Titans Wrap Up Road Trip with Win
LEXINGTON, Ky.- The UW-Oshkosh baseball team wrapped up their weekend road trip with a win over Transylvania University (Ky.) on Sunday afternoon. Oshkosh went 2-1 on the weekend, with wins over DePauw University (Ind.) and Transylvania and a Saturday 4-3 loss to Transylvania.
Connor Brinkman started for the Titans and Luke Patton started for the Pioneers.
Scoring started in the first inning for Oshkosh. Matt Scherrman hit a single to center, scoring Ethan Schreier. He then stole second and third but was stranded when Mason Kirchberg grounded out to third. A double play and line out got Brinkman through the bottom of the first with one hit and one left on.
With runners on second and third in the top of the second, Jake Surane singled to right advancing Schreier to third and scoring Chase Marsh. A pop-up ended the inning for Oshkosh with a 2-0 lead. Brinkman pitched through the bottom half of the inning with another hit and no runs.
Zach Taylor got a leadoff walk in the third, then proceeded to steal second and take third on a passed ball over the next two outs. On a second passed ball, Taylor scored, and Connor Giusti advanced to second. Jack McNamara was thrown out on a dropped third strike. Three up, three down in the bottom of the third for Brinkman kept him at two hits in the game.
Both teams scored in the fifth, with Taylor hitting a solo home run in the top and Bryce Dreher scoring on a ground out from Riley Hill.
The bases loaded in the top of the sixth for Oshkosh and all three scored off a double to left from Taylor. Shiu singled a batter later, scoring Taylor and increasing the Titans lead to 8-1 heading into the bottom half of the inning. Henry Mitcham sent in a run for the Pioneers when he singled to right, but Brinkman forced a fly out the next at bat.
Two singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases in the top half of the seventh once again. This time, Surane sent in Giusti when he reached first on a fielder's choice. Schreier was thrown out at second and McNamara advanced to third. Scherrman struck out swinging to end the inning with a score of 9-2. Brinkman finished the day in the bottom of the seventh, forcing three straight outs. Over 7.0 innings, he struck out four, while allowing two runs on six hits and two walks.
In the top of the eighth, Kirchberg sent Taylor home on a groundout and Giusti scored when Schreier walked to score Oshkosh's last two runs of the day. Scherrman moved from short to the mound for the bottom of the eighth and Owen Housinger came in at short when he replaced Shiu in the lineup. Scherrman struck out the first batter he faced and forced two outs to get through the inning unscathed.
After Oshkosh went three up, three down in the top of the ninth, the Pioneers got one on base and Scherrman forced two outs before Joshua Cain homered, scoring two runs. The next batter flied out, ending the game with an Oshkosh 11-4 win.
Brinkman (3-0) earned the win in his third appearance of the season. Patton (1-1) was assigned the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks while striking out four.
Looking Forward
The 6-2 Titans return to action on Saturday March 18 at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.) for two games and play another against the Fightin' Engineers on Sunday.