USC) picked up the save with a one-hit inning to close out the event.

On the offensive end of the scoresheet, Pablo Bermudez (Florida Int'l) and Tyler Grimes (Wichita State) had two hits apiece with Bermudez scoring one of the runs, and James Lilley (New Mexico State) and Michael Miller (Cal Poly) each had RBI's. Bermudez has hit safely in each of the Oilers' games so far in the tournament and is carrying a batting average of .429 as of tonight.

With tonight's win, the Oilers advance to face the League City Hornets, who were their original first-round opponent before the Goldpanners-withdrawal-induced bracket shuffling occurred. The game is set to take place at 1:00 p.m. central time (10 a.m. Alaska).

Oilers drop shocker at NBCWS

Alaskans lose opening match 6-3 to the Sluggers

Garrett Wittels was successful at the plate, but the
Oilers couldn't top the Elite Sluggers on Wednesday.

In an opening-round upset, the Wichita Elite Sluggers handed the Peninsula Oilers -- the Alaska League's sole representative at the NBC World Series tournament -- a stunning upset defeat, plating six runs to the Oilers' 3 and advancing to the next round. The Oilers find themselves in the loser's bracket and facing elimination should they lose another game between now and the title game.

The Oilers' bats picked up nine hits but were only able to push the three runs across. Garrett Wittels led the offense, going 2-for-4, knocking in two of the runs and touching the plate once himself. James Lilley, Patrick Wisdom, and Michael Miller each had two-hits a piece; Miner-turned-Oiler Pablo Bermudez went 1-for-2 and drew two walks on the day.

With as many hits as the team put together, it's hard to imagine losing the game, but the pitching staff couldn't hold up their end of the bargain. After four solid innings by Kellen Moen (7H, 1ER, 6K) things started to unravel. The next four pitchers covered four innings pitched and surrendered five runs. Mike Wolford got the loss for his two-run inning, though it was somewhat of a tough-luck loss as neither run was earned.

Moving into the loser's bracket, the Oilers will get a chance at redemption against the Rock City Red Sox of North Carolina tomorrow. The game begins at 10:30 AM CDT, which is 7:30 AM AKDT.