Sixth-Inning Rally Leads Titans To Victory
The UW-Oshkosh baseball team reclaimed the lead with a two-out rally in the sixth inning and hung on for an 11-8 victory over North Central College (Ill.) on Wednesday (March 25) in Auburndale, Fla.
The Titans trailed, 7-4, with the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning before erupting for four runs on just two hits.
UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Jesse Sustachek made the lead hold up, earning his first win of the year by limiting North Central College to one run on five hits and striking out five in 5.2 innings pitched.
North Central College (7-7) outhit UW-Oshkosh, 15-14, but the Titans had four doubles for all of the game's extra base hits.
Andy Brahier went 4-for-4 with two runs batted in to lead UW-Oshkosh, which entended its winning streak to six games. Logan Reckert added three hits, one run and one run batted in, while Tyler Kozlowski chipped in two hits and two runs batted in and Jack Paulson two hits, one run and one run batted in.
The Titans grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a run-scoring groundout by Trey Demler, but the Cardinals answered with two runs on three hits in the third frame.
UW-Oshkosh started their half of the third inning with three straight hits, including a double by Robbie Kleman that tied the score at 2. The Titans took a 3-2 advantage later in the inning on a single by Jack Paulson.
The lead changed hands for the fourth time of the game during the fourth inning as the Cardinals scored five runs on six hits to chase Titan starting pitcher Ben Messenger with one out in the frame.
After cutting their deficit to 7-4 on a run-scoring infield single by Kozlowski in the fifth inning, the Titans began the sixth with two quick outs. But Noah Polcyn sparked a rally by reaching on a hit-by-pitch by the fourth Cardinal pitcher of the contest. Two walks loaded the bases, and Kleman followed with a walk off Jake Staab, the fifth Cardinal hurler, to plate a run. Brahier singled to bring home two more runs, and Kozlowski gave UW-Oshkosh an 8-7 lead with a run-scoring double.
UW-Oshkosh (6-4) tacked on two runs on two hits for a 10-7 lead in the seventh inning, and Sustachek retired nine of 10 batters, including eight in a row, before escaping trouble in the eighth.
North Central College began the eighth inning with two singles, but Sustachek retired the next three Cardinals and limited the damage to one run in the frame.
The Titans added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly by Connor Funnell that provided the final score as Sustachek, who allowed just two hits after the fifth frame, worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.
Staab took the loss for North Central College, allowing one run on two hits and one walk without recording an out. The Cardinals used eight pitchers in the game, including six who were charged with runs.
Nick Bryant and Sam Klein had three hits apiece for the Cardinals, who also received two runs batted in from both Vito DeRango and Joe Paparone.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its seven-game Florida trip by playing Kalamazoo College (Mich.) on Thursday (March 26) in Winter Haven.