Titans Take Charge Early To Defeat Eagles, Pioneers
UW-Oshkosh built early leads in each contest as it defeated a pair of New York baseball opponents on Sunday (March 17) in Fort Myers, Fla.
The Titans jumped out to a 5-1 advantage after two innings of their 10-4 victory over St. Joseph's College before constructing a 6-0 lead after three innings of its 10-3 triumph over Utica College.
St. Joseph's College put UW-Oshkosh behind in the first inning of the opener on Matt Ginobbi's run-scoring double.
The Eagles were unable to hold the lead, as a passed ball and two errors over the first and second innings led to five UW-Oshkosh runs. The Titans banged out six hits in their first two at-bats, including run-scoring singles by Zac Peterson (Jr. • Suamico) and Brock Guetzke (Sr. • Hartford).
St. Joseph's College cut its deficit to 5-3 on Mike Alisio's two-run single in the fifth inning, but UW-Oshkosh answered the threat with three runs in the sixth. The Titans tallied four hits in the frame, including a run-scoring single by Michael Polcyn (So. • Ripon).
UW-Oshkosh closed its scoring with two runs in the eighth inning. The Titans scored on a double by Bobby Kachel (Sr. • La Crosse) and a single by Zack Whalen (So. • Janesville). St. Joseph's College marked its final run courtesy of a Anthony Mauceri single in the ninth inning.
UW-Oshkosh compiled 14 hits off five St. Joseph's College pitchers, including three by Guetzke and two each by Polcyn, Doug Beattie (Sr. • Escanaba, Mich.), Luke Gajewski (So. • Wausau) and Tyler Kamps (Sr. • Appleton). Seven players had one hit each for the Eagles.
Guetzke struck out nine batters over seven innings to earn the pitching win. He scattered four hits while allowing three earned runs. Ian Zahn (So. • Fond du Lac) hurled the final two innings for the Titans.
Steven Szobesky took the pitching loss for St. Joseph's College after yielding five runs, six hits and four walks in the game's first five innings.
In the nightcap, four hits led to four UW-Oshkosh runs in the second inning. Kachel and Michael Swift (So. • Kenosha) each had run-scoring singles in the frame, while Robbie Kleman (Fr. • Oshkosh) knocked in another with a sacrifice fly. Kachel then extended UW-Oshkosh's lead to 6-0 with a long two-run homer in the third inning.
UW-Oshkosh went ahead 7-0 on a run-scoring single by Guetzke in the seventh inning. The Titans scored three more times in the frame, including twice on a single by Swift.
Assisted by three UW-Oshkosh errors, Utica College avoided the shutout by scoring one run in the seventh inning and two in the eighth. The lone run-scoring hit for the Pioneers was a single by Joseph Horning during the eighth.
UW-Oshkosh banged out 17 hits for its sixth straight game of double digits. Peterson paced the Titans with four hits, while Swift added three and Beattie, Gajewski, Guetzke, Kachel and Klemen two each.
Utica College was held to six hits, but two of them belonged to Tyler Young.
Joe Pavlovich (So. • Denmark) pitched six scoreless innings to record the win. He allowed three hits and struck out seven batters. Zahn pitched the final three innings to notch his first career save.
Alec Choleva was the losing pitcher for Utica College. He allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings of work. The Pioneers had three pitchers take the mound over the final four innings.
UW-Oshkosh plays Plymouth State University (N.H.) in a doubleheader on Monday (March 18) in Fort Myers.