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Zach Taylor had two hits against the Panthers, including a first-inning bases-loaded double.
Zach Taylor had two hits against the Panthers, including a first-inning bases-loaded double.

Nationally Ranked Panthers Defeat Titans In Season Opener

Box Score

Nationally ranked Birmingham-Southern College sent nine batters to the plate in both of the first two innings and defeated the UW-Oshkosh baseball team, 14-7, during the Titans' season opener Friday (Feb. 25) in Birmingham, Ala.

UW-Oshkosh (0-1) scored four times in the top of the first inning, drawing five walks before Zach Taylor hit a two-out, three-run double. Connor Giusti plated UW-Oshkosh's first run of the year via a bases-loaded walk. The Titans capped the scoring on Eli Davila's bases-loaded walk and Benjamin Jung's pinch-hit, two-run double in the eighth inning.

Birmingham-Southern College (5-2), ranked seventh in the NCAA Division III by D3baseball.com, answered the Titans' four-run outburst with five runs of its own in the home half of the first inning and scored six more during the second frame. The Panthers have now won all five of their meetings with UW-Oshkosh.

The Panthers outhit UW-Oshkosh, 10-7, and launched a pair of home runs on the way to improving their home record to 3-1 this season. Birmingham-Southern College, the 2019 national runner-up, has made seven NCAA postseason appearances since 2012. Two-time Division III champion and three-time national runner-up UW-Oshkosh advanced to the regional finals in 2018.

Ian Hancock went 2-for-3 with six runs batted in to pace the Panthers. Hancock's grand slam provided Birmingham-Southern College a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the first inning and his two-run single during the second frame upped the Panthers' advantage to 7-4.

Wes Diamantis later added a three-run homer in the second inning to up the Panthers lead to 11-4.

Birmingham-Southern College relief pitcher Oliver Livingston (1-0) picked up the win, tossing two scoreless innings and allowing one hit with three strikeouts during the fourth and fifth frames.

Taylor finished 2-for-3 at the plate for the Titans, who also received singles from Giusti, Ethan Schreier, Sean Cummins and Braydon Skenandore.

UW-Oshkosh's Grant Yakimisky (0-1) suffered the loss after yielding five runs (four earned) without recording an out in the first inning.

Aaron Huibregtse, Trey Tennessen, Connor Brinkman and LJ Waco each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for UW-Oshkosh. Waco struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh frame.

UW-Oshkosh remains in Birmingham to face fifth-ranked Adrian College (Mich.) on Saturday (Feb. 26).

Photo by Jennifer Zuberbier