Titans, Pioneers Split Another Twinbill

After losing on a walk-off home run in the opener, Kyle Kannenberg (Sr. • Oshkosh) fired the Titans' first shutout of the season to salvage game two of a baseball doubleheader with UW-Platteville on Sunday (April 18) in Platteville.

Derrick Rice blasted a two-out homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pioneers (14-11/4-8 WIAC) a 5-4 triumph in game one. UW-Oshkosh (12-14/5-7 WIAC) got eight strikeouts in a complete-game performance from Kannenberg for an 8-0 decision in the nightcap.

UW-Platteville rallied with two outs to mark on Tyler Jacobson's first-inning single during the opening contest. Mickey Fadness (Sr. • Eau Claire) then tripled and scored on Derek Layton's (Fr. • Cross Plains) single to equal the score in the bottom half.

A pair of singles during the third frame set up Tyler Jacobson, who drilled a two-run double to make it 3-1. He came home on Jason Jacobson's single to go ahead by three, a lead that would stay until the seventh inning.

The Titans' rally started with a Mickey Fadness walk and continued when Nolan Fadness (Jr. • Eau Claire) plated a run by reaching on an error. Kannenberg belted a sacrifice fly to right to pull within one. UW-Oshkosh then tied the game at 4 on a Mickey Fadness single in the top of the eighth frame.

Brandon Byrne tossed the last 2.1 innings, yielding one run, to pick up the win. Bill Oppriecht allowed two earned runs over the first 6.2 frames for the Pioneers.

UW-Oshkosh had Matt Wells (Fr. • Little Chute) surrender four runs in the opening seven innings before Troy Mrkvicka (So. • Greendale) let in the deciding run while recording five outs.

Nolan Fadness (Jr. • Eau Claire) singled to open the first inning and walked to start the third frame of game two. Both times he stole second base, with a Kannenberg single plating him during the opening frame and Blake Berger's (Jr. • Star Prairie) fly out getting him home later.

The Titans added a single tally in the fourth and a pair during the fifth. Tyler Kamps (Fr. • Oshkosh) and Derek Hiroskey each knocked in one with a single, while Berger's groundout helped UW-Oshkosh take a 5-0 lead.

Kannenberg also had a fine game at the plate, leading the Titans with three hits. Hiroskey marked two hits in the contest, including a run-scoring single before Mickey Fadness' two-run smash during the final frame. Nolan Fadness scored three times in the nightcap after seeing his 23-game hitting streak come to an end in the opener.

Justin Crotty was the losing pitcher after allowing four earned runs in the first four innings. Grant Oldenburg surrendered one run (four frames) and Justin Cox yielded three runs (one inning) to close the game for UW-Platteville, which got a team-best four hits on the day from Jason Jacobson.

UW-Oshkosh has a tough challenge when it travels to league-leading and nationally ranked UW-Whitewater on Wednesday (April 21).