Titans Win, Lose Against Lynx
UW-Oshkosh pitcher Colan Treml earned a complete-game win and Sean Cummins homered in the first game of the day as the Titans split a pair of baseball contests at Rhodes College on Sunday (March 9) in Memphis, Tenn.
UW-Oshkosh (1-4) defeated Rhodes College, 4-2, in the opener before suffering a 9-3 setback in the nightcap.
The Titans outhit the Lynx, 20-12, and collected six stolen bases on the day.
In the first game of the day, Cummins hit a game-tying solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. The Titans later took their lone lead of the day with a two-run eighth inning, and Treml preserved the win by retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.
Treml improved his season record to 1-1 by limiting the Lynx to just one earned run on three hits and a walk while striking out eight batters. Treml's 11th career complete-game effort allowed him to register his 20th win during his four seasons at UW-Oshkosh. Treml, who owns a 20-9 career record, is the 11th Titan to reach 20 wins.
UW-Oshkosh pounded out 11 hits, including two each from Eric Modaff, Dylan Ott, Zack Radde and Hunter Staniske. Ott had a double while Staniske accounted for two of the team's four steals.
Rhodes College (6-9) struck for a pair of runs in the home half of the third inning as Nick Bosma drew a leadoff walk and Ben Wilson followed with a bunt single. A throwing error by Treml on Wilson's bunt allowed Bosma and Wilson to advance a base ahead of Jon Michael Lauck, whose bunt back to Treml allowed Bosma to score from third base. A run-scoring groundout off the bat of Paul Giacomazz provided the Lynx a 2-0 lead.
Lynx starting pitcher Jacob Dubs held UW-Oshkosh to one hit through three innings until Ott and Staniske led off the fourth frame with back-to-back singles. A passed ball moved Ott and Staniske to second and third bases with no outs, but Dubs limited the Titans to just one run in the inning on a Jensen Hinton sacrifice fly.
After Treml pitched a perfect fourth inning, Cummins led off the top of the fifth frame with a home run to center field that tied the score at 2. The home run was the first by a Titan this season and the second of Cummins' career.
Treml then worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to setting down 11 consecutive Lynx batters between the fifth and eighth frames.
Ott led off the decisive eighth inning with a double off of Rhodes College relief pitcher Nathan Mirochnick. Ott advanced to third base on a Mirochnick balk with no outs and came around to score on a single by Staniske. Radde then scored Staniske with a one-out single for a 4-2 UW-Oshkosh lead.
Treml allowed just one hit – a two-out single in the eighth inning – over the last four frames.
Mirochnick was charged with the loss after surrendering two runs on four hits in two innings.
Dubs did not factor in the decision despite holding UW-Oshkosh to two runs (one earned) on seven hits with 10 strikeouts through the first seven innings.
In the nightcap, the Lynx never trailed after scoring in the home half of the first inning. Rhodes College led, 5-1, after seven innings before tacking on four insurance runs in the eighth.
Both teams had nine hits, but eight UW-Oshkosh pitchers combined to issue eight walks.
Bosma and Jacob Telli had two hits apiece for the Lynx while Will Heurtin drove in four runs.
Jonathan Selchow went 3-for-3 with one run batted in to lead UW-Oshkosh. Radde added a pair of hits, including a double, and two RBIs.
Lynx starting pitcher Trey Sledge picked up the win, allowing one run on five hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Rhodes College's Matt Dale was credited with his first save of the season by holding the Titans to two runs across the final three innings.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Ryan Wilkening (0-1) suffered the loss after ceding three runs (two earned) across the first four innings.
Heurtin drove in the first two Rhodes College runs with run-scoring ground outs in the first and third innings. He also gave the Lynx a 9-2 lead with a two-run double in the eighth frame.
Radde hit an RBI double in the top of the sixth inning to cut UW-Oshkosh's deficit to 3-1. Radde's run-scoring infield single in the eighth inning pulled the Titans within 5-2 before the Lynx put the game away with their four-run home half of the eighth.
Selchow delivered an RBI single for the Titans in the ninth inning, but Dale notched the save by retiring the final two UW-Oshkosh batters.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its three-game series at Rhodes College with a single game Monday (March 11).