After Wednesday’s 18-0 blowout over the Griffith Generals, the Northwest Indiana Oilmen followed it up with their eighth straight win, tying the franchise record. It has been nearly three weeks since the last Oilmen loss, as they remain undefeated at home, holding an 8-3 overall record. The first time the Oilmen won eight straight games was in 2018, the same year manager Adam Enright and crew won the league title. The Oilmen most recently won eight straight 2021. 

 Thursday evening’s game saw a first pitch temperature of just 59 degrees, one of the coldest game-time temperatures ever for a June 15 game. Thursday’s 5-0 victory marks back-to-back Oilmen shutouts.They look to break a franchise record for consecutive wins on Friday against the Southland Vikings. 

 Tyler Laux had his best outing of the season on Thursday, pitching six innings and allowing just one hit. Laux struck out five batters and did not allow a run.  

 “He was ahead in almost every single count; it’s a real easy game when you’re ahead and pitch as well as he did,” Oilmen assistant coach Joe Marras said. “He’s got a lot of skill.”  

 Thursday’s game had one of the slower offense starts this year, being scoreless through the first six innings. It wasn’t until the bottom of the seventh that the Oilmen scored five runs, ending the game with eight team hits.  

 Offensively, it was Ryan Little and Brendan O’ Connor leading the way, both going 2-for-4 at the plate and combining for 3 RBIs. Defensively, Randy Seymour put on a show at shortstop. Seymour made nine total putouts at the shortstop position, and shut down the Panthers in the infield.  

 “We have a lot of great players right now, [Adam Enright] has been saying you could reach into a bag of names and put them out there one through nine and keep on winning,” Marras said.  “The players are playing with hustle and doing a really nice job.”  

 The Oilmen now have a +58-run differential through 11 games, and have lowered their team ERA to 4.04.  

 The Oilmen host the Southland Vikings Fridayat 7:10 p.m. as they look to break the franchise record for most wins in a row.