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Oakland Golden Grizzlies centerfielder makes spectacular diving catch after left fielder bats ball away

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•04/20/24
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OMAHA, NE - JUNE 25: A general view during Game One of the Men's College World Series between the Ole Miss Rebels and the Oklahoma Sooners at Charles Schwab Field on June 25, 2022 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images)

The Oakland Golden Grizzlies baseball team was pitching a shutout against Northern Kentucky in their Saturday afternoon showdown. Oakland was pulling out all the stops to keep their shutout attempt alive, including arguably the catch of the year: stealing a home run away from Northern Kentucky midway through the game.

In the top of the fourth inning, with nobody on and 0 outs for the Norse, their center fielder Colton Kucer, attempting to get his team on the board, knocked the ball deep to center, just over the wall. Golden Bears fielder John Lauinger attempted to make the play at the wall, but the ball was just out of his reach. However, he was able to tip the ball back into play, and fellow outfielder Reggie Bussey was able to make the diving catch at the warning track. You can check out the incredible catch in the video below.

Oakland was able to pick up the win over Northern Kentucky but failed to hang on to their shutout attempt. Nothing Kentucky was able to score two runs later in the inning to bring the score to 6-2, before teams added a run in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to finish the game with a 7-3 final score.

Oakland freshman pitcher Shane McAlinden picked up the win following his impressive performance on the mound. McAlinden’s arm was primarily responsible for the shutout of Northern Kentucky through the first five innings. However, after giving up the two earned runs in the sixth inning, the freshman day on the mound was ended.

Saturday’s win was a much-needed bounce-back victory after the Norse decimated the Golden Bears on Friday, winning convincingly 24-3. The two programs have one more game to play in their three-game series, which is scheduled for Sunday, April 21. The opening pitch is set to be thrown at 1 PM CT.

With the win, the Golden Bears advance to 20-18 and are 10-7 in the conference. And it also helped keep them near the top of the Horizon Conference, which will go a long way during the conference tournament and potentially allow Oakland to steal a bid into the baseball championship tournament.